Micah Shrewsberry watches Penn State's men's basketball team in the early hours of Wednesday night. The first year's coach thought the Nittany Lions were playing too fast against Minnesota, and this manifested through poor screens, easy misses, and other miscalculations.
Despite the mistakes, Penn State trailed Minnesota by four points in their first-round matchup in the Big Ten tournament. As they have been all season, the Nittany Lions were in the game, and Shrewsberry knew that his group often saved their best for the later part of the game. He wanted his defense to reach that point if the team calmed down.
It did, and then some. 11-seeded Penn State defeated No. 14-seeded Minnesota, 60-51, to open the Big Ten tournament at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on Wednesday night. The win sets up the third meeting this season between the Nittany Lions and No. 6-seeded Ohio State on Thursday night.
"We talked about going really slow in the second half," Shrewsberry said postgame. “If you look at us throughout the season, the last 10 minutes of the game were when we were at our best. You get to that point and I think we know exactly where we're attacking, what shots we want to get, how they're protecting us and we really settle into the game. , and hopefully our defense can sustain us until we get to that point. And it usually happens. It usually does. I want us to play a lot better in the beginning, but until we start clicking, that's what we usually do. ,
Guard Jalen Pickett was a key catalyst for Penn State's success in the second half. Senior scored 22 points on 14 of the 9 shootings, and 13 of those points came after halftime. He also added seven rebounds and four assists.
Pickett, who was transferred from Siena, looked closed during his Big Ten tournament start. He chattered after making the baskets—he said he was talking to himself—and supplied an essential element of emotion and energy to the court.
"It's important, just trying to go into the next possession," Piquet said. "I made some mistakes defensively, and you know Coach Shoes attacked me and I'm better than him. Sometimes that's on my mind, so I have to let it go sometimes, but Sometimes I use it as inspiration and just keep going and keep going."
Piquet scored 5 of 6 in the second half and made both his 3-pointers. The ball was in his hands at key points, and he knew where to go. At times, it hit the spot, and Piquet or his teammates did something like two 3-pointers to forward Seth Lundy, which helped the Nittany Lions extend their lead.
Over the season, Piquet averaged 13.1 points, 4.2 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game. During the regular season, he averaged around 14 points per game in conference play.
"He's a good player," Shrewsberry said. "No matter what level you came from or where you originally went, if you can play, you can play. And he can play. He plays at his own pace. Where he wants to go Hai gets there. He hits hard shots. He scores around the basket. They go under him, he backs up, he hits 3. He makes a late pass to John [Harrar] when He jumps up like he's going to shoot and throws it down. He's smart, he's understanding the game, he's understanding the situation. That man doesn't rattle, and that man is never out of play Comes and he doesn't complain even once. It takes a lot of heart. He is a competitor. He is a warrior."
In the season, Pickett averaged 37.1 minutes per game, and played 40 minutes against Minnesota. They will have to go wire-to-wire against Ohio State on Thursday night. Despite this being the third meeting between the two teams, the Buckeyes are little more than an unfamiliar opponent for the Nittany Lions, who played the Golden Gophers twice in the past month.
The two matchups against Ohio State returned on December 5 and January 16. Penn State lost both, although the latter was a five-figure game and the former a single-digit game with less than two minutes to spare. A lot has changed since then. One thing that's been consistent for a long time? Piquet scored a season-high 23 points in the December meeting.
And if Penn State is going to extend its season, Pickett will need to be a significant part of it.
"He's a good player," Shrewsberry said. "You look at the leading scorers in our conference, he averages about 14. His name is right in the middle of that list. You look at the block, you look at the steal, you look at the assist, you look at the assist-to-turnover Looking at the ratios, in terms of what we do, he's everywhere. He's played pretty well throughout the season. He was slow out of the gates, and he struggled a bit early, but once he got comfortable So he played that way. He's a good player."