Micah Shrewsberry praises Michigan State following loss

Life in the Big Ten can be rough and Penn State found out the hard way on Wednesday. Michigan State was in town and despite keeping it close the entire second half, the Nittany Lions found themselves losing by nearly double digits. You could tell head coach Micah Shrewsberry was frustrated during his postgame press conference.

Before getting into his own team, Shrewsberry did take some time to congratulate head coach Tom Izzo and Michigan State. It’s been a rough start in East Lancing, with a tough nonconference schedule being played. Many have even written the Spartans off due to some key losses.

Shrewsberry was not having any of that, calling Wednesday night’s opponents a “good team.” Getting conference wins on the road is tough but when Izzo is on your side, teams find a way to win.

“I just want to congratulate Michigan State,” Shrewsberry said. “It’s unbelievable people have counted them out for dead when it’s 10 games into the season. There’s a reason that coach is in the Hall of Fame. There’s a reason they have really good players.

“There’s a reason they’re in the top 25 just last week. There’s a reason they beat Kentucky. There’s a reason they had a chance to beat Gonzaga. They’re a good team.”

Michigan State a ‘prideful’ program according to Micah Shrewsberry

Big Ten game No. 1 was not a good one for Michigan State, losing on the road to Northwestern. A loss to Notre Dame was the matchup prior, meaning the Spartans were looking to snap a short losing streak.

Even so, Izzo was not going to allow his team to “lay down.” Shrewsberry knows Michigan State is too “prideful” as a program to do so. Penn State was always going to have its work cut out for them.

“They’re also prideful, that program is prideful,” said Shrewsberry. “They weren’t just going to come in here and lay down — they had lost two straight games.”

Penn State struggled from behind the three-point line, shooting under 30%. The script could not have been more different for the Green and White, making six of 14 attempts. At the end of the day, Michigan State was able to rely on a few games to make timely buckets.

Shrewsberry will want to move on quickly, with Illinois next up on the schedule. Having short memories and focusing on the next game is crucial down the stretch.