Jalen Pickett says 'nobody's tired' on Penn State

Penn State has already played three games in three nights in this year’s Big Ten Tournament. And after defeating Indiana 77-73 in their last contest, the Nittany Lions will go for win number four in game four. But with this being Penn State’s fourth game in as many nights, one would suspect that the team could be running on fumes. However, that is not the case, according to star guard Jalen Pickett.

“It’s a championship game,” said Pickett. “Nobody’s tired. Nobody’s fatigued. It feels like day one coming up. We’re going to get in with Justin, our trainer, and do some treatment and stretching. We have a routine going at the hotel, so we’re going to get on top of that.”

In the championship game, Penn State will take on the best school in the conference this year, Purdue. In the regular season, the Boilermakers sweep the season series with the Nittany Lions by an average of 16 points. However, this Penn State team in the tournament has shifted things into another gear.

The Nittany Lions have defeated the seventh, second, and third seeds in this year’s tournament. And they’ll get a chance to take down the Big Ten’s one seed on Saturday. So, right now is not the time for fatigue to kick in for Penn State; the Nittany Lions are one win away from a conference title and an automatic bid into this year’s NCAA tournament.

Pickett explains how Penn State withstood late Indiana run

The Nittany Lions seemingly had the game in hand, leading by 15 points with just 2:05 remaining. However, the Hoosiers refused to quit, catching fire to go on a 16-2 run to cut the deficit to one point with 33 seconds left.

Penn State responded with some clutch free throws from that point to seal the game, securing its spot in the title game. Senior guard Jalen Pickett explained the team’s mindset during the run in a postgame interview with CBS’ Tracy Wolfson.

“Just the resilience and the fight,” he said. “We came in here and we felt like it was another road game for us. We knew we had to play hard and we knew they were gonna make a run because they’re playing for a Big Ten Championship. We just fought back and we’re an older group and we’re connected.”

Pickett finished with a game-high 28 points (9-19 FG) in the win to go along with eight rebounds and four assists. Penn State led Indiana for the majority of the contest, including the entire second haldf after taking a 34-26 advantage into halftime.