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Penn State Basketball gets Micah Shrewsberry era off with a win

By Evan Smith

Nov 10, 2021; University Park, Pennsylvania, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions head coach Micah Shrewsberry reacts to a play against the Youngstown State Penguins during the first half at the Bryce Jordan Center. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 10, 2021; University Park, Pennsylvania, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions head coach Micah Shrewsberry reacts to a play against the Youngstown State Penguins during the first half at the Bryce Jordan Center. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports /
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Penn State Basketball got the season, and the Micah Shrewsberry era off with a win

Penn State Basketball opened the Micah Shrewsberry era with a 75-59 win over Youngstown State tonight (just missing out on the cover).

The Nittany Lions starting returning players Sam Sessoms, Myles Dread, Seth Lundy, John Harrar, and transfer Jalen Pickett opened the season with a victory as the Bryce Jordan Center welcomed back fans for the first time in 617 days (senior night vs Michigan State on March 3rd, 2020 in front of 13,437 students).

Tonight’s attendance was not given at the time of publication but the students showed up for the Shrew Crew opening game, filling two sections.

The general crowd was decent but the gym lacked energy throughout, perhaps due to the midweek 8:30 pm opening tip.  The loudest moment was the under 12:00 2nd half timeout where the a student hit an over-the-shoulder free throw for a gift card until a late 6-0 highlighted by a Harrar dunk and Sessoms nifty fast-break layup all but ended the game.

Opening as 19.5 point favorites (closed at 17), this was simply not a game Penn State could afford to lose.

And with both Indiana and Ohio State struggling in their season openers the night before (and fellow Commonwealth team Lehigh taking Rutgers to OT in Piscataway), the Penguins had the Nittany Lions’ full attention.

The statistics provide us a unique insight into Shrewsberry’s rotations, as he stated before the season starter he only knew he’d start John Harrar and “four other guys”.  The Lions were led by the ‘old guard’, with Seth Lundy leading the way with 23, followed by Sam Sessoms (17) and John Harrar 16 (with 14 rebounds)

There was significant concern with both Greg Lee and Jevonnie Scott out.  Penn State started slow out of the gate but thanks to some very cold Penguin shooting, the Lions were able to feel their way into the game (and season) and took a 35-26 lead into the half.  Neither team shot that well but Penn State owned the glass against the clearly overmatched Penguins frontcourt (PSU won the rebounding battle 43 – 24).

Youngstown State was able to cut the score to 57-51 with 8 minutes to go, but a Sam Sessoms drive to the hole bumped helped stop any chance of a Penguin run.

Penn State hits the road for their second game, traveling to Amherst to take on the Minutemen and our old friend Trent Buttrick.   UMass opened their year with a 77-60 win over the UMBC Retrievers (yes, the Jim Ferry led Retrievers).  Buttrick played 23 minutes and led the team in scoring 16 points (on 6/12 shooting) and adding 7 rebounds and an assist.

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