Show notes
Penn State basketball came into its game against Illinois at the Bryce Jordan Center with both an opportunity and a need. They needed to stop a four-game losing streak if they wanted any hope of making the NCAA Tournament. Illinois also represented the opportunity to gain a quad-one win over a quality team to boost its resume.
They delivered in a big way, winning 93-81. Today on the Blue White Illustrated Penn State Hoops Show, host Thomas Frank Carr and reporter Nate Bauer discuss Jalen Pickett's historic night and how the team around him helped get a decisive win.
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Penn State loosens up and goes off
Penn State head coach Micah Shrewsberry, discussed how he felt he'd led his team down the wrong path, making them too tight to perform well over the last several weeks.
"When we came back Sunday after that game, you can see like an air of confidence. We had a good day of practice. And we came back yesterday and we had another good day of practice. And then when I walked down for shoot around today and then throughout our shoot around, our spirit was great. Spirit was great. They weren't broken. They were together. They were ready to fight. They were ready to fight together. And I think that's the biggest thing is they didn't let anything affect them. That's a sign of maturity. That's a sign of a group that's together. I'm proud of those guys. They're winning despite their coach," Shrewsberry said.
Bauer and T-Frank discuss how that situation is a balancing act that will continue this season.
But it helps when a player goes for 40 points in a game. Jalen Pickett had a historic night on Tuesday, becoming the first player to reach 40 points in over 60 years.
"That's special. Sometimes when you're going through it, you just need somebody special to have a special performance. I think that's what he did. But not to downplay what some of the other guys did. Maybe they didn't score as much, maybe they didn't rebound as much, but I thought their effort and some of the contributions we got from everybody was special," Shrewsberry said after the gam.
Finally, T-Frank and Bauer will discuss the team's defensive performance, which still wasn't steller in the win. Previously, Penn State has struggled to defend when they don't shoot well. Was there any improvement in that last night?
"I feel like steps were made in spurts. When our offense is going, we really play good defense. We want to get more stops and get on offense. But when teams are scoring, we get maybe a little bit overwhelmed. We want to play a perfect possession every time. So I think our mental needs to be a little bit stronger for us to keep going. But we got time to fix that," Pickett said after the game.
Check out the full show to hear more about the team's upcoming schedule and how Penn State still has a chance to make an NCAA Tournament run in the remaining regular season games.
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