UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's basketball team (5-7, 2-6) returns home to the Bryce Jordan Center and closes out the month of January with a 3 p.m. ET Saturday, Jan. 30 game vs. No. 14/13 Wisconsin. The 50th game in the series between the two teams will be broadcast by Big Ten Network.
Saturday's game, rescheduled from Jan. 6, is the first of back-to-back contests against the Badgers, and the second meeting, is set for Tuesday, Feb. 2.
WATCH: BTN and Fox Sports mobile app
Brandon Gaudin (pxp) & Brian Butch (analyst)
LISTEN: Penn State Sports Network
Steve Jones (pxp) & Dick Jerardi (analyst)
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LIVE STATS: Penn State vs. Wisconsin
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ROSTER: Penn State | Wisconsin
SCHEDULE: Penn State | Wisconsin
STATS: Penn State | Wisconsin
GAME NOTES: Penn State | Wisconsin
WISCONSIN
Coach: Greg Gard (UW-Platteville, 1995)
Wisconsin Record: 114-61 (Sixth season)
Career Record: Same
2020-21 Record: 13-4, 7-3 Big Ten
Leading Scorer
#00 D'Mitrik Trice, R-Sr., G – 14.5 ppg
Leading Rebounder
#11 Micah Potter, R-Sr., F – 6.8 rpg
Assists Leader
#00 D'Mitrik Trice, R-Sr., G – 3.9 apg
PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS
Interim Head Coach: Jim Ferry (Keene State, 1990)
Penn State Record: 5-7 (First season)
Career Record: 319-272 (20th season)
Top Scorer
#12 Myreon Jones, Jr., G – 15.4 ppg
Top Rebounder
#21 John Harrar, Sr., F – 8.2 rpg
Assists Leaders
#5 Jamari Wheeler, Sr., G – 4.0 apg
PENN STATE LAST GAME STARTERS
F -- 1 – Seth Lundy – Sr. | 13.8 ppg | 4.5 rpg
Note: Scored game-high 26 points with 17 in first half at No. 13 Ohio State; Recorded his third career 20+ point game, first against a Big Ten opponent
F -- 21 – John Harrar – Sr. | 7.8 ppg | 8.3 rpg
Note: Averaging 10.2 rebounds and 9.0 points since restart (5 games); Posted his third career double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds at No. 13 Ohio State.
G – 0 – Myreon Jones -- Jr. | 15.0 ppg | 2.7 rpg
Note: Has 10-straight games with 10 or more points; Ranks eighth in Big Ten in scoring, 12th in B1G only games.
G – 5 – Jamari Wheeler -- Sr. | 4.9 ppg | 4.1 rpg | 3.9 apg
Note: Tops the B1G in conference games with 1.8 steals per game; Had back-to-back steals and converted those to layups in 20 seconds before end of half at No. 13 Ohio State.
G – 12 – Izaiah Brockington -- Jr. | 14.7 ppg | 4.8 rpg
Note: Combined with John Harrar for 11 points over three minutes midway through second half; Finished night with 18 points, three rebounds and two assists.
STARTING 5
As of the Jan. 29 NCAA NET rankings, Penn State is now at 35, its highest ranking of 2020-21. PSU is one of nine Big Ten teams in the top 40.
Five of the Nittany Lions' seven losses this season have been decided by eight points or less.
Penn State has one of the toughest, if not the toughest schedule in 2020-21. According to ESPN.com, the Nittany Lions are the SOS leader and are second on both the NCAA SOS chart and kenpom.com SOS rankings.
Forward Seth Lundy posted his third career game with 20 or more points, all three occurring in 2020-21, with a game-high 26 at No. 13 Ohio State. His total vs. the Buckeyes was the sophomore's highest in a Big Ten contest and 17 points in the first half was his highest total in a half.
Senior forward John Harrar scored 10 points in the second half at No. 13 Ohio State en route to his third career double-double (15 pts, 10 reb). Harrar is averaging 10.2 rebounds and 9.0 points in the last five games (since restart).
SERIES vs. WISCONSIN
The two teams meet for the 50th time Saturday, but its been a tough stretch for Penn State as the Wisconsin owns a 39-10 advantage in the series. The Nittany Lions' last win vs. the Badgers came in the 2011 Big Ten Tournament (PS W 36-33) with current assistant coach Talor Battle scoring a team-high nine points.
The last home win vs. Wisconsin was that same year, a 56-52 victory in the Bryce Jordan Center.
Series streak: Wisconsin, W13
Last game: University Park, Pa.,
Wisconsin 58, Penn State 49, 1/11/2020
Overall series: UW leads 39-10 (PS H: 7-18)
Ferry vs. Wisconsin: First meeting
Series record and results from last 20 games are listed on page 5 of the game notes.
BACK-TO-BACK
Penn State will play No. 14/13 Wisconsin in back-to-back games over four days. The last time the Nittany Lions faced the same opponent in back-to-back games was in the 2013-14 season, finishing the regular-season at Minnesota (L, 3/9/14) and then playing the Golden Gophers in their first game of the Big Ten Tournament (L, 3/13/14).
NCAA NET & KENPOM.COM
Penn State is one of nine Big Ten teams ranked in the top 40 of the most recent NCAA NET rankings and the only team among the group at or below .500. The kenpom.com calculations have Penn State at No. 43 the highest rated team with a record at or below .500.
Jan. 29, 2021
NCAA NET -- 35
Kenpom.com -- 43
STREAKS ON OFFENSIVE GLASS
Senior forward John Harrar has cleaned up on the offensive glass with at least four offensive rebounds in the last six games. Courtesy of Big Ten Network, Harrar's streak with four or more offensive rebounds is tied for the second-longest in the Big Ten (since 2002-03).
Gms -- Player, Team, Season
7 -- Jordan Murphy, Minnesota, 2017-18
7 -- Jarryd Cole, Iowa, 2010-11
6 -- John Harrar, Penn State, 6, 2020-21
6 -- Carl Landry, Purdue, 6, 2004-05
BY THE NUMBERS
7 – Senior forward John Harrar ranks seventh in the nation with 4.0 offensive rebounds per game.
8 – Eight of the Nittany Lions' games have been decided by eight points or less.
12 – Penn State is one of the 12 oldest basketball programs in the nation, playing its 125th season of basketball in 2020-21.
20 – Senior guard Jamari Wheeler picked up two steals and converted them into two layups for four points in 20 seconds at the end of the first half at No. 13 Ohio State.
69 – Total combined points in the 2011 Big Ten Tournament game between Wisconsin and Penn State, won by Penn State 36-33.
76.8 – The scoring averages of the Nittany Lions and their opponents in the last 12 games match at 76.8 ppg.
LAST TIME OUT: NO. 13 OHIO STATE SQUEAKS OUT 83-79 WIN OVER PSU
No. 13 Ohio State edged the Penn State 83-79 after a back-and-forth battle in the second half. Seth Lundy led PSU with a game-high 26 points as four Nittany Lions scored in double figures.
Lundy's trey with 2:07 remaining gave Penn State a 79-77 lead. OSU tied the game at 79 with two free throws and in the final minute, made a pair of free throws to take a two-point lead. A Nittany Lion triple was just off the mark and the Buckeyes were able to pull down the defensive rebound.
On the following Ohio State possession, fantastic defense by senior Jamari Wheeler forced the Buckeyes to turn the ball over on a shot-clock violation. With another chance to tie the game, a runner in the lane was off the mark for the Nittany Lions as the Buckeyes corralled the rebound. Another pair of Buckeye free throws produced the 83-79 final score.
John Harrar finished with the third double-double of his career with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Izaiah Brockington had 18 points and Myreon Jones 10.
The Nittany Lions defense forced the Buckeyes into a season-high 17 turnovers. Out of the halftime break, PSU went on a 10-3 run to take its first lead of the game at 49-46 following a Jones' three-pointer.
After ties at 49, 51 and 53, the score tipped in Penn State's favor, going up by six, 61-55 midway through the second period. The Nittany Lions made four of their next five field goals to go up by eight, 70-62. Ohio State put together an 10-2 run to take a 74-73 lead with 3:12 left in the game.
Three-pointers by junior guard Myles Dread and Lundy put Penn State up by two, 79-77, but the Buckeyes knotted the game at 79 with two free throws with 1:37 remaining.
Ohio State grabbed an 11-2 lead over the Nittany Lions struggled to find their mark going into the first media timeout going 1-9 from the field. The Nittany Lions finished the half going 11-17 to cut into the Buckeyes lead. After a Lundy triple with 3:24 to play in the half, the Buckeyes went on a 7-0 run to push the lead back to 11.
In the half's final two minutes, Penn State outscored Ohio State 9-2 to bring the score to 43-39 headed into the locker room after Wheeler had back-to-back steals and layups in the final 20 seconds.
Ohio State's EJ Liddell finished with 22 points, 14 coming in the first half, and led the Buckyes with seven rebounds.
FOLLOW PENN STATE MEN'S BASKETBALL VIRTUALLY
Please stay connected and follow Penn State men's basketball virtually throughout season. While we are unable to host fans this season due to COVID-19 protocols, fans are able to join the interest list for tickets for the 2021-22 men's basketball season. Sign up for the 2021-22 interest list by clicking here.
