STATE COLLEGE — The Bryce Jordan Center won’t ever be heralded as one of the cathedrals of college basketball, even if it housed Penn State hoops for the next 100 years. The venue is largely considered best suited for concerts or other events like the university’s annual THON fundraiser for pediatric cancer.
Coach Mike Rhoades clearly agrees with that sentiment, showering praise Wednesday on Rec Hall — the former home of the Nittany Lions until 1996. Penn State returns to the 6,846-seat arena for a Big Ten game for the second straight year Thursday, hosting Ohio State at 6:30 p.m. on FS1.
“It’s a basketball facility, like a lot in the Big Ten, where the court is surrounded by fans. Their feet are almost on the court. The bleachers are close,” Rhoades said in the Rec Hall media room. “You 10 rows up, 20 rows up, 30 rows up, it’s on top of you. That is a basketball arena. That’s a basketball gym.
“The one thing that’s been neat going around the Big Ten is seeing basketball arenas, not big convocation centers. Basketball arenas, even where they bring the bleachers in around the court so it gives us a basketball fan experience. That, to me, is Rec Hall. And that brings a lot of excitement. Those are the arenas we all grew up in and the gyms we all grew up in.”
Penn State (13-8, 3-7) could use the shot in the arm a rowdy Rec Hall provides, as the Nittany Lions have fallen in two straight games and six of their last seven. Meanwhile, the Buckeyes (12-8, 4-5) have won two in a row, including a huge victory at then-No. 11 Purdue.
The Lions have fallen into a lull of playing well enough to win games, regardless of competition, but letting them slip away late. Penn State has been leading or within two possessions with two minutes to play in six of seven Big Ten losses this season. Rhoades’ team has lost by a combined 11 points in the past four losses.
Monday night at Michigan hurt as badly as any, as the Wolverines went on a 9-0 run to close the final two minutes. Star senior point guard Ace Baldwin Jr., playing at less than 100% health, took a 3-pointer to regain the lead for Penn State with seven seconds left but was off the mark.
“We’re not closing out games the way that I take pride in my teams closing out games. You take responsibility as a coaching staff,” Rhoades said. “We’ve got to do a better job in helping our guys do that, from game management to understanding exactly how we’re doing it, to our matchups, to everything. I’m proud of our effort and our approach. And late in games, we are making plays. We’re just not making enough or that one that closes out the game. And that’s what’s hurt us this month.”
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Beyond having a banged-up Baldwin, Penn State has played its past few games without starting senior forward Puff Johnson, the team’s captain and most vocal leader. He’s been a noticeable absence on the defensive end especially, and Penn State has struggled to completely replace his value as a stretch four.
According to the NCAA’s NET metric, often a good indicator of March Madness qualification, the Lions sit at No. 50 despite having just two Quad 1 or 2 wins. That’s right on the bubble of the tournament field, considering automatic bid stealers will exist, so it’s obvious Penn State needs to start stringing wins together.
Just one ranked team, Wisconsin, remains on the regular season schedule for Penn State, while a few wins in the Big Ten Tournament would also go a long way to boosting a resume.
“We’ve had urgency all month. I think you see it in our play, too. It’s just that we’re not closing out games,” Rhoades said. “We’ve got the second half of the Big Ten schedule right here in front of us. We’ve got to go make some things happen. We’ve got an urgency to close out games from our coaching staff down to all our players. We’re doing a lot of good things, but we’re not getting the results. We gotta go get the results.”
Penn State’s last appearance at Rec Hall was quite a momentum booster, completing a miraculous comeback to down No. 12 Illinois and invite a court storming. Perhaps the old building still has some magic hanging around in its rafters.
“The energy this place brings is amazing. We saw it last year. It’s a much more intimate environment,” senior guard D’Marco Dunn said. “Everything is kind of on top of each other. It’s going to be the White Out game. I think last it year paid huge dividends, and I think it will again.”