Penn State Basketball: Nittany Lions season review

Penn State basketball ended with another season around the .500 mark, but failed to generate any momentum towards an NCAA Tournament run.

2015-16 Overall Record: 16-16

Conference Record: 7-11 (10th out of 14 teams)

Postseason: None. Last game was a 79-75 second round Big Ten Tournament loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Individual Awards: All-Team Big Ten Honorable Mention: senior forward Brandon Taylor.

Worst Loss: November 24th – home vs. Radford (86 – 74).

The first five games for the Nittany Lions were not particularly kind in 2015-16. Previous to this loss against the Radford Highlanders, Penn State dropped a neutral court blowout to Duquesne 78-52.

The bounce back game did not go as planned four days later. Radford controlled the game (from the tip) in Happy Valley. Penn State played well offensively, but allowed for the Highlanders to drop 86 points on 12-of-22 shooting from deep. Radford was ranked 234th according to KenPom, and finished 16-15 on the season – good for 7th in the Big South conference.

The loss dropped Penn State to 2-2 on the young season, and showed some unfortunate trends for the Nittany Lions throughout the season. This included a lack of defense and rebounding.

Best Win: February 6th – home vs. #22 Indiana (68-63).

It seems every year Penn State is able to pick off one of the top teams in the Big Ten at home, and this season was no different. The Nittany Lions used 24 points from Taylor and 15 Hoosier turnovers to pull off the unlikely upset.

Season Review: Penn State was not expected to make the NCAA Tournament this season. The NIT was even an outcome that was unlikely. Most people thought the Nittany Lions would finish around .500 and in the bottom half of the Big Ten.

They did.

The bright spot for Penn State is that no one expected them to finish with seven conference wins. That’s the most they’ve had since 2010 – 11, and the most Pat Chambers has won in his tenure at Penn State. The internal question that the program needs to have moving forward is – “is this good enough?”.

Key Offseason Question: Can coach Pat Chambers take the next step?

More from Busting Brackets

That question of expectations hangs over the program this summer. Chambers has been with the Nittany Lions for five seasons accumulating a record of 72-91. His last two have been better at 34-32, but his only taste of the postseason came from the quarterfinals of the CBI tournament in 2013-14. Chambers has the support from Penn State Athletic Director Sandy Barbour, but what happens if another .500 season occurs?

Compounding the problem for Chambers is the fact that his best player, Taylor, graduated. Penn State still has some talent returning, especially now-junior guard Shep Garner and junior forward Payton Banks – who will need to shore up the rebounding.

Chambers also snagged a nice recruiting class for 2016. Four star point guard Tony Carr, and four star small forward Lamar Stevens anchor a talented four-man class.

On paper, it is not unreasonable to suggest that this is the strongest recruiting class in Penn State’s history. Going back to 2002, according to Rivals, no Penn State class has produced multiple four-star players. Chambers’ work on the recruiting trail has paid off, he needs these freshmen to contribute immediately to likely save his job.

With a talented class coming in and double-figure scoring returning, Penn State should aim for the NIT next season. A solid non-conference season (which means not losing to Radford and Duquesne) and 8-9 wins in conference should get it done and keep Chambers safe.

Next: 10 best National Championship finishes

2015 – 16 Final Grade: C-

Home/Big Ten