5 Takeaways as Penn State Beats Le Moyne 72-55

Penn State men’s basketball bounced back from a dramatic loss to Georgia Tech, rolling past Le Moyne 72-55 on Thursday night at the Bryce Jordan Center. The Nittany Lions are now 6-6 on the year having won two games and lost twice in overtime over the last four contests. Penn State will return to action against Rider to close out the 2023 slate with a Dec. 29 clash at the Bryce Jordan Center before heading back into Big Ten play to open 2024 against Michigan State. In the meanwhile though here are five takeaways from the Nittany Lions’ win.

Slowly Getting There: Penn State may not ever end up being the kind of three-point shooting team it was last season, but for the third-straight game the Nittany Lions managed to shoot over 34% from beyond the arc and hit double-digit makes from there with 11 total. It’s not the sort of shooting that’s going to put the fear of God into the best teams in the Big Ten but there is some budding confidence in this department. Penn State getting to double-digit makes from three over the past three games makes up for getting to double-digit threes just twice in the nine games prior. All of this is happening without Jameel Brown in the equation who might turn out to be Penn State’s best option from deep. Don’t expect to see Andrew Funk out there anytime soon, but this performance isn’t a bad trend.

Right Side Of The Glass: Penn State – finally – won the battle on the glass grabbing 43 rebounds to Le Moyne’s 31 while picking up 21 second-chance points in the process. Penn State had three different players have eight or more rebounds which was a nice sign of a group effort on the glass. Much like three point shooting this Nittany Lion roster is unlikely to suddenly become a threat to win the game on the glass every night, but there’s no question it also could have been much better than it has been most of the year. Le Moyne isn’t the best team Penn State will see all year but good habits are good habits.

He’s The Guy: This isn’t a knock at all on what Ace Baldwin brings to the table in just about every area, but Kanye Clary is clearly Penn State’s go-to guy when the Nittany Lions need points, a basket and a response. Clary hit the 20 point mark on Thursday and dished out six assists in the process en route to a 35 minute outing. Clary has come light years from where he was last season and few players – if any – have made a better case for the Big Ten’s most improved player. He doesn’t have the size or the strength of Jalen Pickett, but Clary is quickly becoming just as reliable.

Dunn It: D’Marco Dunn flipped a switch the past three games and it has given Penn State another legitimate scoring option. A 10-point outing on Thursday is his lowest output of the past three contests but after scoring 37 points over the first nine games of the year, Dunn has now scored 43 points over the last three contests. A threat from deep and an improving threat inside of the arc, Dunn’s play is a game-changer for Penn State if he can continue to play this week against conference opponents. The extra minutes seem to be helping too – he’s at 20+ each of the last three outings after making double-digit minutes totals just once in the first nine games of the year. Bad news for Jameel Brown, but credit to Dunn for stepping up.

Sharing Is Caring: Penn State’s 16 assists were a season high for a team that has hit the double-digit assist total mark eight times so far this year. In total Penn State has racked up 139 assists on 318 makes – nearly 44% of its made baskets. Last season that mark sat at nearly 52% when the season was all said and done. All the same Penn State had 16 assists on 25 made baskets, a reminder that sharing is caring and good ball movement often leads to good shots.