STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – For the first five minutes last night, Tyler Bernardini made shot after shot for Penn and let Penn State know it would be in for a difficult season opener.
Then, just as quickly, Bernardini stopped himself more than the Nittany Lions did, with what Penn coach Glen Miller called “careless fouls and a lack of discipline.”
The critique may have been harsh, but it was correct. With Bernardini playing just 17 minutes, the Quakers couldn’t find enough scoring from their other players and fell to the Lions, 70-55, in front of 7,507 at the Bryce Jordan Center.
Bernardini came out on fire against the Nittany Lions, who unfurled their 2009 NIT championship banner before the game. He sank his first four shots and had 10 points with the game barely more than five minutes old.
But the 6-foot-6 junior then committed two quick fouls and saw spotty action the rest of the first half. He picked up his next two fouls early in the second half and never got into a rhythm, finishing with 12 points.
“I just think that he took himself out of the game,” Miller said. “What would have happened if he was in the game for 28, 32 minutes – which he should have played – I don’t know. Careless fouls . . . it’s been a problem in practice.”
Read it all: Penn short on answers in 70-55 loss to Penn State | Philadelphia Inquirer | 11/14/2009.