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Penn State

Micah Shrewsberry expresses relief in Penn State playing to potential

IMG_6598by:Nick Kosko•01/12/23•

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(Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)

Penn State coach Micah Shrewsberry had a sense of relief following the Nittany Lions’ 85-66 win over Indiana.

The team improved to 12-5 on the season after a two game losing streak. But prior to that, there was a lot of pressure on Shrewsberry halfway through his second season at the school, following a 14-17 record last year.

But after a dominant win, the Nittany Lions coach wanted to put it all in perspective for a team that has NCAA Tournament aspirations.

“I think so,” Shrewsberry said. “Talked to Steve Jones today before the game after shootaround. I talked to our guys before we watched film today.I just talked about playing with joy and what that looks like. Also apologized to them because I think like, it’s fair right? I’m still learning as a coach. 

“And I’m still young in my career, like, I’ve been living and dying on every single thing that’s happened. Every single loss, win whatever, it’s just it’s just been eating, it’s just been stressing me out. And like, I’m giving that to those guys for no reason at all.”

Shrewsberry opened up about his talk with the team and the promise he made.

“First I apologized to them, told them I’m gonna be better,” Shrewsberry said. “But also like, play play free, play loose. Like we were prepared for what to do. Now just go out and have fun. Enjoy the process of it. Not a moment, not a win, not a loss, but the process. 

“It’s January 11 and we plan on playing through March. And we have a long way to go. But enjoy this process and (I was) pointing out the little steps, right? Like what our freshmen are doing every day in practice and how they’re getting better. Like how other guys are gelling together and planning, like enjoy that part of it when we do it. I think that’s where we’ll find the joy.”

Seth Lundy led the scoring for Penn State with 25 points and six rebounds. Andrew Funk added to the high quality play with 23 points, four rebounds and one assist.

Meanwhile, Evan Mahaffey added 12 points and three rebounds in the win.

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Penn State (12-5) is back in action Jan. 17 at No. 18 Wisconsin (11-4) to continue the Big Ten slate.