Penn State basketball punches ticket to The Dance: Hoops Show
Penn State basketball secured a ticket to the 2023 NCAA Tournament Thursday night with a season-sweep of Illinois in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament. The Nittany Lions had one of their most complete games of the season, with four players scoring double-digit points. Today on the BWI Penn State Hoops Podcast, Nate Bauer and Thomas Frank Carr discuss the game and how the team overcame season-long storylines to get their decisive victory.
Penn State hitting its stride at the right time
Penn State head coach Micah Shrewsberry was effusive in praising his team after the game. The tough-minded coach has worked this season to find the right tone to strike with his team and to get them to play tough, gritty basketball despite their lack of size. He sees it happening now.
“This group is better. We’re smart, we’re tough. I love this group. We want to keep playing here. I’m not going to put anything in front of tomorrow’s game. Tomorrow’s game is the most important game of our season because it’s our next game and that’s we’re going to play as long as possible. Man, I’m having a lot of fun,” he said after the win.
Booty Ball
After the game, Illinois coach Brad Underwood continued his conversation after Penn State’s second victory over the Illini during the regular season. He doesn’t outright say it, but he thinks that Penn State point guard Jalen Pickett’s post-up game is an unfair offensive tactic.
“They go to, you know, booty ball and, you know, it’s hard to guard and, you know, when you can keep the possession of the ball for 12, 13 seconds, 10 seconds and just keep backing up and you have no recourse in how you guard it because you can’t touch them, It becomes very challenging. And if you double, he sprays it. So, you know, they have the rule in the NBA that eliminates that, but they don’t in college.”
Top 10
- 1Breaking
Dylan Raiola injury
Nebraska QB will play vs. USC
- 2
Elko pokes at Kiffin
A&M coach jokes over kick times
- 3New
SEC changes course
Alcohol sales at SEC Championship Game
- 4
Bryce Underwood
Michigan prepared to offer No. 1 recruit $10.5M over 4 years
- 5Trending
Dan Lanning
Oregon coach getting NFL buzz
When asked about what sounds like sour grapes after the game, Micah Shrewsberry points out how his team’s offensive game plan isn’t that different from Illinois’ plan of attack.
“So just taking advantage of what we’re allowed to do. We’ve been doing it all season. That’s all he’s doing is playing basketball, you could say like, yeah, ‘he’s got the dribble and he’s back and people down”, but they’re playing booty ball in the paint. They’re doing the same exact thing as us, just from a different position on the floor,” Shrewsberry said.
Bauer and T-Frank discuss these aspects of the game and look back at the six-game run that Penn State went on to find themselves at this point. They’ll also discuss other aspects of the game, including Camren Wynter’s evolution in the offense. Download the Hoops podcast wherever you subscribe to podcasts.
