I didn’t actually see Sunday’s game.
Stuck moving between two houses in State College, I caught as much of the game as I could listening to the radio, driving with boxes and furniture in every space that the car could hold and still be street legal.
But I’m pretty sure I’ve seen the game before.
Penn State took an early lead, a rarity on the road and despite good shooting and defense in the early going, Minnesota took a slight advantage after consecutive three pointers fell. It’s a cruel reality that a team can shoot so well and see that hard work evaporate in seconds.
From there the teams battled back and forth, Newbill hitting a few shots, Geno Thorpe and Brandon Taylor not far behind. Penn State pushed the lead back out to a 43-34 halftime margin behind 50 percent shooting and six made threes from beyond the arc.
It may have been senior day for Minnesota players, but Penn State has come so close so many times and with time running out the Nittany Lions were going to finally get this right.
On a ride across town the radio call described Minnesota coach Richard Pitino as being angry at his players for getting out-worked. And that sounded right. For all of the losses and all of the near misses, Penn State has rarely been a team to get out hustled. Match the Nittany Lions up against a fairly equal foe and it can spell trouble for the opposition. Penn State may not be more skilled than you, but recruiting stars don’t determine effort on the court.
The result of this hard work was an early 13 point lead just two minutes into the second half. But like all things Penn State basketball, it would be too much to ask for the good to last more than a few minutes. And so Minnesota chipped away at Penn State’s lead. The Gophers were led by Maurice Walker’s 26 points, 8-of-14 shooting and 10-of-14 accuracy from the stripe.
To Penn State’s credit, the offense wasn’t too bad in the second half either. Geno Thorpe and DJ Newbill kept Penn State right in the game and Shep Garner’s six point, six rebound outing was a nice addition to the mix. Even so, the game tightened and the deja vu settled in. Another close game. Another potential loss in the making. Staying in the game is rarely the hard part for Penn State. It’s pulling off winning plays at winning moments.
And that’s when DJ Newbill happened.
Driving back across town in my empty car is when it started. Newbill hit layups, he split a double team, he hit jumpers. In the last regular season game of his college career, Newbill did what he has done so well his entire life. Score buckets.
He tallied 14 of Penn State’s last 16 points en route to a 31 point, five rebound, four assist outing. It was an exceptional performance for a player who has put up big numbers on so many occasions only to be rewarded with a box score to admire and another loss to get over. The results of his outing on Sunday? Simply a tie game with a minute to play.
But a basket fell putting Penn State up by only a point. With 13.9 seconds remaining Minnesota got to the line to shoot free throws and it certainly didn’t bode well for Penn State if this season’s history was to be the guide. One fell to tie the game at 76, the other did not.
And so, once again facing an uncertain outcome, DJ Newbill walked up the court as he had so many times before this season. With only seconds left on the clock, Newbill took the ball to the top of the arc and released a rainbow of a shot that likely hung in the air for what would feel like eternity to him.
Swish. Game set and match.
My move is over for now, but Penn State’s season has at least one more game in it. The Nittany Lions face either Nebraska or Minnesota in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament.
What happens next? Who knows?
For one afternoon though, DJ Newbill got his long awaited reward. There is a USA Today photo from after the game showing Newbill with teammates jumping on his back after the shot. If anything, it’s a fitting image that illustrates what he has done all season, the kind of effort that the basketball gods should have acknowledged long ago.
Penn State played hard on Sunday, grew a lead, saw that lead evaporate and finally made the plays that needed to be made to pull out the win.
In many ways it was like every game Penn State has played all year, except the hard work finally paid off. It undoubtedly wasn’t always pretty, but it was fitting.
But then again, I didn’t see any of it.
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