To kick off my passion blog this semester, I am going to start off with a pretty common sport, basketball. The Penn State mens basketball team beat the Michigan Wolverines last Wednesday the 22nd. In many years past, Penn State has always just been known as a “football school.” We have always had a reputation of having a decent football team, but in other major sports like basketball and baseball, we did not perform very well. This year’s basketball team is trying to change that belief. With so far one of the best seasons in recent memory, (knock on wood) Penn State’s mens basketball team is on track to make its first NCAA tournament appearance since its early exit to Temple in 2011. It has become a trend on campus now that “Penn State is a basketball school,” and this thought is only gaining momentum.

https://www.itl.cat/wallview/JTRhiw_welcome-to-the-official-website-of-the-penn/

Penn State finished the game ahead of the Wolverines in both field goal percentage and three point percentage, with .428 and .421 for the Nittany Lions compared to .353 and .179 for Michigan, respectively.

Senior forward Lamar Stevens finished with a game-high 19 points and grabbed nine rebounds, including six in the second half. Sophomore guard Myreon Jones and Stevens helped the Nittany Lions get off to a hot start as Myreon Jones had 12 of his 16 in the first half and Stevens scored 14 in the first 20 minutes.

https://www.blackshoediaries.com/2019/2/12/18221587/penn-state-nittany-lions-basketball-michigan-wolverines-lamar-stevens-jordan-poole-upset-josh-reaves

The Nittany Lion bench, propelled by graduate guard Curtis Jones Jr.’s 18 second-half points, outscored Michigan’s bench 31-4. Curtis Jones Jr. had a stretch of 11 straight points with just under 13 minutes left in the game to help maintain Penn State’s lead in the second half.

Michigan only briefly held the lead, after going on a scoring run with Lamar Stevens on the bench. However, once Stevens came back in, the Nittany Lions quickly retook the lead and held it for the remainder of the game. The Wolverines brought the score to within five with just under four minutes to play, but clutch scoring and free throws from Curtis Jones Jr., Myles Dread, and Myreon Jones helped give Penn State a final boost to win the game.

After the game, Penn State coach Patrick Chambers said, “I think that’s 75, 80 percent of the battle is believing in what you do, believing in one another, playing for each other, and being great teammates. I feel like we did that tonight, we defended really well, we gave up some offensive rebounds there in the second half, but for the most part we got timely ones.”

https://www.blackshoediaries.com/2019/1/15/18179339/my-name-is-chris-and-i-support-pat-chambers-penn-state-basketball-ncaa-tournament-sandy-barbour-nit

With this win, Penn State’s mens basketball team moved to a record of 14-5. Their next game is another Big Ten matchup against Indiana University on Wednesday night (update: Penn State won this matchup as well, with a final score of 64-49). With Michigan being one of Penn State’s Big Ten rivals, this win means just a little bit more than the average game. This was only Penn State’s third win ever when traveling to Ann Arbor. I guess it’s basketball season and Michigan still sucks.