For Penn State, What Now?
The largest home crowd of Penn State's basketball season lost its collective mind as Seth Lundy's dunk gave the Lions a 19-point lead over Rutgers early in the second half. Sure its game had cracks (namely from 3-point range), but Penn State was barrelling toward a fourth straight win and a firmer spot on the NCAA Tournament bubble.
Then, as coach Micah Shrewsberry said, the Lions "sucked." He said it twice after a bewildering 59-56 home loss in which Penn State did not make a basket in the game's final 9 minutes. An announced crowd of 12,082 left the Bryce Jordan Center watching Lucy pull the football from their collective Charlie Brown and wondering about the ramifications of a excruciating loss.
Shrewsberry didn't necessarily want to hear it. "I'm trying to be a positive as possible with our group," the coach said. Still, he was unnerved.
"We’ve sucked when people have come to games," said Shrewsberry, whose team is 1-1 this season in home games with announced attendances above 12,000. "I don’t know whether we’re too amped up to play or too juiced to play or maybe we’re reading press clippings of how important this game was instead of focusing on one game. It's one game."
But Penn State (17-12, 8-10) had a lot riding on this one game. As they chase their first NCAA Tournament bid in 12 years, the Lions needed to build on a three-game win streak. They needed to be 10-10 in the Big Ten entering the conference tournament. They needed to run hot into March.
So no, as Shrewsberry said, the floor wasn't going to open and swallow the Lions if they lost. "This wasn't an elimination game," he added. However, it became a must-win when Lundy made that dunk 3 minutes into the second half that gave Penn State a 42-23 lead.
Then the Lions became completely unglued. The second-half box score is shocking. Penn State shot 25.9 percent from the field, made one of its last 18 shots, missed its last 14 and didn't score for 9:16.
Seth Lundy and Andrew Funk, who rank 1-2 in the Big Ten in 3-point shooting percentage, went 1-for-11 from the arc in the second half. Lundy was 0-for-11 for the game.
Jalen Pickett, who scored Penn State's last 14 points in a win over Ohio State, didn't take a shot in the second half. Shrewsberry attributed that to Rutgers' double teams that forced the point guard to get rid of the ball. Perhaps, but it was stunning to watch Pickett trap himself with the ball and dish rather than create ways to shoot.
Further, Penn State committed seven second-half turnovers, surprising for a team that averaged a Big Ten-low 8.6 per game. And the Lions' defense looked lost, as Rutgers averaged 1.52 points per possession in the second half.
"Steve Pikiell completely outcoached me tonight," Shrewsberry said. "He coached circles around me tonight. We got outcoached. I've got to put our guys in better position to be successful."
Shrewsberry had no answers for his 3-point shooters' off nights, Pickett's corralled offense and his team's minimal post presence. The coach said he rode Lundy (1-for-16 from the field) because Lundy leads the Big Ten in 3-point percentage. "I'm going to trust him," Shrewsberry said.
And as his team lost offensive confidence in the second half, Shrewsberry wasn't able to alter its mindset. "We led the game for 32:30," the coach said, "I don't know what you're down about."
Rutgers scored nine points in the game's first 15 minutes and still won. On its last offensive series, Penn State took two 3-pointers, one of which was airballed. Lundy was stripped of the ball in the waning seconds before having a chance to attempt his 12th 3-pointer of a lost night.
"It will be a sleepless night," Shrewsberry said, "I know that much."
Noteworthy
- Funk, who entered the game averaging a Big Ten-best 2.9 3-pointers per game, has made one in his last two games.
- In the second half, five Penn State players finished a minus-9 or worse. Funk was a minus-14.
- Wynter (16 points) led Penn State in scoring for the third time this season.
- Lost in the loss, Pickett tied the program's single-season assist mark (198).
Up Next
Penn State visits Northwestern on Wednesday for its last Big Ten road game of the season. Tip-off is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET.
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AllPennState is the place for Penn State news, opinion and perspective on the SI.com network. Publisher Mark Wogenrich has covered Penn State for more than 20 years, tracking three coaching staffs, three Big Ten titles and a catalog of great stories. Follow him on Twitter @MarkWogenrich. And consider subscribing (button's on the home page) for more great content across the SI.com network.
