Believe: Penn State Returns to the NCAA Tournament
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Penn State brought a blue-and-yellow "Believe" poster to the Big Ten Tournament, riding the Ted Lasso proverb to its first NCAA Tournament in 12 years. Now the question becomes, how much more "Believe" do the Lions have?
After a nervy performance in the Big Ten Tournament final, Penn State earned a No. 10 seed in the 2023 NCAA Tournament and will face No. 7 Texas A&M on Thursday in Des Moines, Iowa, in the Midwest Region first round. The Lions (22-13) are playing in their first NCAA Tournament since 2011, ending the Big Ten's longest tournament dry spell through a compelling March run they hope to continue.
The Lions qualified for the NCAA Tournament by essentially playing three weeks of elimination games. The won eight of their last 10 games, including three at the Big Ten Tournament as the No. 10 seed to reach the title game.
Penn State's championship hopes ended in a 67-65 loss to top-seeded Purdue, a game the Lions didn't relinquish even down 17 with 6:18 remaining. The Lions unbelievably cut that deficit to one, and had possession with 3.3 seconds remaining, further sharpening a postseason ethos they have cultivated for three weeks.
"This group really believes in each other," Penn State coach Micah Shrewsberry said. "I love it that they believe in me, but I believe in them 100 percent as well. I try to tell them that all the time. Nobody believes in this group more than I do. Nobody, nobody, absolutely nobody."
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For Shrewsberry and the Lions, though, this season nearly unraveled in February. Penn State fell to 5-9 in the Big Ten after a Feb. 11 loss to Maryland, a game that Shrewsberry called his team's turning point.
The players met to hit the reset switch, Shrewsberry recalibrated his approach and the Lions won eight of their next nine games. Further, they compiled six Quad 1 wins in that stretch, climbing into the tournament field with one of the program's most clutch stretches in years.
In Chicago, Pickett pointed to Shrewsberry as the charging point for Penn State's surge.
"You can look down there at that guy," said Pickett, motioning to Shrewsberry after the Lions' win over Illinois on Friday. "He really got after us in practice a couple times because he basically said we've got to win it for ourselves, too. We felt like we had a special group."
Shrewsberry returned the compliment, though the coach did note that he had to learn how to rebuild his team. Players responded to different coaching strategies. As a result, Shrewsberry said, his team needed to be loose and on the edge simultaneously.
That was a delicate line to walk, but Shrewsberry said the players' attitudes helped ease the process.
"They never wavered," Shrewsberry said. "No matter what they did, no matter what I asked them to do, they always did it. ... I had to find that right button to push and then keep pushing it, keep pushing it, keep pushing it, and I think we found it."
Penn State confronted its dual kryptonites in the Big Ten final, trying to stop Purdue's 7-4 center Zach Edey while shooting from a 3-point desert early. Edey finished with 30 points and 13 rebounds, completing a dominant three-game series against the Lions in which he totaled 78 points and 39 rebounds. He also tipped Penn State's inbound pass on its last possession, which ultimately ended with a turnover.
Meanwhile, the Lions missed 12 of their first 15 attempts from 3-point range, and the previously hot-shooting Andrew Funk didn't take his first 3-pointer until the second half.
Still, as Shrewsberry said, the team doesn't waver, proving that by fighting back from that 17-point deficit to terrify Purdue in the closing minutes. Seth Lundy led the surge, scoring 17 of his team-high 19 points in the second half.
That bodes well for the Lions, who are making their 10th NCAA Tournament appearance but just their fifth since 1965. The Lions were a 10 seed in their last tournament appearance, when they lost to Temple in the first round.
The Lions have made one Final Four, in 1954, when All-American Jesse Arnelle led them to wins over Toledo, LSU and Notre Dame. Penn State fell to La Salle 69-54 in the national semifinal but defeated USC 70-61 for third place. Arnelle was named the East Regional MVP and made all-Final Four team.
Now, it's this team's turn.
"We fought, we battled, I'm proud of our guys," Shrewsberry said after the Big Ten final. "We're ready for what's next."
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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.
