WATCH: Penn State beats Maryland with dramatic buzzer-beater

Penn State was on the ‘last four in‘ line entering Sunday, but they took care of business at home against No. 21 Maryland at the buzzer in dramatic fashion.

The Nittany Lions ended the game on a 30-14 run and Cam Wynter capped it off with a second-chance bucket at the rim with 0.5 seconds remaining. Penn State got the stop they needed and ended the regular season with a much-needed Quad 1 win.

It’s been 12 years since Penn State made the NCAA Tournament, and the Nittany Lions are now closer than ever to snapping that streak once and for all.

CAM WYNTER WITH THE WINNER FOR @PennStateMBB❕❕❕ pic.twitter.com/Y0LVV4Aigc

— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) March 5, 2023

“Man, I don’t know if we were too juiced up again or what, but we weren’t ourselves,” head coach Micah Shrewsberry said postgame. “We just tried to boil it down to four-minute battles one possession at a time. I just let those seniors play. It was their chance to go out the right way, I let them stay in and lay it all on the line.”

Wynter plays the hero role for the second game in a row after beating Northwestern with a game-winning three-pointer in overtime. Penn State will now roll into the Big Ten Tournament winning five of its last six games.

Micah Shrewsberry shares importance of Penn State’s experienced roster

From an age standpoint, Penn State is as experienced as they come in college basketball. That’s why, in Micah Shrewsberry‘s eyes, his team will always have the benefits that come from having a group of that age.

Shrewsberry highlighted how the Nittany Lions lean on their experience following their 68-65 overtime win at Northwestern. He said it allows them to adjust their game plan on the fly. It then also provides a sense of calm considering his players know what they’re doing, when they need to do it, and how to do it the right way, especially at the end of games.

“We’ve played some close games. I think how it helps us at the end of games is we can make adjustments on the fly,” said Shrewsberry. “At the end of games? I’m always sitting on timeouts in case we need late-game stuff…We can adjust on the fly. We can change some things defensively based on what the other team is doing…That’s what experience can do.”

“Experience doesn’t panic at the end of the game,” Shrewsberry said. “I trust them to make the right plays, make the right passes. And the ball ends up in the right spots. That’s where experience comes in…It’s starting to help us and starting to pay off for us.”

Per KenPom, Penn State has the most Division I experience in the country with an average age of 4.03 years. That includes four starting seniors, and six in their rotation overall, who are all big contributors to their team.