Emboldened by Iowa win, Penn State vows to 'stick to the plan'

Penn State head coach Micah Shrewsberry recognized the perception of his team’s recent slide.

Notching a 90-86 double-overtime win against Iowa Monday night, the Nittany Lions snapped a three-game losing streak dramatically. But the nature of Penn State’s losses, Shrewsberry insisted, should be taken into context.

“The Big Ten is not easy, and it hasn’t been kind to us with this schedule, not playing a home game in 20 days and being on the road playing in three tough places to play,” Shrewsberry said. “There’s a lot of people in the country that are going to go lose at Ohio State, at Iowa, at Indiana. It is not exclusive to just us. There are a lot of good teams that are going to go do that. Everybody could go do that. But that momentum, it takes something out of your team when you don’t get home games.”

Monday evening back at the Bryce Jordan Center, the Nittany Lions clawed it back. 

Improving on its 53.6 points per game scored during the slide, Penn State (9-9 overall, 4-6 Big Ten) battled an Iowa program (14-7, 4-6) that had dominated it on Jan. 22.

Determined to implement a “point-five” brand of basketball in which decisions are made offensively in a split-second, the Nittany Lions shot 44.6 percent as a team despite hitting just 6 of 27 on their 3-point attempts. 

In the process, Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery came away disappointed in his program’s loss but impressed by the outfit that delivered it.

“I would say this, Micah’s doing a terrific job with this team. They run really good stuff, they compete, they defend, they rebound,” McCaffery said. “Yeah, they made a few more shots. They didn’t shoot it that well out in Iowa City. You kind of expect that they’re going to make a few more shots at home. The first half they didn’t, second half they did, give them credit for that. 

“They’re a handful. He’s got them playing.”

Penn State’s path to a win

That process has not been without its challenges for Shrewsberry and the Nittany Lions in his first season with the program.

Beyond the just-broken losing streak, Penn State also suffered an overtime loss to LSU (No. 14 NET Ranking) and another close nonconference setback to Miami. Combined with losses to Purdue (NET No. 8), Michigan State (NET No. 18), twice to Ohio State (NET No. 19), at Iowa (NET No. 24), and at Indiana (NET No. 29), the opportunities for discouragement have been plentiful.

Insistent upon seeing through success not yet experienced by many, or any, of Penn State’s players populating the roster, Shrewsberry said sticking to the plan was essential.

“I just want to win. Here’s why I want to win. I want these guys to have so much success,” Shrewsberry said. “I’ve been blessed in my life. I’ve coached in two national championship games. I have coached in NCAA Tournament… six years. I’ve been in the NBA playoffs five years. I’ve experienced success in my career. But I want these guys to feel it, man. That feeling is special. 

“I believe in you guys like none other. Believe in yourself the same exact way. But I believe in you and I’m gonna fight for you. I want them to have so much success, so I’m gonna do everything possible. The other guys on the staff make fun of me. They say I’m like this really nice guy, then game time comes and it’s just straight Tasmanian devil. But I want success for these guys so much that, I’ll give anything for them to have that.”

What’s left for the Nittany Lions

With another five weeks of Big Ten regular-season play still on the schedule, 10 games in all, Penn State’s journey toward those aims is not complete.

But having gained the confidence of his players and staff through the first full 10 months of his tenure at Penn State, Shrewsberry’s influence will need to continue to weigh heavily in the program. 

Excited by the next opportunity, a 6 p.m. date at Wisconsin on Saturday, super senior forward John Harrar explained the mindset necessary to continue that process.

“On the road in the Big Ten’s not fun, but we go back. We have a game to prepare for in Wisconsin. We got to get the job done, somehow, someway,” Harrar said. “I was telling the guys in the locker room, what we did this week leading up in our preparation, it’s got to be the same way. We got to practice the same way and treat every game the same way. Have that mindset moving forward.”