Jalen Pickett says overcoming low seed is 'really important' to Penn State

Jalen Pickett and his Penn State teammates have been on a magical ride in Chicago the last few days. Entering the Big Ten Tournament as the No. 10 seed, the Nittany Lions have advanced all the way to the championship game, where they will face No. 1 seed Purdue.

Being able to pull off their upsets on their way to the championship game is not something Penn State is taking lightly or for granted, Pickett said after defeating third-seeded Indiana in the semifinals.

“It’s really important for us,” Pickett said. “We have a poster in our locker room saying believe, and I think our team is believing in us. We ended the regular season pretty well on a high note, and now we’re showing it in the tournament. I feel like we’re playing our best basketball right around now.”

CLICK HERE to WIN March Madness Prizes in On3’s Bracket Challenge

Penn State’s men’s basketball history is far from as prolific as its football history. The Nittany Lions have won only one conference tournament in its history. It was the 1991 Atlantic 10 Tournament. Penn State has never finished better than fourth in the Big Ten regular season standings.

The program has made two Elite Eights — in 1942 and 1954 — and one Final Four. In total, the Nittany Lions have only been to the NCAA Tournament nine times. Their last appearance was in 2011.

While that is likely to change soon, Pickett and his Penn State teammates are focused on Sunday’s game first.

“It’s really special,” Pickett said. “We felt like throughout the whole year we’ve seen guys putting in work, and we all talked about what kind of team we can be when we’re all on the same page and we’re all playing together. To be standing here right now in this moment is kind of refreshing, but it kind of makes us more hungry because we want to go out and finish what we started.”