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Penn State basketball falls apart late, losing to Rutgers

On Sunday night, the Penn State Nittany Lions blew a 19 point lead against the Scarlet Knights at the BJC.

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Penn State basketball
Feb 1, 2023; West Lafayette, Indiana, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions guard Jalen Pickett (22) reacts during the second half against the Purdue Boilermakers at Mackey Arena. The Boilermakers won 80 to 60. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports

UNIVERSITY PARK, PA — On Sunday, the Penn State Nittany Lions (17-12, 8-10 Big Ten) took on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (18-11, 10-8 Big Ten) in one of the most important basketball games at the Bryce-Jordan Center in State College, PA. With its back against the wall and tournament hopes on the line, Penn State basketball lost a close one against the quad two Scarlet Knights.

Penn State basketball mauls Rutgers in first half

The Scarlet Knights won the game’s opening tip, though neither team managed to score throughout the first two minutes of the game. Rutgers got on the board first with a long 3-ball and managed to add to their lead on the following possession, but Penn State basketball kept it close with a series of baskets. A Kebba Njie dunk made it a 5-4 ballgame before the Scarlet Knights took a timeout with 15:31 remaining in the half.

Right out of the timeout, Penn State guard Cameron Wynter gave the Nittany Lions a two-point lead with a long 3-pointer — Rutgers ran out of time on their next trip down the floor, and Penn State regained possession. Wynter pushed Penn State’s lead to 10-5 on his next trip down the floor with another 3-pointer; he attempted a third in a row, yet it rang off the front iron.

Penn State’s lead grew to seven behind a Jalen Pickett fadeaway — Rutgers failed to respond, and on PSU’s next trip down the court, Pickett added another two. Rutgers was forced to take a timeout with 11:12 remaining in the half; Penn State basketball held a 14-5 lead after scoring 10 unanswered points. Out of the timeout, Penn State laid on the gas with another nine points — the Nittany Lions’ run improved to 19-2, and Rutgers was forced to take another timeout.

Out of the timeout, Rutgers brought the game within 14 before freshman guard Kanye Clary pushed Penn State’s lead back to 16. The Lions collected a defensive rebound, took it down the court, and Kebba Njie was fouled under the basket right before a TV break. After the break ended, Njie drilled one of his two free throws, which gave Penn State a 26-9 lead over the Scarlet knights with 7:30 remaining.

The two teams traded defensive possessions for a while until the game’s scoring drought was ended by Rutgers, who landed a layup to make the score 26-11 in PSU’s favor. Cam Wynter responded on Penn State’s next trip down the floor, though Rutgers buried a 3-ball immediately after, making the score 28-14. Jalen Pickett missed his free throw out of the break, but he sunk a 3-pointer the next time he touched the ball, pushing Penn State’s lead to 31-14. Rutgers pieced together a small run before the half ended, making the halftime score Penn State 31, Rutgers 21.

First half stats

  • Penn State basketball shot 48.1% from the floor.
  • Nittany Lions were led in points by Jalen Pickett (11) and Cam Wynter (10) in the first half.
  • PSU shot 30.8% from behind the 3-point arc.
  • Penn State and Rutgers both had 32 possessions, and both collected 21 rebounds in the first.

Gritty second half sees Rutgers pull past Penn State basketball

Right out of the break, Penn State basketball scored nine unanswered before Rutgers chipped away at the Lions’ lead. Penn State basketball took a 19-point lead and forced a Scarlet Knight timeout with the score at 42-23. The Knights immediately buried a 3-pointer and a free throw to make it a 42-27 game at the media timeout with 16:00 remaining in the game.

Out of the break, Rutgers sunk a three to bring the game within 12 — it seemed as if the Nittany Lions were close to blowing the game wide open, yet for some reason, couldn’t. A pair of Scarlet Knight free throws made it a 10-point game once again before super senior forward Michael Henn sunk a three to restore Penn State’s lead to 13. Rutgers brought it back down to 10 on their following possession. Just seconds later, Henn buried another three, which was answered by Rutgers with an ally-oop to keep the score within 11 points.

With 12:00 remaining, Cam Spencer made it a nine-point game, though the Lions still led 48-39. Another Rutgers basket made it a seven-point game, though Penn State’s Seth Lundy pushed the Nittany Lion lead back to ten with a trio of free throws — Penn State basketball led 51-41 with ten minutes remaining.

With 7:30 remaining, Rutgers cut the Penn State lead to eight — a minute later, the Penn State lead was again reduced. With 6:00 remaining, the Nittany Lions lead was six. A shot clock violation gave Rutgers the ball back with 5:30 left to play, though Penn State basketball managed a stop and sunk a free throw to make it a 54-47 game with 4:42 remaining.

As the game wound down, Rutgers had clawed their way back within five points. With 2:28 remaining, Rutgers tied the game at 54-54. With 1:31 remaining, Seth Lundy made an amazing stop and was fouled on the offensive end — Lundy sunk both, giving Penn State basketball a 56-54 advantage. Rutgers retook the lead just seconds later with 1:24 left on the clock. The Scarlet Knights would add a layup with 32 seconds remaining to extend the lead to three.

The Nittany Lions had two possessions down the stretch. With a Pickett turnover on the first possession and three missed three-pointers on the second, Penn State’s collapse was sealed. Final score from the BJC, Rutgers 59, Penn State 56.

Second half stats

  • Penn State basketball led by as many as 19 points and held the lead for 32:35 seconds of game time. Meanwhile, Rutgers only led for four minutes the entire game, and its largest lead was the margin of victory.
  • The Lions didn’t score from the field over the final nine minutes of the game, and made only one of their last 18 field goals.
  • The Nittany Lions shot an abysmal 28% from behind the arc, including a combined 1-18 from Lundy and Andrew Funk. Overall, Funk and Lundy went 2-23 from the field.
  • Cam Wynter was Penn State’s leading scorer, with 16 points on 6-9 shooting. Jalen Pickett had 11 points on 5-9 shooting.


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REPORT: Penn State Basketball Coach Micah Shrewsberry Decision Coming ‘in Next 36 Hours’

Penn State head coach Micah Shrewsberry is expected to decide on his coaching future in the coming days, according to reports.

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Mar 18, 2023; Des Moines, IA, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions head coach Micah Shrewsberry reacts during the second half against the Texas Longhorns at Wells Fargo Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports

State College — It’s been a whirlwind month inside the men’s basketball facility at the Bryce Jordan Center. In February, it looked like Penn State basketball was in for a post season letdown. But then, Micah Shrewsberry led the Nittany Lions on a 5-1 run to close out the regular season. Penn State made it all the way to the Big Ten Tournament Championship, and won the program’s first NCAA Tournament game since 2001. 

All the while, tension built as to Shrewsberry’s future in Happy Valley. Reports surfaced Monday that Shrewsberry was in talks with Notre Dame. Speculation swirled as to AD Pat Kraft’s push to keep Shrewsberry as the Penn State basketball coach.

And after all the reading of tea leaves, it appears that an answer is coming soon.

Penn State Basketball Coach Micah Shrewsberry Decision Imminent

According to a report from ESPN on Tuesday afternoon, Micah Shrewsberry is expected to decide on his future “in the next 36 hours or so.”

The article notes that Shrewsberry has also emerged as a candidate for the Providence job, after the Friars’ coach Ed Cooley took the Georgetown job on Monday. However, headlines quickly pinpointed that Shrewsberry was either considering staying at Penn State or going to Notre Dame.

It is widely believed in Penn State circles that the university made as good of a push as it could to retain Shrewsberry after the season ended in the NCAA Tournament Round of 32 Saturday. Now, Penn State must wait and see what Notre Dame can offer and if the opportunity to counter exists.

Notre Dame coach Mike Brey left the program after going 11-21 this season. He is expected to become the new head coach at South Florida.

Notre Dame could be an appealing job to Shrewsberry, an Indiana native who has spent much of his professional career coaching in the state. Shrewsberry was the head coach at Indiana University-South Bend from 2005 to 2007 before coaching at both Butler and Purdue.

We will provide updates as the situation evolves.



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Regardless of the outcome, Penn State needs to go down swinging for Shrewsberry

The Nittany Lions need to prove that the school is ready to take hoops seriously.

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Penn State basketball coach Micah Shrewsberry
Dec 10, 2022; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions head coach Micah Shrewsberry reacts off the bench during the second half against the Illinois Fighting Illini at State Farm Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

STATE COLLEGE, PA — Yesterday, we reported that Penn State’s head basketball coach is currently in talks with Notre Dame for their coaching vacancy. This is bad news for Nittany Lion basketball fans; however, regardless of the outcome, Penn State University needs to fight to keep Micah Shrewsberry in town. If nothing else, the school needs to show fans, players, and its potential next head coach that they are ready to take Penn State basketball seriously.

Penn State basketball sees a marvelous turnaround in just two seasons

Since 2001, the Penn State basketball team had appeared in the NCAA tournament twice (2001, 2011) and won a tournament game once (2001). That all changed when Micah Shrewsberry was introduced as Penn State’s new basketball coach. In just two seasons at the helm in State College, Shrewsberry took Penn State from a doormat program to the Big Ten title game, an NCAA tournament berth, and even a tournament win over Texas A&M.

On top of Shrewsberry’s on-court success, he also managed to pull two of the best recruiting classes that Penn State basketball had ever seen, and used the transfer portal to bring in some of the team’s best players (such as Andrew Funk). If the 2022-23 season proved anything, it is that the Nittany Lions should be ready to go all out to keep Micah Shrewsberry in town.

Notre Dame might be an offer that Micah Shrewsberry cannot refuse

Micah Shrewsberry has spent the majority of his life in Indiana — many of his coaching jobs have been in IN as well. While State College is still in the midwestern area, it is not truly home for Shrewsberry, which is something that has been cited as possibly being a reason that he eventually leaves for a school in Indiana. Notre Dame is also willing to spend good money on basketball and has very nice facilities to work with; if you want to build a winner, the Notre Dame job likely looks more appealing than Penn State does right now — for basketball, that is.

If Notre Dame puts a solid offer on the table for Shrewsberry, offers him enough to pay his staff well, and gives him a chance to coach in a place that he calls home, there might not be much that Penn State basketball can do. Still, Penn State needs to go down swinging even if this is the case.

Penn State University needs to go down swinging

Pat Kraft is a fantastic athletic director, and right now, he is facing his biggest test to date. Even if Micah Shrewsberry decides to leave, Kraft and the administration need to go all out in keeping him around — if nothing else, it sends the right message for whoever is next.

If the Penn State basketball program ever wants to be successful, they need to find someone that is willing to put the work into building a winner — if the school goes down swinging trying to keep Micah in town, it shows the fans, recruits, and even the next head coach that Penn State is ready to become a contender. PSU has the money to put into hoops, now its time to find a coach that wants to build something special in State College. If that person is Micah Shrewsberry, that is great news; however, even if it’s not, it is time that Penn State takes the program seriously.



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Micah Shrewsberry reportedly in talks with Notre Dame

According to reports, the Nittany Lions’ head coach is in talks with Notre Dame.

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Micah Shrewsberry Penn State basketball
Mar 18, 2023; Des Moines, IA, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions head coach Micah Shrewsberry signals to his players during the first half against the Texas Longhorns at Wells Fargo Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports

STATE COLLEGE, PA — On Monday, Penn State fans got some news that they likely did not want to hear. According to David Jones of PennLive, Penn State basketball coach Micah Shrewsberry began talks with Notre Dame for its head coaching vacancy. Jones also claims that the Nittany Lions have likely already made their pitch to Shrewsberry, so the ball is in his court.

Penn State basketball coach Micah Shrewsberry reportedly in talks with Notre Dame

Micah Shrewsberry has done magical things with the Penn State basketball program over the past two seasons, so it comes as no surprise that he is a top target for many major schools like Notre Dame. Before the Shrewsberry era, the Nittany Lions had not made a trip to the NCAA tournament since 2011, and had not won a tournament game since 2001.

In just two seasons at the helm, Micah Shrewsberry turned Penn State basketball into a tournament team — the Nittany Lions went 23-14 in 2022-23, and made an appearance in the Big Ten title game. Penn State also beat Texas A&M in Round 1 of the NCAA tournament; the program’s first tournament win in over two decades. If that was not enough, Shrewsberry also pulled the two best recruiting classes in Penn State history during his two seasons in State College, and is already working on a brand new transfer and freshman class that could be just as special.

Right now, the Penn State basketball program needs to do everything that it can do to keep Shrewsberry. If the Nittany Lions are to lose out on an incredible head coach like he has been, the program will lose all momentum and begin to regress back to the state it has been for decades now. Assuming Jones’ report is accurate, Penn State basketball fans need to cross their fingers that Pat Kraft’s offer is better the what the Fighting Irish are putting on the table.



Thank you for reading Basic Blues Nation. Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter for the latest news and insights on your favorite Penn State athletics.

For feedback, questions, concerns, or to apply for a writing position, please email us at basicbluesnation@gmail.com or direct message us on our social media. It’s due to your support that we can become one of the market’s fastest-growing Penn State sports outlets!

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