Micah Shrewsberry shares emotions of facing Matt Painter for championship

Penn State has the opportunity to make history on Saturday in the Big Ten championship game against Purdue. They would be the lowest-seeded team to win the tournament, coming in as the No. 10. Head coach Micah Shrewsberry will have to face off against a familiar face to earn the honor in Matt Painter.

When Shrewsberry was hired by Penn State, he was on the Purdue staff, serving under Painter. Even though Purdue has had recent success in the series, the two head coaches are still close to one another. Their most important head-to-head matchup will be just the latest showdown of friends.

“It’s never fun because they beat our brains in every single time we’ve played them,” Shrewsberry said. “But like it’s the friendliest of rivalries that he’s a guy that I call and I talk to all the time, and despite us being in the same league, we’re talking about things throughout the year. We’re helping each other. He’s helping me.

“So I’m always indebted to him. I owe a lot of gratitude to him. He showed me, in my years there, how to run a college basketball program, how to do it the right way, how to recruit the kids that fit your system. So it’s fun. It will be a great challenge. We got to be ready. We got to be physical. We got to play good offense.”

Shrewsberry and Penn State are still going to go out there and play with an intense passion. Had they not been throughout a majority of the Big Ten Tournament, they would not be playing in the championship game. Taking down Purdue in Chicago will take the same mentality.

“We’re going to fight,” Micah Shrewsberry said. “We’re going to compete. That’s what I love about our guys.”

Penn State already took down a team from the Hoosier State, defeating Indiana on Saturday afternoon. As usual, Jalen Pickett was outstanding for the Nittany Lions and put on a classic performance. You would have to think the same will be required against the Boilermakers.

Purdue won the two matchups during the regular season, winning by double-digits each time. The latest was a 20-point win at Mackey Arena. Painter has a great record against his former understudy but the upcoming one will have more at stake than usual.