UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's basketball team opens its 2020-21 season at 1 p.m. ET on Saturday, Nov. 28 vs. the VMI Keydets at home in the Bryce Jordan Center. The Nittany Lions' schedule currently features four non-conference games, including three-straight to open the new campaign, and 20 Big Ten Conference games.
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LIVE STATS: Penn State vs. VMI
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ROSTER: Penn State | VMI
SCHEDULE: Penn State | VMI
STATS: Penn State | VMI
GAME NOTES: Penn State | VMI
VMI
Coach: Dan Earl (Penn State, 1997)
VMI/Career Record: 44-111 (Sixth season)/same
2020-21 Record: 1-0, 0-0 CAA
Top Scorer: #12 Ta'Vonne Bond, Sr., G – 15.0 ppg
Top Rebounders: #0 Louis Tang, So., G; #15 Myles Lewis, Sr. – 5.0 rpg
Assists Leaders: #34 Jake Stephens, Jr., C – 4.0 apg; #5 Greg Parnham, Sr., G – 4.0 apg
PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS
Interim Head Coach: Jim Ferry (Keene State, 1990)
Penn State Record: 0-0 (First season)
Career Record: 314-265 (20th season)
2019-20 Record: 21-10, 11-9 Big Ten
Returning Top Scorer: #0 Myreon Jones, Jr., G – 13.3 ppg
Returning Top Rebounder: #21 John Harrar, Sr., F – 4.6 rpg
Returning Top Assists Leaders: #5 Jamari Wheeler, Jr., G – 3.2 apg; #0 Myreon Jones, So., G – 3.0 apg
PENN STATE PROBABLE STARTERS
F -- 1 – Seth Lundy – So. | 2019-20 ppg: 5.3 | rpg: 2.7
Note: Started last 15 games of 2019-20; 7.3 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 25 3-FG in starting role
F -- 21 – John Harrar – Sr. | 2019-20 ppg: 4.3 | rpg: 4.6
Note: Top returning rebounder; Scored first career double-double with 12 pts, career-best 14 rebs in 2019-20 season finale; Averaged 9.0 rpg & 6.6 ppg in final five games of 2019-20
G – 0 – Myreon Jones -- Jr. | 2019-20 ppg: 13.3 | rpg: 2.7
Note: Top returning scorer; Led league in 3-FG percentage for most of 2019-20, finished third in B1G with 56 three-pointers and 40.3 3-FG%; Double-figure points in 17 games
G – 5 – Jamari Wheeler -- Jr. | 2019-20 ppg: 3.8 | rpg: 2.9
Note: 2020 B1G All-Defensive Team selection; Led B1G with 48 steals; Ranked 11th on PSU career steals list with 147
G – 12 – Izaiah Brockington -- So. | 2019-20 ppg: 8.1 | rpg: 2.7
Note: Led team in scoring four times, including career-best 23 pts in win over No. 23 Iowa at Palestra; Key sixth man in 2019-20, averaged 11.3 ppg vs. ranked teams
STARTING 5
Established as a program in 1897, Penn State begins its 125th year as a program and ranks as one of the 10 oldest programs in the nation. Penn State's first collegiate team played a two-game schedule, earning a split vs. Bucknell.
Penn State begins its season at home for the 16th consecutive year and has won 14 of its last 15 season openers. The Nittany Lions are 93-31 overall in season openers and 110-14 in home season openers.
Interim head coach Jim Ferry, who begins his 20th season as a head coach, is 17-2 in home openers with a current streak of 11 straight wins. He carries a record of 12-7 in season openers.
Penn State's 129-111 win over over VMI on Dec. 30, 2006 produced Nittany Lion single-game records for points and 36 assists and the two teams combined for a record 240 points. Eleven BJC records were set that day.
Strictly by date, the Nov. 28 season start date is the latest since 1992-93, when the Nittany Lions opened that campaign on Dec. 1.
SERIES vs. VMI
Penn State owns a 4-1 record vs. VMI with a 3-0 mark in the Bryce Jordan Center and a 4-0 home record in the series. The last time Penn State and VMI met was the 2015 season opener, Nittany Lion basketball alumnus Dan Earl's first game as a head coach.
Series streak: Penn State, W3
Last game: at BJC, University Park, Pa.; Penn State 62, VMI 50, 11/14/15
Overall series: Penn State leads 4-1 (H: 4-0)
Ferry vs. VMI: First meeting
Game results are listed on page 5 of game notes.
College Hoops Today Recognizes Lundy, Sessoms
Sophomore forward Seth Lundy and junior guard Sam Sessoms were included on two separate College Hoops Today lists.
Lundy was recognized as one of the 20 breakout players for the 2020-21 season and Sessoms was named to Jon Rothstein's list
of under-the-radar transfers.
Lundy started the last 15 games of his freshman campaign, averaging 7.3 points and 3.7 rebounds per game with 25 of his 34 3-pointers during that stretch. Sessoms transferred to Penn State from Binghamton during the offseason. The junior guard from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was the America East scoring leader in 2019-20 with 19.4 points per game and was one of only two of the league's players to finish in the top five in both scoring and assists as a freshman and sophomore.
Familiar Face Returns to BJC
Nittany Lion alumnus and VMI head coach Dan Earl brings his Keydets to the Bryce Jordan Center for a Nov. 28 nonconference contest. The starting point guard for the Nittany Lions for four years, Earl battled numerous injuries during his six-year career. He helped lead Penn State to the 1996 NCAA Tournament, a runner-up NIT finish in 1998 and third-place NIT finish as a sophomore in 1995.
Earl was one of only three players to lead the Nittany Lions in assists in all four seasons with more than 100 in each campaign. He returned to Penn State as an assistant coach from 2005-11. Earl's first game as a head coach was vs. Penn State in the BJC in the 2015-16 season opener for both teams.
Penn State Owns 82.2% Win Mark Vs. Nonconference Opponents
Since the opening of the Bryce Jordan Center, the Nittany Lions have compiled a 157-28 mark for an 82.2 winning percentage against non-conference opponents. Dating back to the 2017-18 season, Penn State has won 15-straight non-conference home games.
2019-20 B1G HONORS
Four Nittany Lions were presented with 2019-20 Big Ten honors from the league's media and coaches. Forward Lamar Stevens, forward John Harrar, guard Jamari Wheeler and guard Myreon Jones were recognized with Big Ten accolades in March.
All-Big Ten
Lamar Stevens (2x-2019 & 2020), Sr., F
All-Defensive Team
Jamari Wheeler, Jr., G
Honorable Mention
Myreon Jones, So., G
Sportsmanship Award
John Harrar, Jr., F
Three Nittany Lions earned All-Big Ten recognition for the second time in three seasons and third time since 2008-09. Stevens is the ninth Nittany Lion to earn first-team All-Big Ten honors (14 selections). Stevens becomes only the second Nittany Lion to earn first-team honors twice. Thirty-two Nittany Lions have been named to Big Ten honors lists since 2011.
BY THE NUMBERS
43.0 – The 2019-20 Nittany Lions tied the 1994-95 mark for lowest opponent field goal percentage (43.0 percent) in Big Ten games.
48 – League-best steals total by guard Jamari Wheeler in 2019-20. A Nittany Lion has led the B1G in steals for the last four years.
61 – The 2020-21 senior class has amassed 61 wins in three years.
82.2 – Since the BJC opened in 1996, the Nittany Lions have posted a 157-28 record at home vs. non-conference opponents for a winning mark of 82.2 percent.
90 – Nittany Lion basketball was among the 16 Nittany Lion teams at or above the Division I sport average and one of nine Penn State squads that posted a Graduation Success Rate at least five points higher than the national average for their sport (90 to 84, +6).
125 – Penn State begins its 125th year of basketball in 2020-21.
1,432 – For the fourth-straight year, Penn State broke its scoring mark for Big Ten games with 1,432 points. The 71.6 points per game was the program's third-highest scoring average since 1992-93.
