Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1544053
6 2 A P R I L 2 0 2 6 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M P enn State bowed out of the 2026 Big Ten Men's Basketball Tour- nament on opening night, fall- ing to Northwestern, 76-66, amid a suc- cession of turnovers that the Wildcats turned into points at the other end. The Nittany Lions' early exit was no surprise; they had headed to Chicago as the No. 18 seed after winning only three Big Ten regular-season games, and there had been no indications that a string of postseason upsets was imminent. Because it was the last game of the year, it was only natural for head coach Mike Rhoades to zoom out in his post- game presser and assess the season as a whole. "It's been a tough stretch," the third- year PSU coach acknowledged. "This is a hard job, but it's pretty awesome too — the Big Ten and trying to figure it out at the place where I am." The allusion to Penn State's place in the conference hierarchy felt only natu- ral, too, mainly because the program's long history of struggle and heartbreak has been one of the impediments that Rhoades and his predecessors have had to overcome. When it comes to the Big Dance, the Nittany Lions have mostly been wall- flowers, sitting it out entirely more often than not. Every once in a while, though, they've found themselves in the NCAA Tournament spotlight. Twenty-five years ago, Penn State not only reached the tourney but enjoyed a surprisingly lengthy stay. Consisting of three games against a trio of schools with more distinguished hoops pedigrees than their own, that NCAA run remains the best in the program's history. Part Of The Plan It's admittedly a short history. Prior to the 2000-01 season, the Nittany Lions had been to the NCAA Tournament only seven times, most recently in 1996. But the team had begun trending upward toward the end of coach Jerry Dunn's fifth season, fueled by guard Joe Crispin, a volume shooter before that term existed. With Crispin, fellow guard Titus Ivory and forward Jarrett Stephens leading the way, the Nittany H I S T O R Y IN LIKE A LION Twenty-five years ago, PSU brought some mayhem of its own to March Madness M AT T H E R B | M AT T. H E R B @ O N 3 . C O M Titus Ivory (left) and Joe Crispin combined for 42 points in Penn State's 82-74 victory over North Carolina in the second round of the 2001 NCAA Tournament. PHOTO COURTESY PENN STATE ATHLETICS