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Penn State focused on improvement, over future, as regular season ends

nate-mug-10.12.14by:Nate Bauer•03/01/22•

NateBauerBWI

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Penn State head coach Micah Shrewsberry is keeping his players focused on the next game. (Steve Manuel/BWI)

The longshot odds for the Penn State men’s basketball program are now longer.

Dropping a disappointing 93-70 blowout loss to Nebraska on Sunday evening at the Bryce Jordan Center, six days after a big setback loss at Maryland, the Nittany Lions’ fortunes are sinking. Ranked No. 94 in the NCAA NET, with a 12-14 record for the season and a 7-11 mark in Big Ten play, possible paths to the NCAA Tournament or NIT have narrowed considerably.

And Penn State head coach Micah Shrewsberry isn’t concerned with it one bit.

Asked Tuesday about his approach to Big Ten Tournament basketball, Penn State’s first foray into the conference tournament under Shrewsberry just a week away, the head coach stressed a different focal point. 

“It’s more day-to-day. Like, let’s improve today. Let’s get better today. Let’s see what we can do in this next game coming up,” Shrewsberry said. “The tournament will be here. We don’t know who we’re gonna play. We don’t know when we’re gonna play. All that will work itself out. 

“But there’s nothing I can do right now. So once we get to that moment, then we can worry about what we need to do once we get there.”

Penn State’s next steps

Presently holding onto the 10th spot alone in the Big Ten standings, Penn State’s path toward a first-round bye in the conference tournament is hardly assured.

Rather, with two road games remaining on the regular-season schedule, first against No. 20 Illinois Thursday (7 p.m., FS1), then at Rutgers on Sunday (noon, BTN), Penn State will face two opponents on the top half of the Big Ten standings.

Opportunities that can’t lift the Nittany Lions any higher than the 10-seed, but could dip them into first-day action, Shrewsberry said the program hasn’t considered any of the possibilities.

“We haven’t had one discussion about it,” he said. “I’ve just been worried about game-to-game and what happens next. And if you handle your business, then it kind of takes care of where you’re going to be. But the moment you take your eyes off of what’s right in front of you is the moment you drive your car off a cliff. 

“You got to focus on what’s ahead. You got to focus on what’s next. And I’m not trying to miss any turns because we’re looking five miles down the road. We need to focus on the very next exit that’s coming and then get off at that exit. Get some gas, get something to eat, get a large fountain Dr. Pepper.”

Best foot forward

Balancing the success of a seven-win conference season against the possibilities that still exist, Shrewsberry said the immediate next steps are critical for his team.

Having secured back-to-back wins against Michigan State and Minnesota last month to break a stretch of six losses in seven games, Penn State’s most recent stretch has been less encouraging. 

Nearly suffering the program’s worst defeat of the season against the Cornhuskers, who entered the matchup with just one Big Ten win, Penn State’s runway toward improvement is now limited.

“Once we get into tournament play, it’s like, survive and advance. You’re trying to play your best basketball. So we got two opportunities to get ourselves playing the best basketball that we can. And we were doing that for a while and then we took steps back,” Shrewsberry said. “We can’t take any more steps back. All of our steps need to be moving forward heading into the tournament. And now, once you get there, if you’re playing the right way, you’ll be in a good position for however many games you get an opportunity to play.”

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