Penn State knocks off Indiana, set for B1G Tourney final

Penn State coach Micah Shrewsberry had just guided his group to another win Friday night in Chicago. This time, an overtime thriller over Northwestern, it advanced the Nittany Lions to a Saturday semifinal with Indiana.

Assured of an NCAA Tournament bid with the win, the first since 2011, Shrewsberry was asked if the win gave his program an opportunity to exhale. His answer was definitive.

“We don’t want to. We’re having fun. It’s fun to go out there every single day with these guys, it’s fun to prepare with them, it’s fun just being there, eating dinner together at night,” Shrewsberry said. “We don’t want this thing to end, we never want this thing to end. We want to play as long as possible.”

Saturday afternoon, the Nittany Lions ensured that they would.

Topping No. 3-seed Indiana, Penn State notched a 77-73 win over the Hoosiers at the United Center. The decision propels the Nittany Lions to their first Big Ten Tournament final since 2011 and the second all-time for the program. They’ll meet No. 1 seed Purdue for a 3:30 tip on Sunday afternoon.

Despite leading by as many as 12 points in the first half, and 15 in the second, though, getting there demanded all 40 minutes from the Nittany Lions.

Packing it in

Indiana quickly made easy work of Penn State in the paint to open the game. Jalen Hood-Schifino opened the scoring for the Hoosiers and, despite 6 points from Seth Lundy in the game’s first five minutes, the Nittany Lions offered little resistance inside en route to a 12-6 deficit.

Until the shots started bombing from deep, that was true. Sparked by an Andrew Funk 3-pointer, the Nittany Lions ripped off an 18-2 run featuring four makes from beyond the arc in under five minutes. The result was a 24-14 advantage for Penn State, extended to 12 on a Kanye Clary slash to the basket, before heading to the locker room ahead 34-26.

In large part, Penn State could thank its advantage not only to its burst of hot shooting, but also to its defensive approach. Packing the paint to bottle up Trayce Jackson-Davis, who finished with 10 points in the half, and keep Hood-Schifino from going off further, finishing with just two points heading to the locker room, the Nittany Lions maintained their stretch of stout defense.

“Trayce Jackson-Davis is a stud. Being from Indiana and being able to see him… and seeing from high school all the way through, he’s special. And for us to be able to play this way against this caliber of team. Until a certain point towards the end of the game, I thought our defense was fantastic today.”

Catching fire

Gradually in the second half, Indiana chipped away at Penn State’s lead as shots dried up in the first 10 minutes. So much so, in fact, that the Hoosiers evened the score at 47-47 with 10 minutes to play on an uncontested Jackson-Davis dunk.

Needing a steadying force, though, Pickett went back to work, quickly sparking a 7-0 run capped by a Kebba Njie dunk on a slip screen. Followed by back-to-back Pickett jumpers and a Cam Wynter 3-pointer with 5:22 remaining, the Nittany Lions again found double-digits. And with Andrew Funk’s make from 30 feet, the Nittany Lions were on their way to a 15-point advantage, boosted at the free throw line, with 2:00 left.

Indiana’s full-court press gave the Nittany Lions problems from there, though. Ripping off a 10-0 run, with Penn State turning the ball over four times in the final two minutes, Indiana whittled the score to just 74-73 with 33 seconds to play.

“They turned up the heat a little bit with the press. We got to clean up that a little bit,” Pickett said. “I’m sure we’re gonna walk through some things there. But we just got to learn how to finish games. We’re not perfect, but we’re gonna watch film to do that and we’ll be better for tomorrow.”

Creating enough of a cushion with three makes on four final free throws, Indiana’s last looks came up empty in the final seconds.

Next steps

Penn State was led in scoring with an electric 28-point performance from Jalen Pickett. He was complemented by Seth Lundy, who poured in 16. The Nittany Lions made eight 3-pointers while stifling the Hoosiers from beyond the arc, who finished with just two makes from deep.

The win improved Penn State to 22-12 for the season. The Nittany Lions enter Sunday’s final with a 13-10 mark against Big Ten opponents. With a win on Sunday, Penn State would become the lowest-seeded team to ever win a Big Ten Tournament.

They’re looking forward to the opportunity.

“It’s really special. We felt like throughout the whole year, we’ve seen guys putting in work and we all talked about what kind of team we can be when we’re all on the same page and we’re all playing together,” Pickett said. “To be standing here right now in this moment, it’s kind of refreshing. But it kind of makes us more hungry because we want to go out and finish what we started.”