Penn State Sports Magazine
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D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 2 41 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M Penn State head coach Micah Shrewsberry is leaning into the plan. His Lions stocked up on shooters in the offseason and have established them- selves as one of the nation's more proficient teams from beyond the arc. In its first six games, Penn State was held below 60 points just once — in a 61-59 loss to Virginia Tech at the Charleston (S.C.) Classic. While the Nittany Lions will be looking to shoot effectively from long range throughout the season, Shrewsberry knows that it will take more than just perimeter firepower to be consistently competitive. "People know what our strength is," he said. "Their game plan is to try and take that away, and I think where we have to be good is to take advan- tage of that. "That's going to continue to be a growth process for us — knowing this is who we are, this is who we want to be, and let's continue to play to our style. "When people allow us to play that way, we're really hard to guard, we're really hard to deal with. We've got to be the same exact way when they don't allow us to do that, which some people are trying to do." Everything the Lions are doing offensively is predicated on the idea that their approach at the opposite end of the court will remain the same as it did last year when they led the Big Ten in scoring defense. "Whether the ball goes in or not, we're going to guard somebody every single game. We're going to give ourselves a chance," Shrewsberry said. "We don't play off our offense. Not at all. We're going to guard you, whether the ball's going in or the ball's not going in. We're going to give ourselves a chance." Lilley Expected To See Action Soon Shrewsberry's push for three-pointers isn't diminishing, but help could soon be on the way for the post. True freshman forward Kebba Njie made his first career start against Colorado State in the consolation round of the Charleston Classic, and junior forward Caleb Dorsey has received positive reviews for his early-season effort handling the five position. In addition, the Lions are optimistic that another option is on pace for a potential De- cember debut. The only player on Penn State's 15-man roster who didn't see action in the team's first six games, freshman big man Demetrius Lilley, is report- edly poised to return soon after missing the start of the season with an unspecified injury. The 6-10, 260-pound Lilley offers a "physicalness" that the Nittany Lions can use this season, Shrewsberry said. He'll have to build his conditioning back up, but the coaches are looking to find opportunities to work Lilley — known to teammates as "Meech" — into games soon. "Hopefully, we get some opponents where we can get up and give him five to six minutes of action so he can get his feet wet and get going a little bit," Shrewsberry said. Freshman Mahaffey Earning Minutes Seeking spots for Penn State's true freshmen to earn valuable time, Shrewsberry gave 6-6 wing Evan Mahaffey his most extensive action of the season against Virginia Tech. Mahaffey totaled 4 points, 5 rebounds and an assist in 16 minutes. Against increasingly athletic opponents, Shrewsberry said the newcomer from Archbishop Moeller in Cincinnati has the qualities to compete. "Once you start stepping up to a higher level of competition, the athleti- cism, the length, the speed, all those things are really important, and he's got all three," Shrewsberry said. "You can throw him out there and see what he's going to do, because he has the ability to make some plays that, frankly, other people can't make, just because they haven't been blessed with the wingspan or athleticism that he has. "He still makes mistakes. … He's still unsure of himself a little bit offen- sively. How we're using him and what we're doing right now is not who he will be going forward. He's just trying to help us win in any way possible." — Nate Bauer Micah Shrewsberry Aiming To Develop A Well-Rounded Offense Freshman wing Evan Mahaffey has been playing significant minutes lately. "Once you start stepping up to a higher level of competition, the athleticism, the length, the speed, all those things are really important, and he's got all three," coach Micah Shrewsberry said. PHOTO BY DANIEL ALTHOUSE