Centre Daily Times | 03/11/2005 | Jeff Rice | Nittany Lions looking at bigger picture after loss: “CHICAGO —
“These were not the faces of a team that had given up.
“It would have been so easy and really, so excusable, for Penn State to toss in the white flag anytime during the past month, to finally surrender to the Big Ten schedule that was far too much too soon for the youngest team in Nittany Lion history, to start worrying about next season and put this one to bed.
“These Nittany Lions didn’t, though. In terms of the Big Ten standings and the Big Ten Tournament, their effort during Thursday’s 72-69 loss to Ohio State and the last few games of this season might not have mattered. What it will mean for the future of the program, won’t be known for a few months, if not a few seasons. But on perhaps the most disheartening afternoon of a disheartening season, it was the clearest sign yet that this team has the bigger picture in mind.
“Seventeen times in the last 18 games, Penn State has tasted defeat. The youthful Nittany Lions, who went to battle with four freshmen and two seniors every game, have worn the losses on their sleeves with varying degrees of woe. Thursday evening, in the bowels of the United Center, the faces displayed new levels of pain, of frustration, as if the players were finally feeling the full effect of the whole, dismal season.
“And that was a sign that yes, the Nittany Lions still had something very much vested in this game, a back-and-forth battle seen by maybe 11,000 of the 19,066 who attended the three first-round tournament games. A sign that every second of this season mattered to them, even though they had to abandon dreams of a postseason, a winning season, long before. …”