It was the Andrew Funk Show as Penn State defeats Texas A&M in NCAA Tournament

The best time of the year as arrived in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament and the Penn State Nittany Lions would be taking part in it for the first time since 2011. They took on the Texas A&M Aggies from Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa on Thursday night in Round 1 of the NCAA Tournament.

Penn State enters the game as one of the 10^th seeds with a record of 22-13.  They made the tournament by making the finals of the Big Ten Tournament.

How the game went:

The Nittany Lions were down 9-5 at the first media timeout while shooting 2-6 for 33%. Following the timeout, Jalen Pickett gives the Nittany Lions the lead at 10-9.

Both teams would have multiple scoring droughts in the first half as defense would be the story. Texas A&M would struggle with their shot selections while the Nittany Lions would take advantage, led by Jalen Pickett.

Later on, Andrew Funk had it going from 3 PT range in the 1^st half with 12 points. Out of those 3 pointers, he would get fouled from 3 PT range & increase the lead to 21-15 before making it a 24-15 lead.

Penn State took a 38-22 lead at halftime, with Andrew Funk leading the team with 15 points.

The Nittany Lions would continue what they did in the 1^st half and start to pull away. Led by Andrew Funk, Jalen Pickett and Seth Lundy, they would lead 48-28.

Andrew Funk continued with the hot hand from 3 pt range as as the Nittany Lions kept it going on the Aggies

ANDREW FUNK WITH HIS 8TH THREE 😱#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/OahofQojSt

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 17, 2023

Texas A&M just did not have any answer for the shooting that the Nittany Lions were doing in the 2^nd half.

The Nittany Lions would take apart Texas A&M 76-59 & this would be Penn State’s first NCAA Tournament win for the first time since 2001.

Postgame:

Penn State players Jalen Pickett, Andrew Funk & Seth Lundy

Here is what I asked #PennState Players Jalen Pickett Andrew Funk & Seth Lundy after win over Texas A&M in the NCAA Tournament#MarchMadness #WeAre #PSUvsTAMU pic.twitter.com/vvuiJe6qtH

— David Malandra Jr (@DaveMReports) March 17, 2023

Final Numbers:

What is Next:

Penn State will now move to the 2^nd round where they will take on number 2 seeded Texas on Saturday at 7:45 PM on CBS. The winner will move to the Sweet 16 in Kansas City.