Penn State basketball: Jalen Pickett's tough shot-making proves crucial for Lions
There’s no sense of panic or frustration from Penn State basketball coach Micah Shrewsberry when guard Jalen Pickett gets his hands on the ball late in the shot clock.
The possession may not have been pretty leading up to that point. But with Pickett’s uncanny knack for making shots he shouldn’t, often it simply doesn’t matter.
“He makes tough plays,” Shrewsberry said on Penn State radio after a 74-71 win over Northwestern. “Even in the first half, I kept turning to our bench, the shot clock’s running down, he raises up to shoot. I just turned to our guys on the bench, and I just say, ‘He makes those.'”
For Penn State’s offense, Pickett is the perfect release valve. Nothing cooking? Fear not. He’ll make something happen late in the shot clock as he did on a few occasions in Penn State’s win over the Wildcats.
It doesn’t seem to matter how well he’s defended. He can make contested threes, or fade away from the elbow with two defenders in his face, as he did with 6:55 remaining on Wednesday night to cut Penn State’s deficit to two.
“He makes them in practice, he makes them in the game,” Shrewsberry said. “People are like, man, he’s throwing those shots up against Indiana, they’re not supposed to go in. But, you’re like, alright, if he does it two games in a row, maybe that is what he does.”
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His creative shot-making has played a pivotal role in back-to-back conference wins for the Nittany Lions, emerging as one of their key players following a somewhat uneven start to his Penn State career.
He finished Wednesday’s win over the Wildcats with 18 points, shooting 7-13 from the field. In a victory against Indiana on Sunday, Pickett contributed 15 points.
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The Nittany Lions are 4-1 this season when Pickett reaches that 15-point threshold.
“He don’t work on this,” Penn State forward Seth Lundy said of Pickett’s shot-making ability. “He’s just a basketball player. He’s put in the time and the work and it rewards him. You can’t cheat the game of basketball.”
Pickett is new to the Big Ten level, but he’s an experienced college basketball player. Perhaps more importantly, he’s used to being relied on this way.
Siena leaned on him as one of its top two scorers in all three of his seasons with the Saints. He led Siena in scoring when it won the MAAC regular-season title in 2019-20.
Creativity fills Pickett’s DNA. He creates for his teammates — he’s led every team he’s been on at the college level in assists. And, right now, he’s creating for himself, too.
“I think I’m a very good playmaker,” Pickett told BWI after committing to Penn State in the spring. “I think that’s one of my biggest attributes. Being able to make plays for others, get others involved as well as playing the pick-and-roll and shooting the ball.”
Depleted by transfer attrition amid the offseason coaching transition, Penn State’s roster isn’t perfect. But it’s laden with players who can catch fire almost any time.
Pickett and Lundy did so Wednesday, combining for 41 of Penn State’s 74 points in the win.
“Those guys are dangerous,” Shrewsberry said.
