UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's basketball team (6-8, 3-7) welcomes Maryland (10-8, 4-7) for a 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 5 game in the Bryce Jordan Center. This first meeting of the season series between the Nittany Lions and the Terps will be broadcast by FS1.
Friday's contest will be the third straight played at the Bryce Jordan Center, the longest home-court stretch in the series. Penn State and Maryland played only once in 2019-20 with the Nittany Lions taking a 76-69 win over the No. 4 Terps in an early December game.
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Joe Davis (pxp) & Jim Jackson (analyst)
LISTEN: Penn State Sports Network
Steve Jones (pxp) & Dick Jerardi (analyst)
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ROSTER: Penn State | Maryland
SCHEDULE: Penn State | Maryland
STATS: Penn State | Maryland
GAME NOTES: Penn State | Maryland
MARYLAND
Coach: Mark Turgeon (Kansas, 1987)
Maryland Record: 214-107 (10th season)
Career Record: 464-266 (23rd season)
2020-21 Record: 10-8, 4-7 Big Ten
Leading Scorer
#5, Eric Ayala, Jr., G – 13.8 ppg
Leading Rebounder
#24 Donta Scott, So., F – 6.6 rpg
Assists Leader
#2 Aaron Higgins, Jr., G – 2.8 apg
#11 Darrell Morsell, Sr., G – 2.9 apg
PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS
Interim Head Coach: Jim Ferry (Keene State, 1990)
Penn State Record: 6-8 (First season)
Career Record: 320-273 (20th season)
Top Scorer
#12 Myreon Jones, Jr., G – 15.6 ppg
Top Rebounder
#21 John Harrar, Sr., F – 8.1 rpg
Assists Leaders
#5 Jamari Wheeler, Sr., G – 3.8 apg
PENN STATE LAST GAME STARTERS
F -- 1 – Seth Lundy – Sr. | 12.4 ppg | 4.2 rpg
Note: Averaged 15.3 points and 5.1 rebounds per game in home games
F -- 21 – John Harrar – Sr. | 8.6 ppg | 8.1 rpg
Note: Averaging 10.3 rebounds and 9.7 points since restart (7 games); Averaged 13.5 points, which included a career-best 17 points in home win, and 7.0 rebounds in last two games, both against Wisconsin
G – 0 – Myreon Jones -- Jr. | 15.6 ppg | 2.9 rpg
Note: Top scorer in both Wisconsin games with 20 in home win and 14 on road; Had his fifth game of 20+ points in 2021 on 1/30; Has 10+ points in all but one game
G – 5 – Jamari Wheeler -- Sr. | 5.1 ppg | 3.9 rpg | 3.8 apg
Note: Floor general dictates pace, ranks 16th on Penn State career list with 297 assists and has 195 in Big Ten games
G – 12 – Izaiah Brockington -- Jr. | 14.7 ppg | 4.6 rpg
Note: Scored 12 of his 18 points in second half of home win over Wisconsin; Ranks No. 12 in scoring in Big Ten and No. 13 in Big Ten-only games
STARTING 5
As of the Feb. 4 NCAA NET rankings, Penn State is at 32, one of nine Big Ten teams in the top 40. The Nittany Lions are among the 10 Big Ten teams in the top 40 of the kenpom.com ratings.
Penn State owns two of the top rankings for strength of schedule. According to the NCAA and ESPN.com, the Nittany Lions rank as the SOS leader and are second in SOS on kenpom.com.
Only Penn State (Myreon Jones-#9 & Izaiah Brockington-#12) and Illinois (Ayo Dosunmu-#2 & Kofi Cockburn-#7) have two players ranked among the Big Ten's top 12 for individual scoring.
The Nittany Lions forced No. 19 Wisconsin, ranked third nationally with 8.8 turnovers per game, into season-high totals of 15 (2/2) and 12 (1/30) in the last two games.
Senior guard Jamari Wheeler has 297 career assists (16th on PSU's all-time career list) and needs five for 200 total in Big Ten Conference games.
SERIES vs. MARYLAND
Penn State has won four of the last six games, but Maryland owns a 5-4 record in the nine contests played between the two teams in the Terps' Big Ten era. Eight of the last nine meetings have been decided by seven points or less.
The home team has won the last seven games in the series, including the last two by Penn State in the Bryce Jordan Center.
Series streak: Penn State, W2
Last game: University Park, Pa.,
Penn State 76, No. 4 Maryland 69, 12/10/2019
Overall series: Maryland leads 14-12
Ferry vs. Maryland: First meeting
Series record and results since 2015 are on page 5 of game notes.
HOME & AWAY
Even this year, without the Legion of Blue and tremendous fan support, there's something to be said about being at home in the Bryce Jordan Center. The Nittany Lions are better in almost all stat categories in Big Ten games played on their home court.
| Stat | Home Games (4) | Road Games (6) | Total (10) |
| Record | 3-1 | 0-6 | 6-8 |
| Points per game | 79.5 | 69.5 | 73.3 |
| Rebounds per game | 34.5 | 35.7 | 35.2 |
| Rebound margin | +2.7 | -0.3 | +0.9 |
| FG percentage | 48.9 | 37.7 | 41.9 |
| 3-FG percentage | 34.9 | 34.7 | 34.8 |
| FT percentage | 70.7 | 71.4 | 71.1 |
| Fouls per game | 14.8 | 20.1 | 18.3 |
The scoring average over the last nine games in the series (since 2015/Maryland's Big Ten era) favors Penn State by 0.7, 69.0 to 68.3.
NCAA NET & KENPOM.COM
Penn State is one of nine Big Ten teams ranked in the top 40 in the Feb. 4, 2021 NCAA NET rankings and the only team among the group at or below .500. The kenpom.com calculations have Penn State, one of 10 Big Ten teams in the top 40, at No. 37, the highest rated team with a record at or below .500.
Feb. 4, 2021
NCAA NET – 32
Kenpom.com – 37
ESPN BPI – 48
BY THE NUMBERS
7 – The Nittany Lions have scored at least 70 points in seven Big Ten games this season and are fifth in B1G scoring at 73.3.
12 – Penn State is one of the 12 oldest basketball programs in the nation, playing its 125th season of basketball in 2020-21.
43.2 – Junior guard Myreon Jones' 3-point field goal percentage, good for a No. 23 ranking nationally. He connected on 18 of 35 attempts for a 51.4 3-FG percentage in six January games.
50 – The Nittany Lions have amassed 50 double-figure scoring games with junior guards Myreon Jones and Izaiah Brockington with 13 and 12, respectively, and Sam Sessoms and Seth Lundy with eight each.
81 – Points scored in the win over No. 14 Wisconsin, the Nittany Lions' highest total in the series. Saturday's game marked only the eighth time Penn State had scored 70 or more points vs. the Badgers.
84.6 – Sophomore Seth Lundy has improved his free throw percentage from year one (75.0) to year two (84.6, 33-39).
LAST TIME OUT: BADGERS USE HOT SECOND-HALF START IN WIN OVER PSU
Following an evenly matched first half, the Badgers used a 19-4 run after the break and relied on a hot second-half start to build a double-digit lead and win 72-56 in the second-straight game between the two teams.
Wisconsin went 4-7 from the field over the first four minutes of the second half for an 11-0 run and a 42-31 lead. Slowing the pace of the game down significantly, Wisconsin shot above the 50 percent mark before cooling down for a final 48.4 percent from the field. The Nittany Lions couldn't get into an offensive groove and didn't land their first 3-pointer of the half until 10:48.
After a layup by junior guard Izaiah Brockington, junior guard Myreon Jones and senior forward John Harrar combined for the next 14 points. Jones finished the night with a team-best 14. Harrar had 10 points, grabbed five rebounds, dished off a pair of assists and made two steals. Harrar was a perfect 3-3 from the field and 4-4 from the foul line.
Penn State forced the Badgers into a season-high total 15 turnovers and converted them into 16 points, but gave 10 points back off 13 turnovers on the night. The first half
Wisconsin's Jonathan Davis led all scorers with 17 points. Micah Potter had a game-high eight rebounds.
The Badgers and Nittany Lions ended the first half with nearly an identical halftime score as their Saturday matchup.
Jones and Seth Lundy each scored six to pace the Nittany Lions in the first half. Trent Buttrick, Izaiah Brockington, Harrar and Sam Sessoms each added four in the half.
The Badgers and Nittany Lions were locked in a tight matchup throughout much of the first half. Wisconsin pushed its lead to 25-18 with just under eight minutes to play in the opening period.
A 7-0 run by Penn State tied the game at 25 following a Lundy trey with 4:38 remaining. Five straight free throws by Wisconsin extended the Badgers lead to 30-25. Sam Sessoms had his hand in the next three baskets for Penn State. Sessoms scored a pair of layups and assisted on a Buttrick basket to give the Nittany Lions their first lead since the 18:22 mark of the half.
The Nittany Lions clawed back into the contest by holding Wisconsin without a field goal for the last 7:58 of the first period until the Wisconsin triple before the buzzer gave the Badgers a 33-31 lead at the break.
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.