How Penn State did the improbable and put itself in position to make the NCAA Tournament

Penn State was at the wrong end of a comeback one week prior to Sunday’s Senior Day game against Maryland. It was left for dead. Postseason hopes dashed in the eyes of some thanks to a hapless close to its 59-56 loss to Rutgers that saw it blow a 19-point lead.

What kind of team could rebound from a heartbreaking loss like that, then win two of its toughest games of the season to close it out and give itself a chance at the NCAA Tournament?

This team.

The Nittany Lions did the improbable, winning both games and finishing the second one with a comeback from down 16 points, including a 15-point deficit in the second half, to knock off the Terps and exorcise the demons of a week prior.

Neither victory came easy. Sunday’s against Maryland came with all of the uncertainty of a large deficit and struggling offense. But like the win over Northwestern, it also came with a big-time moment from a senior.

Wednesday it was an open 3-pointer for Cam Wynter with 0.7 seconds left. Sunday it was a rebound — a hustle play for the smallest Nittany Lion on the court.

He hauled in the missed 3-pointer by Seth Lundy, one Lundy chased in to try to rebound on his own, and put the shot up as time wound down, watching it slide through the net with 0.5 seconds on the clock.

“Right place at the right time,” Wynter said. “The ball came to me and I just finished it. I seen the red lights go off and it was kind of just nothing but joy knowing that I could bring the win home for all of us and for the seniors who fought so hard.”

The reaction was as captivating as the made shot: Wynter hugged and hoisted into the air by fellow senior Andrew Funk; Dread with an outburst of emotion during his final game.

It may seem like hyperbole, but there have not been many bigger moments in the history of Penn State men’s basketball. It’s akin to the one in 2009 when Talor Battle went coast to coast to make a layup and knock off No. 23 Illinois, 64-63.

This is a program that does not have many moments like Battle’s layup or Wynter’s rebound and finish. It has not made the NCAA Tournament since 2011. It’s one whose aspirations on the court don’t align with those it has on the football field. One that is rarely fighting to make the tournament down the wire of the season like it was 14 years ago and is now.

Expectations from fans never seem to get too high and always seem tenuous, with social media posts about this being a “typical Penn State team” after its loss to Rutgers — one that did just enough to give the people emotionally invested some hope to end the year before going astray.

This iteration seemed hellbent on being different. On proving it was what it believed all along. Internally, going to the NCAA Tournament was the goal from the start.

Finding a way to reach it became a problem down the stretch, but that doesn’t mean it ever stopped believing in what it could be.

“We felt like we’ve been playing pretty good basketball,” Jalen Pickett said. “Coming around now, this is where we want to be. Coming off a two-game win streak. Playing the way we’re playing. We had tight games on the road and at home. So we thought we could play with anybody in the league. It’s just building confidence for us and we’re excited to get going.”

Sunday was the culmination of those efforts. Myles Dread showing up with his best game in months in his last at the Bryce Jordan Center. Lundy making three important free throws despite struggling from the field. Those two being joined by three other seniors in Wynter, Pickett and Andrew Funk on the team’s last offensive possession of Senior Day. Shrewsberry — a self-proclaimed Tasmanian devil on the sidelines on gameday — calmly encouraging his team to press forward.

There was a cohesiveness to what was unfolding on the court and it paralleled what was known about this team all season. For all of its struggles, for all of its ups and downs and twists and turns, it never gave up on itself. The players never seemed to give up on each other.

The efforts of a season were put on display on the court Sunday. And, as Dread said, a script couldn’t have done it any better.

“I didn’t expect it to be that emotional,” Dread said. “... After the game, that’s like a storybook ending. You can’t picture it any other way. It feels like a movie.”

In an ideal world, for those seniors, this is not the end of the movie. Yes, Penn State is in the best position it’s been for months when it comes to the postseason. But the work is not done and a postseason slot is not a guarantee.

After all, that 2009 victory over the Illini was supposed to put Penn State into the tournament and snap an eight-year streak without a bid. But it didn’t and the group went on to make — and win —the NIT.

As former Nittany Lion John Harrar would phrase it last season, the team has more to give.

But for now it has given everything.

And the Nittany Lions are knocking on the door of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 12 years.