Penn State basketball coach, Mike Rhoades, does not believe in moral victories, not one bit.
Many fans, though, might want to reward the Nittany Lions’ hoop squad with moral victories.
The reason for this is, as we reach the midpoint of the season, because their team of 12 underclassmen that includes eight freshmen and one senior has almost beat #12 Michigan State (76-72), #16 Illinois (73-65) and last night #2 Michigan (74-72) without the services of their best player, guard Kayden Mingo.
After Penn State’s heartbreaking loss to No. 2 Michigan Wolverines, Coach Rhoades kept it positive.
“Loved how our guys battled. They played with great grit. I told them the challenge of playing tough and together, and thought they did that,” Rhoades said.
“I’m not into moral victories, but I’m really proud of our guys. That was one you wanted to get.”
Rhoades spoke as a veteran from his experience as a player, having been a Division III All-American and National Player of the Year (1995), and as a coach, having led teams to six regular season conference championships, three NCAA Division I tournament appearances, and a pair of tournament conference championships, about his mindset after the game:
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.“I’m not dejected. I want to win. I didn’t come here to do this bullshit. I want to win. I don’t care if it’s a one point game or a thirty point game. I’ve been coaching long enough and we all go through this, but I want to win, and I want these guys to win, and to win, a lot of things go into it, so yeah, I’m pissed. I didn’t sign up for this. I don’t want to do this. I’m here though. We’re going to figure it out and we’re going to fight like crazy to do it. So I’m not dejected, I don’t get dejected. I hate losing. I freaking hate it. I don’t ever want us to ever like it or being close is okay. Screw that. We didn’t come here to be close. Today, our guys showed something today. I’m sure everybody at Penn State is proud of it, but let’s do more. Let’s figure it out. Let’s keep building on it. We got the youngest team in the league, one of the youngest teams in the country…our best player goes down, we responded the right way, I’m really proud of it, but I want these guys to win.”
You can watch Coach Rhoades’ postgame presser in its entirety below.
The Big Ten schedule does not get any easier as the Nittany Lions will travel to West Lafayette, Indiana this weekend to take on the No. 5 Purdue Boilermakers on Saturday inside Mackey Arena. The game will air live on the Big Ten Network with tipoff slated for 2:00 P.M.
