Micah Shrewsberry voices frustration with Penn State’s free throw differential
Penn State head coach Micah Shrewsberry has been steadily more frustrated with officiating and his teams lack of free throw opportunities as the season. His ire has been particularly pronounced in conference play.
In only one Big Ten game has Penn State shot more free throws than its opponent, a loss to Michigan State in December where the Nittany Lions held an 18-14 edge in free throw attempts. After a 19-9 disparity the other way against Rutgers on Tuesday evening, Shrewsberry was again speaking about the issue.
“They throw the ball inside. I can’t fix that. Like, I’m done sending in clips. I’m done sending in — I gotta coach my team,” Shrewsberry said, some anger rising in his voice. “I just want Jalen Pickett to shoot more than two free throws a game. He’s one of the best players in this league. Who never gets fouled.”
Penn State is last in Big Ten play in free throw attempts per game with 10.7 chances. Opponents of Penn State is giving up the 10th most free throws attempts, not a shoddy mark, but still 17.1 per game — enough to spell a big disparity.
On the season, Penn State is 362nd nationally in free throw attempts per game, among the lowest figures in the entire country.
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As for Pickett, he’s averaging more than 17 points per game while shooting just 2.7 free throws per contest, on average.
WATCH: Micah Shrewsberry calls out Big Ten officials following loss to Purdue
Penn State coach Micah Shrewsberry had some choice words for Big Ten officials following a 76-63 loss to Purdue on Jan. 8. Asked about a technical foul he received in the second half, the Nittany Lions coach didn’t hold anything back.
Shrewsberry went into a rant about the poor officiating all evening long, citing a combined 10 free throws between the two teams as one of his key concerns.
“There was 1,000 points I was trying to make,” an irritated Shrewsberry said. “I don’t know. You get frustrated after a while. This isn’t a one-time thing. This is an every time thing. I know I haven’t been here — I haven’t done anything in my career to earn any kind of good will from the officials, but we shot three free throws. I know they shot seven, but it was a really physical game. The game didn’t warrant 10 free throws by both teams. Both teams were out there fouling. If we want to be the best league in the country, then we need our officials to be the best in the country.”