Andrew Funk leads Penn State to NCAA Tournament win over Texas A&M, goes viral on social media
Andrew Funk was one of the biggest stars of Day 1 of the NCAA Tournament. The Penn State guard made a career-high 8 3-pointers to carry the No. 10 seed Nittany Lions to a double-digit upset victory over No. 7 seed Texas A&M 76-59 on Thursday.
Funk said that once the first couple of triples went in, he started feeling it.
“Yeah, the run opens up a little bit, for sure,” Funk told reporters. “It kinda gets to a point, especially with the offense that we play and like I know I’m going to get a lot of shots from three and when those first two go in, you start hunting them a little bit and you just get into a rhythm, especially in a game like that where our offense is flowing the way it is. So, yeah, just to keep it short, the rim opens up a lot and you get a lot of confidence flowing. Feels good.”
All 8 of Funk’s made field goals were 3-pointers. He was also 3-of-3 at the free-throw line to finish with a team-high 27 points.
Andrew Funk was COOKING from downtown 👨🍳
His 8 3’s were instrumental in Penn State’s big win over Texas A&M 🔥#MarchMadness @PennStateMBB pic.twitter.com/n2LHpUcb4c
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 17, 2023
In the postgame press conference, Funk was told that he had gone viral on Twitter. Funk called the tweets fun, hoping it brings attention to the Nittany Lions’ accomplishments.
“I envisioned us getting to this point and winning a lot of games, but that’s pretty cool and I’m glad to see that’s cool for me, but for this program it deserves all the attention that we’re getting and we’re going to continue to get. So it means a lot and I’m really happy to be doing it for this university and program.”
Andrew Funkpic.twitter.com/HxF54nqMsb
— br_betting (@br_betting) March 17, 2023
BUILD ANDREW FUNK A STATUE!!!! pic.twitter.com/kIOjnucvjO
— Terry Pegula AKA NIL Daddy (@Poerbler) March 17, 2023
Andrew Funk pic.twitter.com/X4TxQXlGFY
— Big Cat (@BarstoolBigCat) March 17, 2023
Andrew Funk https://t.co/SzigNIBSjl
— ChumaMuse (@HickMarshall) March 17, 2023
Andrew Funk is currently the No. 8 hottest trending topic on Twitter. Isn’t that something pic.twitter.com/KtfIEYSwFr
— Seth Engle (@bigsengtweets) March 17, 2023
ANDREW FUNK. 8/10 from 3.#WeAre | #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/CMmXJbaex9
— FanDuel (@FanDuel) March 17, 2023
“I guess the Twitter stuff is cool, I guess,” Funk added. “They can do some cool things with my last name, some puns, I guess. But it’s fun. Like you said, you grow up watching this tournament and missing out on it. My four years at Bucknell was a part of why I wanted to come here and help this team get here. So to see it come to fruition is hard to put in words, to be honest.”
Funk and the Nittany Lions will look to stay hot against No. 2 seed Texas on Saturday.