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Off the bubble? Penn State adds to NCAA Tournament resume with B1G Tournament win over Illinois
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Penn State picked up a big win on Thursday night, defeating Illinois 79-76 in Big Ten Tournament action. The Nittany Lions are the tournament’s No. 10 seed while the Fighting Illini are the No. 7 seed, meaning the lower seed has now won all 5 games of the 2023 B1G Tournament.
Andrew Funk led the way with 20 points on 6-of-9 shooting from 3-point territory. Seth Lundy had a double-double of 17 points and a team-high 10 rebounds.
UPTOWN FUNK YOU UP 🔥🥵
Make that 5️⃣ 3s tonight from @andrewfunk11 👏 @PennStateMBB pic.twitter.com/LQXLtukbzF
— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) March 10, 2023
ANDREW. FUNK.
pic.twitter.com/O9hkfyU5lm— Onward State (@OnwardState) March 10, 2023
“Wow, how did that go?!” 🗣️
Seth Lundy (@llseth23) finishes the pretty reverse.#B1GMBBT x @PennStateMBB pic.twitter.com/pJN899fzWB
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) March 10, 2023
It was a tight game much of the night. Penn State led by just 1 at the half (31-30). The Nittany Lions pulled away late, establishing a 12-point advantage in the final 2 minutes. PSU led for 27:20 of the game’s 40 minutes.
Reaction to Penn State’s win
The initial reaction to Penn State’s win on social media is that the Nittany Lions are off the NCAA Tournament bubble. Earlier Thursday, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi had PSU at the top of his “Last Four In” group. With a win over an NCAA Tournament team, the Nittany Lions should be dancing.
Penn State should go dancing for the first time since 2011. Nittany Lions just took care of business against Illinois after beating Northwestern & Maryland last week. They’ve played themselves off the bubble and into the tournament. 6-6 vs. Quad 1. Great job by Micah Shrewsberry.
— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) March 10, 2023
Wisconsin lost.
Michigan lost.
Pittsburgh lost.
Providence lost.
Nevada lost.Penn State…wins vs. Illinois.
The Nittany Lions have won six of their last seven. With how bubble teams have performed this week, PSU might have just played its way into the field.
— Lukas Harkins (@hardwiredsports) March 10, 2023
In hindsight, Penn State was the obvious choice for a low seed that could make a run in Chicago. They’ve been playing well, veteran team desperate to get off the bubble and have the best guard there in Jalen Pickett. Duh.
They’re an NCAA Tournament team.
— Jeff Ermann (@Jeff_Ermann) March 10, 2023
Micah Shrewsberry says he hopes that it’s enough to get his squad into the field of 68.
“I hope we’ve done enough. . . . But we want to keep winning here. We’re having a lot of fun playing ball.”
🗣️ @Coach_Shrews, on if @PennStateMBB has done enough to go dancing#B1GMBBT pic.twitter.com/biEaDWZSS7
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) March 10, 2023
A former Florida beat reporter, Andrew writes for the Saturday Tradition News Desk.