Giger: Lions humiliated, proving they're not a tourney team right now

That was brutal. Embarrassing. And revealing.

Penn State got clobbered Tuesday night at Rutgers in Piscataway, N.J., 65-45, and looked absolutely nothing like an NCAA Tournament caliber team.

The shooting was horrid. The Nittany Lions were 4 of 26 from 3-point territory, and a woeful 1 of 13 in the second half. They will never beat any team shooting like that.

Penn State's entire identity is as a shooting team. As with any such team, when shots go down, the Lions can beat anybody. But when they're living in Brick City, they just don't stand much of a chance.

Rutgers is a good defensive team. Very good.

But in this game, Penn State had all kinds of open looks. And bricked almost all of them.

On a guard-oriented team that just doesn't have much of an inside presence, the Lions are simply not a really good team unless they shoot the ball well.

And so, here we are.

Right here:

I've felt all season long that Penn State is an NCAA Tournament team. I've even gone two big steps further and said that, depending on matchups and how they shoot, that the Lions actually could get to the Sweet 16.

But at some point, you've got to earn it. You've got to beat people and prove that you belong in the field of 68.

Right now, Penn State doesn't belong.

I'm not saying it will be that way come Selection Sunday, because there's a lot of season left.

But this Penn State team basically just beats the people it's supposed to beat, and then loses the matchups against teams it actually needs to beat.

Sorry, but that's not a good enough formula to get in as a bubble team.

As of Tuesday, Penn State's NCAA NET ranking was 49th, which is good. The Lions were the last team in Joe Lunardi's bracketology on ESPN. But with this loss, the expectation is that Penn State will fall back on the wrong side of the bubble, by a spot or two.

I'm going to start putting some blame here on Micah Shrewsberry.

He's a good coach. He's got a tough job. He's done nice things at Penn State.

But where's the plan B? What can this team hang its hat on if it's not making 3-pointers?

That's my issue with Shrewsberry. And he's not alone in that regard when it comes to coaching. Both in college and the NBA, there are teams that live and die by the 3-pointer, which is just the way things are these days.

Penn State is never going to be the kind of place to get a dominant inside presence. So, in essence, it must rely heavily on guards to make a bunch of shots.

My problem with Penn State and Shrewsberry is that there doesn't seem to be much of an offensive system in place to do other things when the 3s aren't falling. Pretty much the only thing the Lions do is post Jalen Pickett in the paint and let him go to work. He's very, very good at that, but at some point, teams will find ways to slow it down.

Penn State was very fortunate to get Pickett from the transfer portal. He's a special talent. But we have to start wondering if Shrewsberry can't get to the NCAA Tournament with Pickett, then will he ever get another player of this caliber whom he can build the entire team around?

TV announcers keep touting how the Lions are the oldest team in the country and have five 1,000-point scorers. OK, so then how can they manage only 45 points in a game. Any game?

Sure, this was a terrible shooting night at 4 of 26 from 3. OK, so stop shooting so many darn 3s if they're not going down! Well, you cannot do that when you really don't have a plan B on offense.

Shrewsberry ripped his team after the game, questioning the players' pride, manhood and toughness.

Maybe the tough-love tactic will work. But there are some dudes in sports who don't like having their manhood questioned. By anybody. So, the coach's comments could light a fire under his team, or they could backfire if some players tune him out because of them. Just because a coach may be telling the truth and has the best of intentions with his comments doesn't mean all 18- to 22-year-old kids will handle that level of personal criticism the same way.

I'm not writing off Penn State. Far from it. Again, I think this team could win a couple of games in the tourney if it gets in -- if the shots are falling.

But Penn State keeps losing huge games that can help its cause on the bubble. There was Virginia Tech and Clemson early on, then at Wiconsin, then this one at Rutgers. Winning even one of those games would have the Lions in a different bubble spot.

Yes, they won at Illinois. Excellent win. The kind of win that makes you think they can do big things.

But at some point, Penn State is going to have to steal a couple tough games in the Big Ten to get off the bubble and solidify its spot in the field of 68. The Lions are 4-5 in the league and need to get to 10-10, and while I'd like to say there are six more wins on the schedule, I just don't know anymore.

My faith in this team has been shaken to the point where, right now, I actually don't believe the Lions will make the tournament.