Penn State Men’s Basketball: Nittany Lions Hold Off Indiana, Advance to Big Ten Tournament Final

Penn State (22-12, 11-10) won twice Saturday. On the court, a 77-73 victory over No. 3 seed Indiana, a historic moment as the No. 10 seed Nittany Lions advance to the Big Ten Tournament final and a Sunday afternoon clash in Chicago against Purdue. The win marked Penn State’s eighth in the last nine games and third in as many days, a testament to the grind that is conference tournament season. Looking beyond, the Nittany Lions have gone from a team tentatively in the NCAA Tournament to one playing for a better and better seed.

Away from the court Penn State won in a different — and in some regards a more important — way as CBS broadcast Saturday’s game to a national television audience much more likely to attract the casual viewer. The Big Ten Network is fantastic in its own right, but reach is reach, and big games on big networks matter. Nobody is watching Penn State basketball by accident on BTN.

For programs like Penn State there is an inherent risk in these moments when all eyes are on you. Whatever opinion a casual onlooker might have about the program heading into the game it is often not a flattering one. If Penn State had showed up on Saturday with tired legs, drained emotions and not much left in the tank against a talented Indiana team, the Nittany Lions would have done little to improve the image Penn State men’s basketball conjures in the mind. In a fleeting moment when an often forgotten program had its time to shine, an ugly looking loss against a marquee program would have only reestablished what most casual fans of the sport already believed to be true. Penn State is fine, possibly bad, most certainly not something I care about.

But as the Nittany Lions countered each Indiana punch and landed haymakers of their own, it was an introduction to a program that most people have been missing. Because contrary to what you may have heard, Penn State has been playing pretty decent basketball the past few years, and contrary to what you might believe, Penn State basketball isn’t that far away from doing it on an even more regular basis.

This was evident as Penn State took a 34-26 lead into the half, Jalen Pickett rolling in 13 points while Seth Lundy deftly added 11 of his own. The Nittany Lions looked poised on offense and confident on defense. Penn State has played the past three days like a team that knows its postseason spot is secure and that the biggest weight of the year has been lifted. Now the Nittany Lions are just out there letting it fly, there’s no pressure, there’s no worry. It’s just a bunch of guys having fun. It’s good basketball.

In the second half Indiana found its footing, the Hoosiers tying the game at 47-47 with 10:23 to go. It was then that you wondered which Penn State team you were going to see. One that had finally lost its legs, or the one who could once again fill up the tank and make plays when it mattered most.

As it turned out the Nittany Lions were nowhere near running on empty, responding with 23-8 run that turned a tie game into a 15-point Penn State lead.

The final 2:24 was nothing to write home about, nearly an all-time collapse as Penn State bungled its lead down to just a point, but free throws and just enough good plays allowed the Nittany Lions to enjoy the fruits of survive-and-advance. Make those mistakes in the regular season and people will pull their hair out, do it in March and that’s just how the craziness of tournament play unfolds. The final score is all that matters. Move on and don’t look back. But maybe work on inbounds plays.

And that’s where Penn State’s second victory comes into play. The Nittany Lions were fun to watch, Andrew Funk hitting threes from back in State College, Jalen Pickett posting up guys with veteran savvy and 28 points to show for it. Seth Lundy was good at a little bit of everything between his 16 points and six rebounds while a supporting cast did its part along the way. It was fun basketball, it was good basketball.

Whatever happens on Sunday, Penn State will be able to point at Saturday’s game and lean on that for a good long while. Micah Shrewsberry will have clips of Jim Nantz saying nice things about his program, the sounds of Bill Raftery waxing poetic about his players and a fun and entertaining game to go along with it. For all the drama and uncertainty of March, Penn State showed up on national TV, played good basketball and beat one of the most recognizable programs in the sport. That counts for something, even if the only thing anyone is going to think about now is how the Nittany Lions are ever going to stop Zach Edey.