Micah Shrewsberry elated as Penn State advances to Big Ten Tournament semis: 'We're here for a ride, man'

A month ago, Penn State playing in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals seemed frankly quaint. The Nittany Lions were 14-11 overall and just 5-9 in the Big Ten, coming off a four-game skid. Micah Shrewsberry met with his team, and then the players met together.

And whatever happened, Penn State has been on a ride ever since, winning seven of eight games including a 67-65 survival of Northwestern in overtime on Friday evening. With the win over the Wildcats, Penn State is off to the conference semifinals and likely cinched up an NCAA Tournament bid.

“These guys, man,” Shrewsberry said on the Big Ten Network after the win. “When we put this together like, last year, I give a lot of credit to John Harrar. He was a part of establishing this culture of what we needed to do and how we needed to play to win basketball games. And then we added a little bit more talent. [Andrew] Funk’s a big time shot maker. Seth Lundy’s a big time shot maker. And [Jalen] Pickett made plays down the stretch. Just enough to win.

“We’re here for a ride, man. I love it. I love playing with these guys. I don’t want it to end.”

Speaking with the BTN desk crew after the game, Lundy — who scored a game-high 16, tied with Northwestern’s Boo Buie — explained the change that led to Penn State’s impressive turnaround.

“As a competitor, you try not to look at those type of things that mess your mind up, but at one point we were 5-9 in the Big Ten. We were 5-9 and we just had a team meeting with the coaches and without the coaches and we just talked to each other and were like, ‘It’s either we gon’ fight and we gon’ come back, or our season is over, it’s that simple.’ We just figured it out,” Lundy said.

Penn State will get the winner of the Indiana–Maryland game to close out the night but either way, the Nittany Lions will be prepared.

“We just all fighters, man,” Lundy said. “We’re always in games like this, every single night.”