Big Ten

Big Ten semis takeaways: Jalen Pickett, Zach Edey lead Penn State, Purdue to final

Updated Mar. 11, 2023 8:25 p.m. ET

College Football and College Basketball Writer

Note: Michael Cohen is sharing takeaways on the action throughout the Big Ten Tournament.

CHICAGO — As he made his way toward Indiana head coach Mike Woodson for the postgame handshake, Penn State's Micah Shrewsberry lowered his glance and shook his head. Leading by 10 points with 1:42 remaining in a Big Ten Tournament semifinal, Shrewsberry's team had nearly fumbled it all away with three turnovers and three missed free throws that breathed life into the left-for-dead Hoosiers.

But his plucky underdogs from Penn State staved off the ultimate implosion with a successful inbounds pass and three gut-check makes from the free-throw line in the final 17 seconds. The Nittany Lions survived, 77-73, as a third consecutive upset at the United Center kept their magical run alive.

First-team All-Big Ten performer Jalen Pickett scored 15 of his team-high 28 points in the second half to preserve a game Penn State led for more than 32 minutes.

"We have a poster in our locker room saying believe, and I think our team is believing in us," Pickett said following his team's win. "We ended the regular season pretty well on a high note, and now we're showing it in the tournament. I feel like we're playing our best basketball right around now."

An 8-for-23 performance from 3-point range by the Nittany Lions offset a minus-26 deficit in the paint as Shrewsberry's team exploited one of Indiana's most glaring weaknesses. Trayce Jackson-Davis led the Hoosiers with 24 points and 10 rebounds.

With the win, Penn State moves on to face top-seeded Purdue in the championship game as it seeks a first Big Ten Tournament title in school history. The Nittany Lions finished as runners-up more than a decade ago, in 2011, which was the last time this program reached the NCAA Tournament.

But after racking up three wins in three days in Chicago — and thus assuring a spot in March Madness — at least one of those things will change on Sunday night.

The Achilles' heel

As Indiana head coach Mike Woodson trudged off the court for a much-needed halftime reset on Saturday, it's easy to imagine the feelings of déjà vu that might have been running through his head. Exactly two months ago, on Jan. 11, Woodson brought his Hoosiers to Penn State for what devolved into an obliteration. The Nittany Lions crushed Indiana, 85-66, in a game that exposed a potentially fatal flaw that could — and probably will — cap what Woodson's team can reasonably accomplish in the NCAA Tournament.

That night, Penn State outscored the Hoosiers by 42 points from the 3-point line after hitting 18 of 31 attempts in a rip-roaring display of the top-end potential that will earn the Nittany Lions a place in March Madness for the first time since 2011. Small forward Seth Lundy and shooting guard Andrew Funk each made seven 3s to chastise Indiana for its impotency from beyond the arc. The Hoosiers made just four of their 14 attempts and did so without a single player connecting on multiple 3-pointers.

The opening 23 minutes of Saturday's rematch unfolded in similar fashion: Shrewsberry's team built a lead that swelled as large as 12 by relying on a handful of marksmen that, together, have provided 43.8% of the Penn State's scoring from beyond the arc this season, the second-highest rate in the country. And Woodson's crew, which ranks 343rd in percentage of points scored from 3-point range, failed to keep pace while repeatedly trading 2s for 3s.

By the time Indiana made its first 3-pointer on Saturday — a shot by reserve guard Tamar Bates that pulled the Hoosiers within 38-35 at the 16:42 mark of the second half — the Nittany Lions had already buried five shots from beyond the arc for a plus-12 advantage. Therein lies the problem for Woodson whose best player, Jackson-Davis, hasn't attempted a single 3-pointer all season and whose lead guard, Jalen Hood-Schifino, prefers mid-range pull-ups to long-range bombs.

Small forward Miller Kopp (45.3% from beyond the arc) entered the semifinals as the only Hoosier with more than 35 made 3s this season. And that's why it's a challenge to picture IU at the Final Four.

Riding the carousel

Regardless of what happens in the Big Ten title game and beyond, Shrewsberry has done more than enough in two years at Penn State to be considered one of the hottest names in the forthcoming coaching cycle. He improved the Nittany Lions from 14 wins in his first season to 22 and counting in his second while flashing both a keen eye for talent — especially from the transfer portal — and the kind of strong developmental skills needed to squeeze the most out of players.

Any concerns about the brevity of Shrewsberry's head-coaching experience will be eased by the strength of his pedigree: He reached back-to-back national title games stint as an assistant at Butler under Brad Stevens (2008-11); he gained valuable experience in a power conference by joining Matt Painter's staff at Purdue (2011-13); he reunited with Stevens in the NBA as an assistant with the Boston Celtics (2013-19); he returned to the Big Ten for three more years with Painter (2019-21).

With several high-profile jobs already open, the 46-year-old Shrewsberry can expect his phone to ring in the coming days and weeks — depending on how far the Nittany Lions advance in the NCAA Tournament. Shrewsberry is likely to be considered for vacancies at Notre Dame, which parted ways with Mike Brey, and Georgetown, which finally fired Patrick Ewing after a disastrous tenure at his alma mater. More jobs will open between now and the end of the NCAA Tournament.

And there's an argument to be made that Shrewsberry should strike while the iron is hot, while his stock is at an all-time high after authoring just the fifth 20-win season at Penn State since 2000. Accepting a job in the next few weeks would allow Shrewsberry to leave State College without having to rebuild a significant portion of the roster. Pickett, Lundy, Funk, Camren Wynter, Myles Dread and Michael Henn might all be on their way out, and there's no guarantee the transfer portal would be as kind the second time around.

When the calls come in, it's probably best if Shrewsberry answers. But for now, he's focused on the task at hand.

"I'm happy to be here," Shrewsberry said when asked about other job openings. "Nobody wanted me a few years ago. I'm happy to be here. I love our guys. We're going to prepare to play for a championship tomorrow."

Game 1: Purdue 80, Ohio State 66

CHICAGO — The fans behind Purdue's bench climbed to their feet with 38.9 seconds remaining in a game they'd all but won. Head coach Matt Painter had removed star center Zach Edey after one of his most productive, most pulverizing performances in a season full of them, and the Boilermakers faithful rewarded the most unique player in college basketball with a hearty cheer. One woman waived her hands and bowed as if to signify she wasn't worthy of being in the presence of such greatness.

The dominant Edey poured in a game-high 32 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to power top-seeded Purdue to an 80-66 win over No. 13 Ohio State in the first semifinal of this year's Big Ten Tournament. The Boilermakers advance to face Penn State Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET.

Freshman Roddy Gayle Jr. buried five 3-pointers and scored a career-high 20 points to lead the Buckeyes, whose run toward an improbable NCAA Tournament bid fell short during their fourth game in four days.

Gayle-force winds

Late in Ohio State's second-round win over Iowa on Thursday, star freshman Brice Sensabaugh asked to be substituted. Head coach Chris Holtmann assumed Sensabaugh, the team's leading scorer at 16.3 points per game, was simply fatigued after playing 27 minutes in a game that unfolded at a breakneck pace in the second half. In reality, Sensabaugh had suffered a knee injury that would sideline him for the quarterfinals against Michigan State and, with the issuing of a news release on Saturday morning, end his season entirely.

He is expected to declare for the NBA Draft.

"Brice has had an outstanding freshman season and played very well down the stretch," Holtmann said in the release, which was distributed prior to the semifinal between Ohio State and Purdue. "I know how badly he wanted to play, and we are disappointed for him. We are proud of him and his continued development as a player and I know he's looking forward to supporting his teammates again today."

Holtmann filled Sensabaugh's place in the starting lineup with another true freshman, Gayle, a four-star prospect ranked No. 49 in the 2022 recruiting cycle and the highest-rated player in Ohio State's class. Gayle averaged 15.8 minutes per game this season as Sensabaugh and fellow freshman Bruce Thornton, the team's starting point guard, garnered most of the attention. He arrived at the Big Ten Tournament having scored in double figures just once in a 96-59 demolition of St. Francis in a nonconference matchup.

But Gayle played a central role in propelling the Buckeyes into the quarterfinals by scoring all nine of his points and dishing out his only assist in the final six minutes of a 73-69 win over Iowa. He followed up with a career-high 15 points in a 68-58 win over Michigan State by making all three of his shots from beyond the arc in 26 minutes.

"I was really proud of Roddy," Holtmann said after beating the Hawkeyes. "He's put in a lot of work, and he's had Bruce and other guys who have kind of had really big seasons. Obviously Brice is a freshman, and sometimes you can compare yourself to them, and it can bother you. I think he's just stayed with working. We've had a lot of conversations, and he's just stayed with it, stayed working. I was really happy for Roddy to see this moment, because we have a really high-level belief in what he's going to be."

Gayle saved his best performance for Saturday's semifinal, which was Ohio State's fourth game in four days. A 37.2% long-range shooter, Gayle opened by making five consecutive shots from beyond the arc as the upstart Buckeyes built an eight-point lead in the first 12 minutes, trading an array of 2-pointers by Edey for momentum-stealing triples. When his fourth 3-pointer fell through the net, at which point Ohio State led 26-19, Gayle let loose a playful smile and clapped his hands in delight.

"We all knew what Roddy was capable of doing the whole year, man," Thornton said. "He just brought it out when we needed it the most. He had a great week."

The Buckeyes shot 7-for-11 from beyond the arc in the first half to remain within striking distance of the Boilermakers, who led 42-34 at the break.

Larger than life

In addition to Sensabaugh, the other Ohio State player who watched Saturday's semifinal in sweats was starting center Zed Key, his left arm harnessed and strapped in place following season-ending shoulder surgery in late February. At 6-foot-8 and 255 pounds, Key was one of just two traditional low-post options in Holtmann's rotation along with Felix Okpara, a raw but fast-developing 6-foot-11 freshman from Nigeria.

Preparing to face the 7-foot-4, 305-pound Edey with minimal frontcourt depth is an impossible task, and the freshly-crowned Big Ten Player of the Year punished the Buckeyes with his unwavering brand of physicality that puts referees in a bind.

Edey repeatedly pinned the slender Okpara, who ceded 85 pounds to his counterpart, so deep in the paint that any well-placed entry pass became an easy hook shot, layup or dunk. And when Holtmann transitioned to a smaller lineup — something he did to great effect earlier in the tournament against Wisconsin, Iowa and Michigan State — Edey displaced the makeshift center Eugene Brown III like a boulder crashing into a lake. The 6-foot-7, 195-pound Brown grimaced with every shoulder bump he absorbed, and there was a moment in the second half when Edey knocked him out of bounds en route to a putback slam that gave Purdue a 57-43 lead.

"The storyline of the game is they only have one center," Painter said. "So we had that matchup the whole night. I felt bad for Trey Kaufman-Renn because he normally gives us about eight to 12 minutes right there and does a really good job. But since we just had that matchup all night, Zach was going to have an advantage and we were going to be able to get to the free-throw line. It just makes a lot of sense just to get him the basketball, get them in foul trouble, get to the free-throw line, and try to steal as many points as possible."

Though he didn't shoot a great percentage, Edey paced the Boilermakers on an afternoon when fellow starters Fletcher Loyer, Mason Gillis and Ethan Morton combined for five points. He dropped in 12 of his 25 field goal attempts — a number that came within one of his career-high 26 attempts in a 64-63 win over Michigan State in January — to record his sixth 30-point game of the year and his first since Feb. 4.

"There's kind of like a point halfway through the first half when one of our coaches, P.J. (Thompson), kind of came up to me (and says), 'This is just one of those days you've got to get 30.' So I just kind of stuck with it," Edey said. "I executed the game plan. I just tried my best to score the ball every time I touched it."

Edey never missed more than two consecutive shots in a team-high 35 minutes of playing time as Purdue clobbered the Buckeyes by scoring 36 of their 80 points in the paint. He drew the fifth foul on Okpara with 2:19 remaining after snaring an offensive rebound and powering through his opponent's chest for a traditional three-point play. Okpara wheezed and choked back tears as Holtmann embraced him on the Ohio State sideline.

Michael Cohen covers college football and basketball for FOX Sports with an emphasis on the Big Ten. Follow him on Twitter @Michael_Cohen13.

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