There are 1.5 seconds remaining in the second overtime on Monday night at the Bryce Jordan Center as Micah Shrewsberry takes a towel and wipes his forehead, an act that marks his first moment of relaxation in nearly three hours. It’s too loud to know if he still has his voice, but judging by the fact Shrewsberry normally loses it well before the end of regulation, it seems reasonable to assume two overtimes of stress inducing basketball hasn’t done his vocal cords any favors.
But his face, covered in a smile, is loud and clear. Penn State is going to win, beating Iowa 90-86 in a game that had a little bit of everything. Then again, as Shrewsberry looks at the clock – there is still time left after all – he thinks about the end of regulation. So the smile leaves and he gets back to coaching.
Earlier…
To provide some context, the Bryce Jordan Center seats the media just underneath upper deck. This is not entirely out of the ordinary, but many basketball venues put the media near the court. It’s a better view, provides more details over the course of the game and is the sort of subtle gesture a program can make to appease those who can sway public opinion about the current state of affairs. That’s not to say it’s a bribe, but nobody has complained about good seats at a sporting event.
In either case, sitting far away from the court is not alway the most interesting way to take in a game. You miss a lot. Sure, the ball either goes in or it doesn’t – but there are so many little things that get lost between the cracks as game stories are written from miles away, documenting some small piece of history in some small corner of the world.
But there isn’t a rule about buying a ticket behind the bench.
So I did, four rows behind Shrewsberry, Penn State and one of the wilder games the Big Ten will see all season long.
Fast Forward…
It’s a little bit after 6 p.m. and assistant coach Mike Farrelly is already skipping around the court as the Nittany Lions get up some shots. Farrelly is an interesting character, perpetually in motion, born of a coaching cloth that requires a near-aneurysm level of intensity over the little details. He’s not angry, just very present in the moment.
Slowly but surely the rest of Penn State’s coaching staff makes it way to the court as pregame continues and the game rolls closer and closer. There is a lot of clapping, a lot of energy, a lot of patting on the back and high-fives. Penn State heads to the locker room and returns for the national anthem and introductions. There is more clapping, more high-fives. The energy is certainly there for a team that has lost three straight behind some poor shooting and lacking defense. Word is the Nittany Lions had their hands full in practice this week, and they certainly look like a team ready to respond after some lackluster performances. They might be flawed, but they’re better than their most recent efforts.
And it shows, Penn State bouncing out to an 11-2 lead from the outset. For all the shouting around him, Shrewsberry is calm — briefly. It’s almost like he knows that Monday night isn’t going to be a calm affair for long, or perhaps he is self aware enough to know losing his voice in the first three minutes doesn’t do anyone any favors. So he’s sitting, for now.
By Penn State’s second offensive possession he is already standing.
From there he points at sophomore Caleb Dorsey who rises from the bench but not quite fast enough.
“Let’s go!” Shrewsberry says motioning Dorsey to hurry.
A bit later and the score is 20-12 and Iowa is waking up. A few bad possessions by Penn State and a 7-0 run by the Hawkeyes forces Shrewsberry to bark at his bench as the Nittany Lions work on the other end of the floor.
“Move the basketball!” Shrewsberry shouts at whoever is listening.
Being so close to the bench does raise a question not seen from a distance: How many players ever hear what the coach is saying? Shrewsberry is barking commands most of the game but who hears him is anyone’s guess. Point guard Sam Sessoms and Shrewsberry make a lot of eye contact; big man Greg Lee is also on the other end of plenty of Shrewsberry communications in the moment. But everyone else? It’s hard to know who hears what during the run of play and how much coach-shouting is simply an emotional outlet for someone so deeply invested but largely powerless in the moment.
Whatever the case might be, Penn State is moving the ball well, shooting it decently and Iowa is still only down by one with just over seven minutes to go in the first half.
The final seven minutes are a mixture of Shrewsberry barking commands and yelling at the bench. It’s not anger, it’s just intensity.
“We have to switch” he says after a blown defensive possession.
The referees — of course — start to get involved in a game that didn’t need that kind of intervention. With 3:33 to go in the first half, Shrewsberry has an extended conversation with a referee about a call that happened possessions earlier. It’s not going to get him a technical, but it certainly looks like a polite argument. The two give each other respectful nods and head their separate ways.
In spite of Penn State playing fairly well, Iowa finds itself ahead 34-32 at the half. Shrewsberry just claps as the Nittany Lions head down the tunnel, well versed in the fact all you can ask for in Big Ten play is to have a chance, and the Nittany Lions certainly have one now.
Early in the second half John Harrar — who looks more tired and more intense from up close — has a contact knocked out. It’s maybe a blessing for a guy who gives his all whenever he’s on the floor. Harrar heads down the tunnel after the training staff can’t find what they need in their bag of tricks. In turn, he gets a bit of a break.
Minutes later he returns and moments after that Shrewsberry looks at him, Iowa and Penn State trading baskets in a close game.
“Get in the f***ing game,” Shrewsberry says to Harrar and Myles Dread as they jog to the table. The very next possession Harrar is feet away from Shrewsberry as Penn State’s first-year head coach yells at Harrar “John we need you!” pointing to a spot on the floor as Harrar flows in to set a screen.
As the clock winds down, the intensity around Shrewsberry increases. Farrelly is getting into defensive stances trying to will stops into existence. Assistant Adam Fisher is talking to players in huddles. Assistant David Aki is talking to referees and holding up a whiteboard of defensive assignments on it. Things are intense but part of an orchestrated chaos.
All the same, the margin is small and time is limited.
As Penn State heads to the huddle with 3:55 to go, the Nittany Lions are on the wrong end of another call. Dread shouts to everyone “just play” urging his teammates to ignore the calls they don’t agree with. Down 59-57 there is no time to wallow in the whistles that should or shouldn’t have happened.
Less than half a minute later Sam Sessoms scoops and scores off of a play Shrewsberry shouts to the team directly in front of him. It’s clear that if they heard nothing else all night they heard that. A few minutes later Greg Lee lays home another basket to put Penn State up six with 1:51 to go. He looks at his bench with a slight flex of his shoulders.
The chaos is increasing by the moment at this point. Forward Seth Lundy, who will end the night with 17 points and 11 rebounds, rolls an ankle with minutes to go, but he waves off a trainer with 1:32 to play and returns.
For all of his energy, Farrelly shouts a prudent and ultimately foreshadowing reminder to “rebound”, motioning wildly with his hands to anyone within earshot as Penn State takes the court, the Nittany Lions now ahead by two with eight seconds to go.
Iowa drives the length of the floor, Jordan Bohannon shooting a three that badly misses as it soars past the rim. But Penn State basketball is not without its unending curse. Keegan Murray taps the ball back toward the rim with less than a second to go, tying the game as time expires.
To overtime we go.
The first overtime is an exhibition in free throws, something that Shrewsberry has little to offer from the bench beyond clapping and the frustrated exasperation of a father hoping that this will be the possession his kids decide not to foul only to realize this is not the case.
With 20 seconds remaining in the first overtime it’s Penn State’s ball down by three. Functionally the choices here are limited when it comes to who will take the shot. In this case it’s Dread, a streaky shooter, but with a growing collection of game-winning baskets over the course of his career.
And while his three with nine seconds left in the first overtime didn’t win the game, it did tie it. And while Penn State’s subsequent defensive possession didn’t win the game, it did send it to a second overtime.
Minutes into the second overtime a bad turnover bounces toward Shrewsberry and into his hands, the ball nearly exploding as he slams it into the floor before collecting his emotions and motioning to his players to remaining calm as they head to the defensive end of the floor.
Iowa would score one free throw and a meaningless three the rest of the way. Harrar (19 points, 10 rebounds] motions to the crowd to cheer as the clock sat at just 1.5 seconds, Iowa down four.
It’s in this moment Shrewsberry finally smiles and wipes his face. But in that same moment he remembers how regulation ended and a lesson he’s learning about his new charge as Penn State’s head coach.
It ain’t over til it’s over.
