NCAA Tournament: Lions' run ends, so what now with Shrewsberry?

Penn State could beat anybody if it made 3s. We've known that all season long.

The Nittany Lions didn't make their 3s Saturday night (finishing 8 of 28), and that's a big reason why their season came to an end.

The other big reason?

Size does matter.

They say everything is bigger in Texas, and the Longhorns certainly used their size and strength advantage.

Penn State fell to Texas, 71-66, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Des Moines, Iowa. The Lions were aiming for just their second Sweet 16 appearance during the modern era of the tournament, and for most of the game, that seemed like a major long shot.

But then, Penn State's resiliency kicked in.

Breaking it all down with five takeaways:

1. The Lions nearly messed around and won this game, despite struggling for much of it

Penn State trailed at the half, 31-23, after poor shooting and pretty much terrible all-around offense. Jalen Pickett had five turnovers in the half.

Slowly but surely, though, the Lions inched back in the second half. Anyone who's watched this team all season knew that it would come back at some point, and that some shots would finally start falling.

Myles Dread hit a couple big 3s to pull Penn State within 55-54, and then all of a sudden, the Lions wound up with a lead after Camren Wynter made two free throws.

A Seth Lundy layup capped a 10-0 run and put the Lions up, 58-55, with 4:50 to go.

Then the wheels fell off, in this sequence of events:

• Texas called timeout, then went inside to big man Dylan Disu for a bucket.

• Wynter had an inexcusable backcourt violation for a turnover.

• Disu scored again to put Texas back on top, 59-58.

• Andrew Funk missed a wide-open 3-pointer for Penn State.

• Funk missed another wide-open 3.

• Disu scored again (61-58).

• Marcus Carr scored for Texas (63-58).

• Funk missed yet another 3-pointer.

• Disu made a jumper to cap a 10-0 Texas run for a 65-58 lead.

That's just how the night went for Funk and Penn State. He was incredible in the first-round victory over Texas A&M, hitting eight 3s and scoring 27 points. But he just didn't have it in this one, making only 2 of 10 from deep.

Meanwhile, Disu was unstoppable for the Longhorns. The 6-foot-9, 225-pounder finished with 28 points on 14 of 20 shooting, making the most field goals in an NCAA Tournament game ever for Texas. Even more, as they mentioned on the broadcast, than Kevin Durant.

Disu got any shot he wanted against a Penn State team that lacks a true center, and he made most of them. He also had 10 rebounds. The Lions do not rebound well against bigger, more physical teams, and that was the case here.

2. Booty ball didn't work, because Texas had the right player to defend it

Pickett had a tough night in the final game of his college career. After having no turnovers in the win over Texas A&M, he had three in the opening minutes of this one and finished with seven. He had 11 points on 5 of 13 shooting and only one assist, although he did grab 10 rebounds.

The difference in this game was Texas' Timmy Allen, who bodied up Pickett and made things tough for him in the booty ball department.

Pickett is 6-4, 209 pounds and can push around most college guards. But Texas made the wise move of putting the 6-6, 210-pound forward Allen on Pickett, and the defender was up for the challenge.

Pickett had a few sequences where he backed his way inside, but Allen remained glued to him and made almost all shot attempts difficult. Without Pickett being able to score much around the rim, it allowed for Texas' guards to stay closer to shooters on the perimeter.

Texas' strategy worked very well. Kudos to the Longhorns for coming up with a great game plan.

However, the Lions missed a whole bunch of makeable shots. As well as they shot it against the Aggies, this game was just a completely different story, especially for Funk.

Think about it: Penn State hit 8 of 28 from 3. If the Lions had made just two more, they actually might have won the game.

The huge sequence up above where Funk missed three in a couple minutes -- two wide open -- was massive. If he makes two of those shots, dare I say Penn State indeed would have won.

Live by the 3, die by the 3.

3. Excellent run and season, but this one will still sting

There's no shame whatsoever in losing to a No. 2 seed in the second round. Penn State played its heart out, showed great resiliency and was in position to win the game inside of five minutes.

That last part is what will sting for these players.

The Lions battled and battled to fight back and took a 58-55 lead with 4:50 to go. At that point, how many of you at home were feeling oh so good about this being a team of fate and thinking Penn State was going to find some way to pull this out?

I did. At 58-55, I thought the Lions were going to win.

Then it all came crashing down in such a hurry, as Texas took control in convincing fashion with its own 10-0 run.

But just like I can sit here and write "what might have been had Funk made one or two of those 3-pointers?" -- you know darn well that every player on the team will always wonder the same thing. Not to place blame on Funk in any way, just to point out that one or two shots from the best shooter on the team needed to go down for the Lions to win.

4. The legacy of this season

Making any NCAA Tournament is special for Penn State, which appeared in just its 10th tourney ever and first in 12 years. No, the Lions didn't get to the Sweet 16 for just the second time, but they had a really good shot at it.

What a season like this always does is reveal that, yes, there are indeed some incredibly passionate Penn State basketball fans. No, there aren't many, because the program just hasn't had enough tradition to warrant a large fan base that cares deeply about hoops.

But, there also is a horde of football and wrestling fans who want the basketball program to be successful, and they like to have their voices heard when it's time to jump on the bandwagon.

This was a really fun ride for this team, which was left for dead at 5-9 in the Big Ten before making a magical late-season surge. As we saw -- and had reinforced numerous times -- Penn State was a very different team over the final few weeks and could have beaten anybody had it made shots.

The shots didn't fall Saturday, and yet somehow the Lions still had a chance to win.

Regardless, the first-round decimation of Texas A&M (76-59) will always be memorable for showing this team's potential, and the late comeback against Texas earned this group its final bit of respect in the season finale.

5. Now, the Shrewsberry situation and the future

I would love to sit here and say that this was somehow the beginning of some great Penn State basketball breakthrough.

But I can't.

First of all, Pickett will be gone next year. A second-team All-American, the first ever (by the AP) in Penn State history. I seriously doubt Penn State will be able to find another player like him. Funk is gone, too, and Wynter. Lundy can come back for a fifth year, and we'll see if he does or looks to transfer.

But the big question on everybody's mind is: Will Micah Shrewsberry return next season? He's now a red-hot coaching commodity, so numerous other schools could come calling for him. We know Notre Dame and Georgetown have been interested.

We believe Shrewsberry makes $2 million a year, although that number has never been verified. That's double what Patrick Chambers was making, so in essence, Penn State already made a big commitment with this coach.

Now, it's going to have to make an even bigger commitment. How much money will it take? How much money can Penn State afford?

I keep saying the school isn't just going to fork over $4 million a year to Shrewsberry or any basketball coach. There are other bills to pay, and the $4 million profit made by the men's basketball program each year helps pay the bills. If Shrewsberry gets another million, then that's a million bucks that will have to be reallocated from the other 29 sports (not including football).

Yes, AD Patrick Kraft and the school should do whatever it takes to keep Shrewsberry and show a full commitment to basketball. I do actually believe the school will show a great commitment and offer him a lot more money and resources.

But will it be enough?

That's the big question in all of this.

If Georgetown, for instance, offers him as much or more money than Penn State, what will Shrewsberry do? He's already seen just how difficult things can be at Penn State, and no matter how confident he is in himself, he has to be wondering if he can catch lightning in a bottle again by landing another player like Pickett in the transfer portal, or going on a magical run late in a season just to make the tourney.

There are serious basketball challenges at Penn State that Shrewsberry could not have known about when he got the job. Making one NCAA Tournament may get rid of some of the challenges, but not all.

Anyway, the bottom line -- as I've been saying -- is that this isn't just a one-way street where Penn State has to come grovelling to Shrewsberry with some kind of crazy offer.

He's got to want to be at Penn State, too, all the while knowing that his job might be a heck of a lot easier if he goes somewhere else with more tradition.

Stay tuned. We may know the answer to these questions very soon.

Georgetown's No. 1 candidate reportedly is Ed Cooley from Providence. Now that the Friars have been eliminated from the tournament, he should be in position to make a decision in the coming days.

Cooley's salary isn't public, but he reportedly makes around $3.5 million a year at Providence and would be getting a raise at Georgetown. So, you can see what kind of money could be on the table with the Hoyas.

If Cooley goes to Georgetown, that's one very big contender off the table for Shrewsberry.

If Cooley turns down Georgetown, I believe it's a slam dunk that the school will come very hard after Shrewsberry and try to make him an offer he can't refuse.

There's also Notre Dame, which to me seems like the perfect fit for the Indiana native. We'll see if the Fighting Irish are all that interested in him.

Buckle up, folks, because it could be a very interesting couple of days coming up.