Penn St. @ Syracuse preview

Penn State will need to leave Wednesday’s deflating semifinal loss to Ole Miss in the past when it takes on Syracuse Friday in the consolation game of the NIT Season Tip-Off at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. Penn State played with the lead for over 37 minutes of Wednesday’s contest but allowed a 21-point second-half lead to slip away as the Rebels escaped with a 74-72 victory.

It was a tale of two halves for the Nittany Lions as they forced 14 turnovers and held a 43-27 halftime lead over Ole Miss but forced just one giveaway in the final 20 minutes while senior Lamar Stevens was the only one on his team to manage more than four second-half points. “We just don’t have the mental toughness to be able to keep competing at a high level to be able to finish games,” Penn State head coach Patrick Chambers told reporters. “We have to learn how to win. We have to reinforce our habits, reinforce our mental conditioning. We need to toughen up mentally.” The Orange seemed to dig themselves too big of a hole during their 86-72 semifinal loss to Oklahoma State Wednesday, as they shot just 28 percent in the first half while surrendering their season-highs for points against in a half (43) and game (86). “We just didn’t make enough shots offensively to be effective,” Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim told the media. “The 3s at the end of the first half gave (Oklahoma State) separation. We were just fighting to try to get back into it the second half.”

TV: 7 p.m. ET, ESPN2

ABOUT PENN STATE (5-1): Stevens scored 16 of his team-high 22 points in the second half Wednesday and leads the Nittany Lions in scoring (17.7) and rebounding (8.2). Senior Mike Watkins did everything he could to withstand the Rebels’ comeback as he went 8-for-11 from the floor en route to 18 points while adding 12 rebounds, a career-best tying eight blocks and four steals. Sophomore Myreon Jones sits second on the team behind Stevens with 11.8 points per game but managed just two points in Wednesday’s dismal second half after notching 10 points before the break.

ABOUT SYRACUSE (4-2): Junior Elijah Hughes paced the Orange with a career-high 28 points in Wednesday’s losing effort and is his team’s leading scorer with an average of 19 points per game. Freshman Joseph Girard III was the only other Syracuse player to hit double-figures against the Cowboys as he finished with 12 points and added a career-high nine assists. The Orange hadn’t given up more than 67 points to an opponent this season before Wednesday’s loss – which moved their then-10th-ranked scoring defense in the country (53.6) to 30th entering Thursday (59.0).

TIP-INS

1. Syracuse and Penn State played each other every season from 1947-1981 with the Orange holding a 62-43 advantage in the all-time series. These programs have not met since a 69-68 Syracuse win on Jan. 25, 1982.

2. Penn State ranks 10th nationally and first in the Big Ten entering Thursday in steals per game (10.7) while junior Jamari Wheeler is tied for 11th nationally and leads the conference with three per game.

3. Syracuse G Buddy Boeheim, son of head coach Jim Boeheim, is averaging 13.3 points in his sophomore year and scored a career-high 22 points Saturday against Bucknell.

PREDICTION: Syracuse 68, Penn State 57