Penn State’s magical run has come to an end.
Tenth-seeded fought hard against second-seeded Texas but fell, 71-66, ending its season 23-14.
It was the first time Penn State made the NCAA Tournament since 2011, and its 76-59 win over Texas A&M Thursday was the first tournament game Penn State had won since 2001.
Penn State had Texas on the ropes late, leading by three with less than five minutes left. But ultimately, a Texas team many feel can win it all had too much firepower.
Here’s how the people of Twitter reacted to one of the best basketball seasons in Penn State history coming to an end.
Not just the best season, but also the most fun season to follow in 15 years as a fan. Extend @Coach_Shrews and let’s make this a more common occurrence. https://t.co/fCromXcpJU
— Daniel Vecellio (@sciencedjv) March 19, 2023
Hell of a run through March! Dudes fought till the end! Shrewsberry building a winner in State College. Buy your stock in PSU basketball now #WeAre https://t.co/z1iiTChjYw
— Matt Peterson (@MPetersonWx) March 19, 2023
always proud to be a Penn Stater 💙 https://t.co/sUtdcAXEB7
— Marielena Balouris (@Marielena_TV) March 19, 2023
23 wins.
10 conference wins for the second time over the last 27 years.
One Big Ten Tournament Championship appearance.
One upset NCAA Tournament victory.
Micah Shrewsberry IS Penn State and deserves whatever he demands to remain in Happy Valley long-term. pic.twitter.com/gc9UJahAAb
— Onward State (@OnwardState) March 19, 2023
Penn State’s season comes to an end.
What a run.
If you told me at the start of the season I’d be covering Penn State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament I’d laugh, but here we are.
An emotional Myles Dread fist bump to take us out. pic.twitter.com/bJSui9FK2M
— Spencer Ripchik (@RipchikSpencer) March 19, 2023
Myles Dread and Micah Shrewsberry applaud the Penn State fans as they exit. @NittanySN pic.twitter.com/6QrsCBhd04
— Dan Angell (@danangell11) March 19, 2023
🤍🤍
— Penn State Football (@PennStateFball) March 19, 2023
💙💙💙
— Penn State Athletics (@GoPSUsports) March 19, 2023
micah better have a blank check by tomorrow, pay that man
— Braydon Miller (@BraydonMiller15) March 19, 2023
Tremendous #PSU run for last three weeks. Texas a little better with its size advantage. Nits needed couple more 3s to fall, but no shame in great effort. Next step: Buttoning down Shrewsberry to insure future.
P.S. Line was 5.5.— Neil Rudel (@NeilRudel) March 19, 2023
Thank you Coach Shrewsberry and all of the Seniors for an incredible year.
Lot of people around State College have fallen back in love with basketball after this season.
Nothing but proud of the effort and this team. Penn State forever 🦁 pic.twitter.com/xjrs8xFKV8
— The Basic Blues Podcast (@BasicBluesPod) March 19, 2023
What an awesome season. https://t.co/R1hJvnPG9l
— Chris Stewart (@CStewartNews) March 19, 2023
One hell of a fun run. Tough to lose. But kudos to the entire team and @Coach_Shrews. Let’s build to the future. #WeAre https://t.co/SUbI56QMr6
— Tony Mancuso (@tdmancuso) March 19, 2023
We’ll be back https://t.co/Rl6RfdzIb6
— Chris (@playthe_CD) March 19, 2023
What an incredible season for Penn State. If PSU can keep this up, this Nittany Lions team will forever go down as the group that made Penn State fans fall in love with basketball again, or maybe for the first time.
— Mike J. Asti (@MikeAsti11) March 19, 2023
Penn State basketball just gave us the best run we’ve had in over a decade… B1G Championship and a phenomenal run, almost upset #2 seed Texas… let’s give some respect where it’s due
— Barstool Penn State (@PSUBarstool) March 19, 2023
This loss only stings if you don’t expect Penn State to be back, and better. If it does the right things, it will be. Entirely an institutional choice. Tick tock.
— Adam Bittner (@fugimaster24) March 19, 2023
Death, taxes and random dudes having career nights against Penn State
— PSU Everything (@PSU_Strong) March 19, 2023
If I’m Patrick Kraft, there’s only one option…
Blank. Check. https://t.co/61fAjoPUgB
— Corey Crisan (@cdcrisan) March 19, 2023
But that's the thing: What if some other school with more basketball tradition also offers him a blank check?
I do believe PSU will commit to him. But will he commit to them, when his name is gonna come up for job after job after job for years? https://t.co/GRb3K1fFec— Cory Giger (@CoryGiger) March 19, 2023
And now it’s decision time for administration. You can either set the foundation of a successful program for years to come or settle for continued perennial mediocrity in basketball.
In other words, throw everything you can at Micah. Even if he walks, at least go down swinging.
— The Penn State Troll 🦁🧌 (@ThePSUTroll) March 19, 2023
Penn State took a three-point lead with 4:48 to go, then missed the next five from the field. Texas for its part, made a lot of winning plays. Six-straight makes to close out the game over that same span.
— Ben Jones (@Ben_Jones88) March 19, 2023
Ugh, awful feeling. This team brought hope. Let it continue.
— Evil James Franklin (@JamesFrankwin) March 19, 2023
Penn State falls to Texas 71-66 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Through 19-point blown leads and close losses, this team never quit. Hats off to one of the best teams in program history. pic.twitter.com/yGDucdEgNu
— Seth Engle (@bigsengtweets) March 19, 2023
Thank you Jalen Pickett, Seth Lundy, Andrew Funk, Cam Wynter, Michael Henn and Myles Dread. You guys made PSU basketball fun again. We will miss you.
— PSU Everything (@PSU_Strong) March 19, 2023
Shrewsberry on Pickett's culminating output at the campaign's conclusion:
"Jalen Pickett just put together one of the most sensational seasons in Penn State history [and] college basketball history."
— Onward Sports (@OnwardStSports) March 19, 2023
— Stephen Pianovich (@SPianovich) March 19, 2023
Micah Shrewsberry waves to fans and walks off the floor in Des Moines.
Will he coach another game in the blue and white? We’ll see what the future holds pic.twitter.com/qTot1FHozP
— Seth Engle (@bigsengtweets) March 19, 2023
