Flummoxed by officiating, Penn State satisfied by attacking style

Penn State head coach Micah Shrewsberry nailed the punch line.

Facing reporters in the bowels of the Bryce Jordan Center late Tuesday night, Shrewsberry’s Nittany Lions were fresh off a 58-57 loss to Michigan. Enjoying the high-energy environment of an announced 8,650 fans in attendance, and a double-digit first-half lead, one element proved a thorn in the Nittany Lions’ side. 

Explaining in his opening comments that he would fight for his players, Shrewsberry couldn’t elaborate.

“I got four kids,” Shrewsberry said. “They’re all in high school right now. So they probably all want to go to college. They’re all going to need to go to college.

“If I say what I want to say, their college fund is taking a hit.”

Penn State’s free throw issues

Message delivered, it capped a night of befuddlement for Shrewsberry at the game’s whistle. 

On the final stat page, the disparity in free throw shooting between the Nittany Lions and Wolverines was stark. The visitors hitting 19 of 22 shots from the stripe, Penn State attempted only seven free throws, hitting six.

Making matters more frustrating for Shrewsberry, as evidenced by his frequent on-court clashes and glares from the officiating crew of Chris Beaver, Brooks Wells, and Deidre Carr, was the nature in which it transpired.

Repeatedly driving to the basket with scorers Jalen Picket, Sam Sessoms, and Seth Lundy, Penn State’s close-range shots weren’t falling. Credited with 18 shots classified as layups, the Nittany Lions connected on nine of them.

The issue?

Not once did Penn State find the free throw line on its layup attempts. Held off the stripe until the 3:37 mark in the second half, more than 36 minutes of game action had transpired when the Nittany Lions had intentionally taken a physical approach to driving the basketball.

“I’m just gonna fight for our guys. It is what it is,” Shrewsberry said. “If we’re driving, we’re attacking the rim. If we weren’t aggressive and if we didn’t shoot free throws, then so be it. But I thought we were attacking. And when you’re the aggressive team, usually that capitalizes for you, but it didn’t. So you gotta move on.”

Adding that the opportunities around the basket were plentiful, Shrewsberry and his players, Pickett and Sessoms both having addressed the media afterward, said too many good looks were missed. 

Sound methodology

Asked whether or not he’d considered changing up Penn State’s offensive approach when trips to the free-throw line weren’t coming, however, Shrewsberry insisted the plan was sound. 

With Michigan refusing to deliver help around the basket, Penn State found incredible success from close-range in building a 34-23 first-half advantage. The Nittany Lions were credited with connecting on 7 of 8 layup attempts in the first half alone. 

Expecting the approach to continue to pay dividends, Shrewsberry said small adjustments can and will be made to help maximize mismatches moving forward. But in letting his scorers get close to the basket and, importantly, draw contact along the way, Shrewsberry said he wouldn’t have changed the approach.

“It’s a good shot, right? How many times this year do you watch Sam drive in there and get that shot up on the glass and it goes in. It’s still a good shot,” Shrewsberry said. “We run offense to try and get layups, try and get open threes, force people to help. They weren’t really helping, because they were allowing that drive to get to the basket. 

“I still like us attacking the rim. If you continue to do that, if you attack the rim every single time, you can and be the more aggressive team, most times it works out for you.”