Penn State follows familiar script in 71-68 win over Ohio State

Penn State head coach Micah Shrewsberry wasn’t offering a rough hypothetical.

Meeting with the media Wednesday night following his team’s first-round Big Ten Tournament win, Shrewsberry detailed his program’s formula for success.

Essentially: Feel out the first half, play tight defense to keep it close, find an offensive footing, and pounce.

“If you look at us throughout the season, the last 10 minutes of the game was when we played our best offense,” Shrewsberry said. “You get to that point, and I feel like we know where exactly we’re attacking, what shots we want to get, how they’re guarding us, and we settle into the game. 

“Hopefully our defense can keep us there until we get to that point, and it usually does. I’d love for us to play a lot better early on, but as long as it takes until we start clicking, that’s what we usually do.”

Penn State’s path to a win

Late Wednesday night, it propelled Penn State to a 60-51 win over Minnesota.

Late Thursday night, the Nittany Lions did it again, topping No. 6-seed Ohio State in the second round, 71-68.

Riding out a lackluster first half offensively and a 33-24 deficit at the break, Penn State again set itself up for the win by simply getting to the game’s final 10 minutes. Responding from a deficit of as many as nine points three separate times in the second half, Penn State’s furious comeback began immediately after dipping into the final 10 minutes of the game.

Crediting his team’s defensive attentiveness as much as any offensive explosion – Penn State scoring 47 points on 30 second-half possessions – Shrewsberry painted what has become a remarkably familiar picture this season for the Lions’ win.

“We kind of get a better feel as the game goes on,” Shrewsberry said. “There were a couple of adjustments that we talked about, but not much. I talked more about our defense out there, not our offense. These guys are the ones playing. So they have the freedom to talk about what they see, how we can attack better.”

That notion, attacking, proved to be the turning point in the second half.

Pushing into the paint repeatedly thanks to the efforts of guards Sam Sessoms (18 points) and Jalen Pickett (16), the Nittany Lions quickly hacked away the Buckeyes’ advantage. In a span of fewer than four minutes, a 9-point deficit became a 53-53 game with 6:35 left to play.

“I didn’t think our physicality was very good offensively in the first half,” Shrewsberry said. “I talked about E.J. Liddell and Joey Brunk wanted the ball in the post. They caught it with one or two feet in the paint. First play of the game, Pickett drives the post and gets pushed all the way out to the 3-point line. There’s the difference right there. 

“In the second half, now he’s backing guys down. He’s two feet in the paint, they have to decide if they want to help or not.”

Being the ‘tougher team’

According to Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann, Penn State’s plan was well-designed and executed.

Stung by timely playmaking, including a critical offensive rebound and putback for John Harrar, Holtmann acknowledged Penn State’s late-game surge.

“Harrar got a couple of offensive rebounds and then they were physical getting us off our spots,” Holtmann said. “I think that’s the biggest thing. We knew they were going to back us down. And the size of their guards bothered us a little bit, which we knew was going to be an issue.”

Crediting his team as being the “tougher team in the second half,” Penn State will attempt to take the same attitude into Friday night. 

Losing to Shrewsberry’s former program in early January, 74-67, Penn State will get a second crack with a 9 p.m. tip. The third-round Big Ten Tournament game will be broadcast by the BTN.