The Lions played quite possibly their worst game of the season. Forward Geary Claxton finally came back to earth; the freshman recorded seven turnovers in 32 minutes of play. Penn State was out-rebounded 30-27 by a Northwestern team that is widely known as a very passive rebounding squad. The Wildcats have been out-rebounded by nearly six boards per game; Penn State out-rebounded Northwestern 42-17 on Jan. 22.
The Lions' shooting woes continued; they shot 30 percent from the field. Claxton and freshmen sharpshooters Mike Walker and Danny Morrissey went a combined 5-of-20 from the field, including 2-of-11 from 3-point range.
"We really don't have any zip," DeChellis said. "We tried to cut practice as much as we could cut it. Our freshmen are tired, Geary [Claxton] didn't have it ... we look like a tired group ... everything was a step slow. That is a sign of a tired team, but we can't execute, we just have to go out and play better."
DeChellis tried to inject some energy into his team by starting seniors Jason McDougald and Kevin Fellows over incumbent starters juniors Aaron Johnson and Travis Parker.
McDougald (18 minutes) played well on the defensive end, recording an athletic block, but he also recorded four fouls in limited minutes.
Parker and Johnson did end up playing the majority of the game after coming off the bench five minutes into the first half, recording a combined 17 points.
After out-rebounding the entire Wildcats team in the teams' first meeting, Johnson was only able to grab seven boards -- all defensive.
On the flip side, power forward Parker was rebound-less and made five turnovers in 27 minutes of play.
