Micah Shrewsberry reacts to Penn State road win over Ohio State

Penn State head coach Micah Shrewsberry sweated it out but saw his Nittany Lions earn a tough road win over Ohio State to keep their NCAA Tournament hopes alive.

The 75-71 win was No. 17 for Penn State with three games left before the Big Ten Tournament. After a 37-37 tie in the first half, the Nittany Lions did enough in the final 20 minutes to get out of Columbus with a win.

Shrewsberry tipped his cap to almost his entire roster.

“I sweat anyway, but I’m sweating a little extra tonight,” Shrewsberry said on Big Ten Network. “But sometimes you need a lot of guys, right? And (Jalen) Pickett got in foul trouble, didn’t get to play as much, but I thought the contributions, Camren Wynter, Seth Lundy, Andrew Funk, Myles Dread, Kanye (Clary). Everybody up and down the lineup helped us tonight. And then it was time to take us home, Pickett carried us.”

Shrewsberry was asked about the improvements over Penn State’s three-game winning streak.

“I think we’re doing a better job of guarding,” Shrewsberry said. “It’s not as easy to score on us. We’re fighting a little bit more. I didn’t think we were disciplined in the first half. But we got to halftime tied and then we were better in the second half. And then just timely scoring. Guys were just doing what we need to do, right? If it’s me setting the ball screen, if it’s me coming off a screen, whatever it takes, we’re doing it.”

The Nittany Lions coach raved about the work ethic of his team and said it was blast to be around the guys.

“This group (man) and it’s one of the most fun groups I’ve been around,” Shrewsberry said. “Because they love the game. They love the work. And they’re just willing to do whatever it takes for us to win. So I’m going to battle with these guys any day, man and, you know, there’s ups and downs in this season and we’ve had ups we’ve had downs, but we’re starting to hit our stride right now.”

Pickett led the way with 23 points, three rebounds and four assists on the night. Lundy added 19 points, five rebounds and two assists.

Wynter was also in double digits with 18 points, six rebounds and one assist.

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Penn State returns to action Sunday at home against Rutgers at 6:30 p.m. ET.