Penn State wins first NCAA Tournament game since 2001

The No. 10 Penn State Nittany Lions dominated No. 7 Texas A&M within the first spherical of the lads’s NCAA Match on Thursday evening, successful 76-59 in Des Moines, Iowa. Right here’s what it is advisable know:

• The victory marks the Nittany Lions’ first NCAA Match win since 2001.
• That is Penn State’s second NCAA Match look since 2010.
• The Nittany Lions will tackle Texas within the second spherical, with a berth within the Candy Sixteen on the road.

The Athletic’s prompt evaluation:

How did Penn State pull off the win?

Penn State had a wise sport plan and executed it completely. Offensively, the Nittany Lions put the ball within the fingers of Jalen Pickett, and Pickett waited for the Aggies to cheat in, then discovered shooters. Normally that shooter was Andrew Funk, who made a career-high eight 3s and scored 27 factors. Pickett was a killer from the mid-range, scoring 19 factors to go together with his eight assists.

Texas A&M appeared confused all evening attempting to determine Penn State’s protection. The Nittany Lions sagged off non-shooters and performed what appeared like a zone that will flip right into a matchup zone after which ultimately man-to-man protection. — Moore

How Penn State matches up towards Texas

Penn State is a very arduous workforce to match up with stylistically due to all its shooters round Pickett, who is without doubt one of the hardest covers within the nation. When you don’t assistance on him, he’s going to get into the paint and make robust pictures. Ship assist and he’ll discover shooters. Texas will want to have the ability to restrict 3s and goes to want good video games out of its publish gamers.

The Longhorns aren’t fairly as straightforward to protect, nevertheless, as they’ve acquired extra capturing and playmakers on the perimeter than A&M. In addition they have higher particular person defenders. Nonetheless, it may very well be an excellent sport if Funk and Pickett keep sizzling. — Moore

Backstory

Penn State earned the No. 10 seed at this 12 months’s NCAA Match after making it to the ultimate of the Massive Ten event. It’s Penn State’s tenth look within the males’s NCAA Match.

Funk led the Nittany Lions in scoring with 27 factors on 8-of-11 capturing from the sphere. Pickett (19 factors) and Seth Lundy (10 factors) additionally posted double-digit factors.

Thursday’s win was Penn State’s largest margin of victory in program historical past on the NCAA Match (17 factors). With a win over Texas on Saturday, the Nittany Lions will advance to their first Candy Sixteen since 2001.

Spotlight of the sport

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(Picture: Jeffrey Becker / USA At this time)