Big Ten Basketball: Indiana tumbles, Rutgers storms up in latest power rankings

Up until the last week, Penn State had a rough past month, losing 6 of 7 games with the exception of a double-overtime victory over Iowa. But the Nittany Lions were able to pull off an upset victory over a ranked Michigan State squad, led by 16 points and 16 rebounds from forward John Harrar. The team also was able to get a dominant 21-point victory over Minnesota, led by 20 points from Jalen Pickett and another double-double from Harrar.

Penn State did lose to Maryland on Monday night to fall to 6-10 in league play but to some degree, that’s surpassing expectations for first-year head coach Micah Shrewsberry. While the offense hasn’t been good, the Nittany Lions have been a strong defensive unit throughout the season and have been competitive overall in the Big Ten.

With an already solid recruiting class coming in, Penn State could be a team that makes a move up the conference ladder sooner rather than later. But it’ll be hard to find a big man as effective as Harrar, who is nearly averaging a double-double on the season. Home games against Northwestern and Nebraska are their best chance to get back into the win column and a road game at Rutgers to end the regular season could have big ramifications.