Coach Micah Shrewsberry has a recipe for getting to March Madness

Last Saturday night, Penn State basketball completed a 76-69 victory over Minnesota at The Barn. This win was important for a couple of reasons — many of which relate to the plan that head coach Micah Shrewsberry has for the Nittany Lions.

First, this was only Penn State’s second road victory all season. The other road win came against Illinois on December 10th. Second, this win was necessary to keep postseason hopes alive. While a loss would not make March Madness impossible (they could win the Big Ten Tournament), it would be very difficult had they lost. 

This game featured more of Penn State’s winning formula. Jalen Pickett had 32 points against Minnesota to go with his 41 points against Illinois on February 14. So, in the last two games, Pickett is averaging 36.5 points per game. Pickett being great makes Penn State great. To go along with Pickett’s 32, Andrew Funk had 11 and Camren Wynter had 14. Most importantly for Wynter, he went 2-2 from behind the arch.

Coach Micah Shrewsberry has a plan for Penn State basketball

This week, we had a chance to catch up with coach Micah Shrewsberry and his team at the basketball media day ahead of the Ohio State game.

“I know I struggled in a couple of games,” super senior guard Cameren Wynter said. “But, I’m still confident and if I’m open I’m gonna shoot the ball. I’m confident in my ability to shoot and I’ve put in enough work to where I feel like if the opportunity presents itself and it’s a good shot, I’m gonna shoot it.”

Penn State only has four games left in the regular season. All four of those games are quad 1 games. This is good news for Penn State fans because it will allow the Lions to bolster their resume come March. After the regular season, Penn State will probably need to win a couple of games in the Big Ten Tournament to make March Madness. A good run at the end of the season could get the Nittany Lions to their goal. 

Coach Shrewsberry has been preaching the importance of going 1-0 every game to his players. This mentality he said he borrowed from Penn State Head Football Coach James Franklin.

“The most important game of our schedule and our season is the next game.” Shrewsberry said. “And that’s it, that’s all we’re focused on… we’ll start Ohio State prep [Tuesday] and Ohio State is the most important game of the season because it’s the next one. And our guys have been focused that way just thinking about what’s next, what’s directly in front of you.”

Nittany Lions gearing up for massive road contest at Ohio State

Penn State concludes the season with a game Thursday at Ohio State (2/23), a home game against Rutgers (2/26), a road goad game against Northwestern (3/1), and a home game against Maryland (3/5). While all of these games are important quad 1 games, rest assured, Coach Shrewsberry and his players will only focus on beating the Buckeyes in Columbus. 

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