Basketball Penn State men's basketball blows out Minnesota behind Pickett's 20

[mralph59]

Everything went right for Penn State and not much went right for Minnesota in their Thursday matinee showdown. Penn State topped the Golden Gophers in dominant fashion after losing 76-70 just five days ago. Backed by Jalen Pickett's 20 points (15 in the second half), the Nittany Lions cruised to victory.

Game recap here:

Penn State men's basketball blows out Minnesota behind Pickett's 20

Penn State righted its wrongs from the last matchup with Minnesota, blowing the Golden Gophers out Thursday.

pennstate.rivals.com

 

[The Spin Meister]

Harrar is a beast. And as this is his last go round, he is determined to carry the team to a great finish. Hope they make the dance as he deserves a shot at least once in his career.

 

[Texas Lion]

Covid and two bad losses have screwed this team out of an ncaa bid.

 

[bison13]

Covid and two bad losses have screwed this team out of an ncaa bid.

Will have to win the conference tournament to get in. Win out and 2 wins in conference tournament would still have them on the bubble. Michigan and Wisconsin losses would really change the outlook had they gone the other way.

 

[mralph59]

Harrar is a beast. And as this is his last go round, he is determined to carry the team to a great finish. Hope they make the dance as he deserves a shot at least once in his career.

I don't see a tourney bid unless Penn State wins the B1G Championship. Even if they win out, the remaining schedule just isn't very strong outside of Rutgers and Illinois, which are both road games. Wins against Wisconsin and Michigan really would have done wonders here, but the writing is mostly on the wall. Tough for Harrar, who really deserves a shot at an NCAA Tourney, but I don't think he'll get it.

 

[Waltwam]

Everything went right for Penn State and not much went right for Minnesota in their Thursday matinee showdown. Penn State topped the Golden Gophers in dominant fashion after losing 76-70 just five days ago. Backed by Jalen Pickett's 20 points (15 in the second half), the Nittany Lions cruised to victory.

Game recap here:

Penn State men's basketball blows out Minnesota behind Pickett's 20

Penn State righted its wrongs from the last matchup with Minnesota, blowing the Golden Gophers out Thursday.

pennstate.rivals.com

Can we switch all our games to the matinee time?!!!

 

[87 Penn St8]

Can we switch all our games to the matinee time?!!!

Crowd size- while smaller- didn't appear that significantly different from our typically sparse crowd

 

[Marylovesthelions]

The talent for a tournament team is just not there this year, but boy, am I really enthusiastic about the lion's future. The defense of this team is amazing and holds everyone far below their season average. Shrewsbury is showing that he is going to bring a successful brand of basketball to Penn State. How can you not be enthusiastic about a coaching strategy that allows an unheralded group of kids to play some of the best defense in the conference?

 

[Richie O]

 

[psuguy43]

I don't see a tourney bid unless Penn State wins the B1G Championship. Even if they win out, the remaining schedule just isn't very strong outside of Rutgers and Illinois, which are both road games. Wins against Wisconsin and Michigan really would have done wonders here, but the writing is mostly on the wall. Tough for Harrar, who really deserves a shot at an NCAA Tourney, but I don't think he'll get it.

Winning out would give us six quad one victories, that would be a VERY strong bubble resume

 

[bison13]

Winning out would give us six quad one victories, that would be a VERY strong bubble resume

True but its still bubble. 16-12 with two wins in conference tourney is 18-13. Depending on who those two wins are against plays a big part, but its not like even winning out will jump PSU over other better bubble teams in conference. Michigan and Indiana are bubble teams, both already beat PSU (I know IU is a split) so they would have to knock off whoever is the winner from a wednesday game, then beat a top team like Purdue or Illinois to make it.

That would mean a 8 or 9 game winning streak with at least 3 wins over ranked teams. I hope, but very unlikely.

 

[2atpsu]

Everything went right for Penn State and not much went right for Minnesota in their Thursday matinee showdown. Penn State topped the Golden Gophers in dominant fashion after losing 76-70 just five days ago. Backed by Jalen Pickett's 20 points (15 in the second half), the Nittany Lions cruised to victory.

Game recap here:

Penn State men's basketball blows out Minnesota behind Pickett's 20

Penn State righted its wrongs from the last matchup with Minnesota, blowing the Golden Gophers out Thursday.

pennstate.rivals.com

 

[johnrclark12]

Crowd size- while smaller- didn't appear that significantly different from our typically sparse crowd

Not sure if you were there, but I was and it was definitely significantly smaller, especially the number of students. Both 'end zones' were 100% empty. A normal game night at least the student side is 60%+ full. The band was not even there.

 

[87 Penn St8]

Not sure if you were there, but I was and it was definitely significantly smaller, especially the number of students. Both 'end zones' were 100% empty. A normal game night at least the student side is 60%+ full. The band was not even there.

Just watched on tv...definitely could see ends emptier. Hard to see sides. Showed same 10 kids behind announcers who constitute the "student section". John Harrar said "the BJC was rockin'" so maybe I interpreted that as more than it was...

 

[Waltwam]

Crowd size- while smaller- didn't appear that significantly different from our typically sparse crowd

Yep, but if we got to a point where we were playing like that consistently, and were truly in the running for the B10, the crowds would grow!

 

[PaoliLion]

The talent for a tournament team is just not there this year, but boy, am I really enthusiastic about the lion's future. The defense of this team is amazing and holds everyone far below their season average. Shrewsbury is showing that he is going to bring a successful brand of basketball to Penn State. How can you not be enthusiastic about a coaching strategy that allows an unheralded group of kids to play some of the best defense in the conference?

He’s been a superb hire. We have a talent gap problem, but the team is well coached and has heart

 

[87 Penn St8]

One of the better quotes I've ever heard was from the analyst during the 1st Minny game when he said "role players play better at home." Curry and 12 for Minny had great games and each made big plays at key moments. Didn't happen at BJC...part was better scheme and execution but I have to think that part is the comfort and support of the home crowd (along with more favorable whistles). Solid insight from whomever that was...

 

[cyrizzle]

Will have to win the conference tournament to get in. Win out and 2 wins in conference tournament would still have them on the bubble. Michigan and Wisconsin losses would really change the outlook had they gone the other way.

If we win out and win one conf tournament game, we’re in. If we go 4-1 and win two conference tournament games, we’re in. If we finish at least .500 overall, we will get an NIT bid at minimum. Mark it down.

 

[bison13]

If we win out and win one conf tournament game, we’re in. If we go 4-1 and win two conference tournament games, we’re in. If we finish at least .500 overall, we will get an NIT bid at minimum. Mark it down.

Current net of 80 and 3-8 in quad 1 wins. Illinois and rutgers would be 2 more, but is that enough? Michigan and Indiana are just barely out of being play games as 12 seeds. If there are any kind of weird upsets in conference tournaments then I still don't think they get in

 

[87 Penn St8]

If we win out and win one conf tournament game, we’re in. If we go 4-1 and win two conference tournament games, we’re in. If we finish at least .500 overall, we will get an NIT bid at minimum. Mark it down.

We may even get NIT at sub .500 b/c we had to cancel a few likely wins...that old standard could be waived this year if we are passing the proverbial "eye test" which we have been doing...

 

[Erial_Lion]

If we win out and win one conf tournament game, we’re in. If we go 4-1 and win two conference tournament games, we’re in. If we finish at least .500 overall, we will get an NIT bid at minimum. Mark it down.

Going 4-1, then 2-1 would put us at 17-14 (10-10). We have almost no chance of dancing at 17-14 with our resume. With our non-conference performance, we've basically put ourselves in the position where we have to win the Big Ten tourney.

 

[johnrclark12]

Yep, but if we got to a point where we were playing like that consistently, and were truly in the running for the B10, the crowds would grow!

2019 is a prime example. Upper deck was packed for most games.

 

[Erial_Lion]

If we finish out with zero more losses (regular season), then advance to the B1G semifinal, we could be in.

Wins over Illinois and Rutgers down the stretch could be enough

That’s 18-13 (11-9)…to get to Saturday, we’d also have to beat something like Iowa and Purdue in Indy. That puts us right on the edge I’d think, though the Odds of winning out in the regular season are only about 1% before even getting into those games in Indy.

I’m hoping we can do enough to get the 10 seed and avoid Wednesday…and then go on a run (and maybe get some help with some other top seeds getting upset before they get to us).

 

[LandoComando]

Just to make sure I'm not going insane...

People are trying to talk about this team being in the NCAA tournament as they sit at 11-12 (6-9) and 4-6 in the L10?

 

[Erial_Lion]

Just to make sure I'm not going insane...

People are trying to talk about this team being in the NCAA tournament as they sit at 11-12 (6-9) and 4-6 in the L10?

FYI that the last 10 is meaningless...and yes, on a Penn State sports forum, people are discussing what the basketball team would need to do over the next month to make the NCAA tournament.

It's probably as crazy as discussing what the football team needed to do to make the playoffs after getting blown out at Michigan in the fall of 2016...and yet, it came very close to happening.

 

[brucelpsu]

Give me what Erail is smoking/injecting!

 

[Erial_Lion]

Give me what Erail is smoking/injecting!

What is it that I've stated that's incorrect?

Especially when I prefaced it earlier with "That’s 18-13 (11-9)…to get to Saturday, we’d also have to beat something like Iowa and Purdue in Indy. That puts us right on the edge I’d think, though the Odds of winning out in the regular season are only about 1% before even getting into those games in Indy."

 

[LandoComando]

FYI that the last 10 is meaningless...and yes, on a Penn State sports forum, people are discussing what the basketball team would need to do over the next month to make the NCAA tournament.

It's probably as crazy as discussing what the football team needed to do to make the playoffs after getting blown out at Michigan in the fall of 2016...and yet, it came very close to happening.

It's not the same--or even close. That last 10 is meaningless in terms of the committee but it isn't meaningless on how this team is trending.

 

[bison13]

It's not the same--or even close. That last 10 is meaningless in terms of the committee but it isn't meaningless on how this team is trending.

Last 10 is useless both in how the team is trending in to the committee. For some teams 10 games encompass 5 weeks, Penn State is certainly playing better than they were five weeks ago.

 

[LandoComando]

Last 10 is useless both in how the team is trending in to the committee. For some teams 10 games encompass 5 weeks, Penn State is certainly playing better than they were five weeks ago.

They're still not playing well enough to be in the discussion of "a bubble team". This is honestly ridiculous so you guys can just have at it.

 

[bison13]

Actually if you go back and read the majority of the posts we're all saying that the only way they get in is to win the conference tournament.

 

[The Spin Meister]

So much for winning out......🤷🏼‍♀️

 

[LandoComando]

So much for winning out......🤷🏼‍♀️

Hopefully that kills the discussion

 

[Waltwam]

They're still not playing well enough to be in the discussion of "a bubble team". This is honestly ridiculous so you guys can just have at it.

Agreed.....but your comments do nothing but ruin the conversation. If fans want to dream, why destroy it?

 

[LandoComando]

Agreed.....but your comments do nothing but ruin the conversation. If fans want to dream, why destroy it?

The discussion turned into their chances of making the tourney which were zero

 

[Erial_Lion]

The discussion turned into their chances of making the tourney which were zero

The odds today are still above zero. But troll away…

Case in point...there was probably some blowhard on Georgetown's forum in mid-February of last season telling them that their 98 Pomeroy rating, 5-10 (3-7) record, 3-8 record in their last 11 games, and 0.8 chance (according to Kempom) of winning the Big East tourney meant that their chances of making the NCAA were zero...and yet somehow, their name was called on Selection Sunday.

 

[LandoComando]

The odds today are still above zero. But troll away…

Case in point...there was probably some blowhard on Georgetown's forum in mid-February of last season telling them that their 98 Pomeroy rating, 5-10 (3-7) record, 3-8 record in their last 11 games, and 0.8 chance (according to Kempom) of winning the Big East tourney meant that their chances of making the NCAA were zero...and yet somehow, their name was called on Selection Sunday.

You let me know when Penn State's name is called on Selection Sunday. They have no chance, none, of winning the conference tourney or making the dance. If I'm wrong I'll own that.

Also, not a single person on that thread was saying they had a chance without winning the conference toruney.

 

[Erial_Lion]

You let me know when Penn State's name is called on Selection Sunday. They have no chance, none, of winning the conference tourney or making the dance. If I'm wrong I'll own that.

Someone obviously has issues with the meaning of the word "none" if you could end up being wrong about it...

 

[Waltwam]

The discussion turned into their chances of making the tourney which were zero

Well you know that, and I know that. But they don't know that.

 

[LandoComando]

Someone obviously has issues with the meaning of the word "none" if you could end up being wrong about it...

I don't. I fully understand statistics and probability. The reality is there's NO chance. NONE. It's like believing the Pirates "can" make the playoffs until they're officially eliminated. Reality is reality.