Big Ten Basketball power rankings: Indiana flies up, Michigan crashes down

8. Penn State Nittany Lions -14-7 (5-5)

In just one week, the Lions had one of their best performances of the season, along with one of the worst. Starting with the bad, they took on Rutgers on the road and allowed just 65 points total. That would be good enough in most games to be competitive but in this case, it was a complete blowout.

Penn State lost 65-45, easily its lowest-scoring output of the season. They shot just 33% from the field and 4/26 from three-point range but somehow, star guard Jalen Pickett managed to stuff the stat sheet. He led the team with 15 points and eight rebounds, with both Seth Lundy and Andrew Funk chipping in with 12 points. But six points from the rest of the team is why they only had 45.

The Nittany Lions did manage to undergo a complete 180 a few days later, scoring 49 points in the first half alone against Michigan. This was a blowout on the positive side for the team, winning 83-61. Pickett was on triple-double watch yet again, going for 25 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists. Lundy had 22 points and Funk had 19, with both having seven rebounds and making four three-pointers made.

Penn State has alternated wins and losses in the past six games and that trend might continue, with a road game at Purdue coming up. They’ll stay on the road to take on Nebraska, which will be important for different reasons since they don’t want to lose a bad game for its resume.