You never know what you're going to get with November college basketball. Penn State's young guns are flying at 100 mph in their first week of games with limited practice time, but the Nittany Lions took a step in the right direction with a 85-76 win over Grand Canyon.

The Lions were unexpectedly shorthanded this evening as Davis Zemgulis and Isaiah Washington joined Josh Reaves on the injury report. Washington suffered a minor ankle injury that's not expected to keep him out long, while Zemgulis sat out with concussion-like symptoms after he took an elbow from Mike Watkins in the Duquesne game.

With the shortened bench, Chambers was forced to throw Nazeer Bostick into his first action and managed just an eight man rotation for the whole game. That didn't seem to matter as the three players off the bench made vital contributions to the Lions' victory.

The first half was a beautiful display of offensive basketball from the Nittany Lions. They scored 48 points at 1.21 points-per-possession while assisting on 13 of their 18 made field goals. It was a total team effort, too, as all eight players scored at least three points in the half, while only Shep Garner reached double-digits with 11.

However, their team defense left a lot to be desired. We knew coming into this game that Josh Braun, the WAC's preseason player of the year, could fill it up from beyond the arc. The Lions still let the Antelopes' best player get loose for 16 points on 4-8 shooting from three in the first half. If they were able to contain Braun, this one may have been over at halftime. Instead, the Lions took a 48-41 lead to the break.

While the offense was nearly unstoppable in the first period, they began the second half with a patented Penn State scoring drought like the countless ones witnessed last season. The Lions didn't score their first points of the second half until the 14:39 mark on a pair of Lamar Stevens free throws. While it seemed this young squad might let the game slip away, they maintained a strong effort level on defense and prevented Grand Canyon from taking control of the game.

Once they were able to regain some offensive rhythm, the Lions opened up a three-possession lead that they maintained the rest of the way.

Four Factors

Possessions PPP eFG% OReb% TO% FTRate Penn State 75 1.14 52.2% 33.3% 14.7% 23.2 Grand Canyon 1.02 44.0% 41.9% 21.4% 31.3

For all of the positives from the Nittany Lions tonight, there's no question this team is going to struggle rebounding the basketball. None of their first three opponents are particularly good rebounding clubs, and they've all had their way against Penn State. The small ball lineups must be able to hold their own on the glass if PSU wants to succeed in the Big Ten.

Outside of the rebounding numbers, everything else has been positive. This was the second straight game where the Nittany Lions had 20 assists. They reached that mark under Chambers just twice in his five prior seasons. Also, the lack of turnovers has been really impressive considering their new feverish pace. Clearly these guys can excel playing an uptempo style.

Player Notes