What's next for Penn State hoops, wrestling, football stars?

ALTOONA, Pa. -- Lots of questions to get to today after a busy weekend on several fronts for Penn State.

* How big of a surprise was it that Penn State did not win the Big Ten wrestling title?

* Will the Penn State basketball program learn how to finish off games and actually get wins, rather than just keep piling up moral victories?

* Which Nittany Lion football players helped themselves at the NFL combine? And which ones left with some questions?

BASKETBALL

It can be exhausting, exhilarating and exasperating watching Penn State basketball, all in a span of minutes in just about any given game.

That was the case again Sunday, when the Lions fell in their regular-season finale, 59-58, at Rutgers. Penn State finished Big Ten play with a 7-13 record in Micah Shrewsberry's first season.

The record could have been significantly better than that, but this team still just does not know how to win close games.

Shrewsberry deserves a tremendous amount of credit for the way he gets the team to battle until the very end. And the program's future appears to be very bright, as long as Shrewsberry can get enough good players to Happy Valley and convince them to stay.

In Sunday's game, the Lions got off to a bad start, fell behind big and looked to be completely out of it against a Rutgers team trying to make the NCAA Tournament. But then, all of a sudden, Penn State roared back from a 15-point second-half deficit and had a chance to win at the end after tying things up.

Then the offense fell apart in several key spots late, which has happened too often during close games this year. First, Seth Lundy pushed off for an offensive foul down one, then Sam Sessoms settled for a really tough jumper on the next trip and missed.

Rutgers made it a three-point game on two free throws with 31 seconds left. At that point, you clearly don't need a 3, and you don't need a bad 3-point shooter taking a 3. But 6-foot-9 forward Greg Lee, who' shooting 25.8 percent from 3, launched one with 20 seconds left and missed.

That was just a terrible shot at that point in the game.

Rutgers made two more free throws to go up by four, but Penn State stayed alive as Lundy hit a 3 to make it 59-58 with 11 seconds left. Rutgers nearly had a disastrous finish as it turned the ball over in the closing seconds, but Sessoms couldn't make a tough 3 as time expired, and the Scarlet Knights held on.

It was an exciting finish. But the finish also will give Shrewsberry plenty of teaching moments with his players on what not to do in close games late. It's those types of things that determine winning and losing when so, so many conference games come down to the wire.

Again, Penn State gets a lot of credit for always hanging around in games. But there are reasons why teams consistently lose close games, and learning how to win those games comes with time. Shrewsberry will be tasked with that in the coming years, and if he has more good players, one would think Penn State can indeed find ways to win those kinds of games.

The Lions finished 11th in the Big Ten and will open play in the conference tournament Wednesday night against No. 14 seed Minnesota. The two teams split this season, each winning at home. Penn State clobbered the Gophers in the last meeting at the Jordan Center, 67-46.

WRESTLING

Michigan won the Big Ten team title with 143 points, while Penn State was a close second with 141.5.

It was a surprise, no doubt, given that Penn State entered as the No. 1 team in the country. But, in the grand scheme of things, is it really all that big of a deal?

Well, no, and yes.

Obviously, teams want to win their own conference championship. And the Lions had every reason to believe they would do that with their deep lineup. But Penn State is about national championships, and it certainly will have a good chance to claim a ninth national title in 11 years during that competition in a week and a half.

Why? Because the Lions advanced nine wrestlers to the national tournament March 17-19 in Detroit. They'll have a representative at every weight class except for 165.

Cael Sanderson led Penn State to national titles in 2017 and '18 without winning a Big Ten title, so there's certainly recent precedent for doing so.

Penn State had four wrestlers claim individual Big Ten titles: Roman Bravo-Young (133), Nick Lee (141), Carter Starocci (174) and Max Dean (197). Aaron Brooks (184) also reached the finals but lost.

The biggest surprise came at 125, where No. 2 seed Drew Hildebrandt lost his first two matches. But he regrouped and finished ninth to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

The Lions have enough firepower going to the NCAAs to be considered the favorites, led by defending national champs Bravo-Young, Lee, Starocci and Brooks. Dean and Hildebrandt will be expected to make deep runs, as well, so Penn State will rack up a lot of points in Detroit and be in contention to win it all.

Ciick here for an excellent recap of Penn State's individual performers at the Big Ten Tournament from GoPSUSports.

FOOTBALL

We wrote last week that cornerback Tariq Castro-Fields could be a candidate to help himself at the NFL combine, and he did just that with a strong showing. Check out this grade:

Castro-Fields ran a 4.38 40-yard dash, the best of any Penn State player at the combine.

We also knew that linebacker Brandon Smith would have a good combine, because he's a tremendous athlete and workout warrior. He ran a 4.52 40-yard dash, which tied for fourth among linebackers.

Defensive end Arnold Ebiketie likely solidified himself as a first-round pick with a strong showing, including a vertical leap of 38 inches.

Linebacker Jesse Luketa performed well until suffering an injury on his second 40 attempt. He ran a 4.89 on his first try, then this happened on his second:

Safety Jaquan Brisker ran a 4.49 40-yard dash and did 22 reps on the bench press. But he also dealt with a minor injury issue.

We thought offensive tackle Rasheed Walker could help himself with a strong showing, but he did not take part in workouts at the combine. He missed the final three games of Penn State's season with an injury.

PODCAST: Penn State's talent results in great NFL combine results, but not enough wins on the field.