INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The Penn State men's basketball team (10-13, 7-12), winners of three of its last four games and the No. 11 seed, will face No. 14 seed Nebraska (7-19, 3-16) Wednesday, March 10 in first-round Big Ten Tournament action. BTN will broadcast the game, which will start 25 minutes after the conclusion of the 6:30 p.m. ET game from Lucas Oil Stadium.
The Nittany Lions and Huskers have met twice before in the Big Ten Tournament, in 2015, and in an overtime contest, in 2017. Penn State won both games. The two teams split their meetings this year, each winning on the opponent's home court with the games decided by a combined four points.
Wednesday's game is the first neutral site game of the 2020-21 season for Penn State.
WATCH: BTN and Fox Sports mobile app
Kevin Kugler (pxp), Stephen Bardo (analyst) and Andy Katz (sideline)
LISTEN: Penn State Sports Network
Steve Jones (pxp) & Dick Jerardi (analyst)
Affiliates: GoPSUsports.com/affiliates2021
Listen online: GoPSUsports.com/lionvision
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ROSTER: Penn State | Nebraska
SCHEDULE: Penn State | Nebraska
STATS: Penn State | Nebraska
GAME NOTES: Penn State | Nebraska
NEBRASKA CORNHUSKERS
Coach: Fred Hoiberg (Iowa State, 1995)
Nebraska Record: 14-44 (Second season)
Career Record: 129-100 (Seventh season)
2020-21 Record: 7-19, 3-16 Big Ten
Current Leading Scorer
#2 Trey McGowans, Jr., G – 10.6 ppg
Leading Rebounder
#45 Dalano Banton, So., G – 6.0 rpg
Assists Leader
#45 Dalano Banton, So., G – 4.0 apg
PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS
Interim Head Coach: Jim Ferry (Keene State, 1990)
Penn State Record: 10-13, 7-12 (First season)
Career Record: 324-278 (20th season)
Top Scorer
#0 Myreon Jones, Jr., G – 15.5 ppg
#12 Izaiah Brockington, Jr., G – 12.7 ppg
Top Rebounder
#21 John Harrar, Sr., F – 8.5 rpg
Assists Leaders
#5 Jamari Wheeler, Sr., G – 3.6 apg
PENN STATE LAST GAME STARTERS
F -- 21 – John Harrar – Sr. | 9.0 ppg | 8.5 rpg
Note: Selected All-Big Ten Conference honorable mention; Leads the Big Ten in offensive rebounds per game (3.78) and ranks 11th nationally in that category; Collected his 500th career rebound vs. Minnesota and is closing in on 500 career points with 492
G – 0 – Myreon Jones -- Jr. | 15.5 ppg | 2.8 rpg
Note: Selected All-Big Ten Conference honorable mention; Has scored 10+ points in all but two games this season; Has 42 career double-figure and 12 20-point scoring games
G -- 2 – Myles Dread – Jr. | 7.7 ppg | 2.0 rpg
Note: Sent the perfect pass to Seth Lundy for his trey with 32 seconds left in Maryland game to put Nittany Lions up by four, 61-57. Also had a trey in the win over Terps.
G – 5 – Jamari Wheeler -- Sr. | 6.1 ppg | 4.3 rpg | 3.6 apg
Note: Selected to Big Ten All-Defensive Team for second-straight year; Was stat champion for steals per game in conference games (1.8) and tied for league for all games.
G – 12 – Izaiah Brockington -- Jr. | 12.7 ppg | 4.7 rpg
Note: Team's second-leading scorer and rebounder; No. 22 in Big Ten in scoring
STARTING 5
Penn State has won three of its last four games, its last two straight away from home and is 7-7 in its last 14 contests.
According to kenpom.com calculations as of March 9, Penn State once again owns the nation's strongest schedule with a +19.91 rating. As of March 9, Big Ten teams hold every place in the SOS top 10 and 14 of the top 16 spots.
For the sixth-straight season, Penn State won at least six Big Ten games. PSU established four-straight seasons as the program best in 2018-19 and extended that streak to five (2019-20) and then six seasons with wins six and seven last week.
Sunday night's win gave the Nittany Lions 34 Big Ten wins in the four seasons from 2017-18 to the current 2020-21 campaign, the program's highest B1G wins total in a four-year span.
Wednesday's game vs. Nebraska will be the third time the Nittany Lions and Huskers meet in 24 days.
SERIES vs. NEBRASKA
Penn State has won three of the last four games, but the two teams split the regular-season meetings in 2020-21 as each team won on the opponent's home court. The games were decided by a combined four points (W, 86-83; L, 62-61).
The Nittany Lions are 2-0 in Big Ten Tournament games vs. the Huskers, also tightly contested. PSU won a 2015 game 68-65 and overtime decided the 2017 first-round game 76-67.
Series streak: Penn State, W1
Last game: Lincoln, Neb.,
Penn State 86, Maryland 83, 2/23/2021
Overall series: Penn State leads 12-10 (N: 2-0)
Ferry vs. Nebraska& Hoiberg: 1-1
Series record and results are on page 5 of the game notes.
B1G HONORS
Three Nittany Lions were presented with 2020-21 All-Big Ten Conference honors as announced by the league Tuesday, March 9. Senior guard Jamari Wheeler and junior guard Myreon Jones were recognized for the second-straight season with Big Ten honors and senior forward John Harrar earned his first All-Big Ten accolade.
All-Defensive Team
Jamari Wheeler (2020, 2021), Sr., G
Honorable Mention Media
Myreon Jones (2020, 2021), Jr., G
John Harrar, Sr., F
Sportsmanship Award
John Harrar, Sr., F (2020, 2021)
Three Nittany Lions earned All-Big Ten recognition for the third time in four seasons and fourth time since 2008-09.
STAT CHAMPIONS
Senior guard Jamari Wheeler finished at the top of the Big Ten steals list for conference games and is currently tied for the lead in all games. The Nittany Lions have had at least one stat champion, in either Big Ten or all games, in the last four seasons and in seven of the last nine seasons.
Name, Stat, Category, Year
Jamari Wheeler, B1G, Steals, 2021
Jamari Wheeler, tie-Overall, Steals, 2021
Jamari Wheeler, Overall, Steals, 2020
NET & KENPOM.COM
Penn State is ranked 34 on kenpom.com, one of 10 Big Ten teams in the kenpom.com top 40. The March 9, 2021 NCAA NET ranking has Penn State at 40, one of nine B1G teams in the top 40.
BY THE NUMBERS
1 – Wednesday's game will be Penn State's first neutral site game of the 2020-21 season.
3 – This is the third time Penn State and Nebraska will meet in the Big Ten Tournament (2015, 2017-ot). The Nittany Lions have won both previous meetings.
34 – The 2020-21 senior Nittany Lions have won 34 Big Ten Conference games over the four-year span of 2017-2021, breaking the mark of 33 set through 2020.
5 – Five members of Penn State's roster have played previously in the Big Ten Tournament with three with starting experience (Dread, Harrar and Wheeler). Harrar has four starts, three in 2018, and joins Dread and Wheeler with a start in 2019.
125 – Established as a program in 1897, Penn State's 2020-21 season marks its 125th year. Penn State is one of the 10 oldest programs in the nation and won its 1,500th game at No. 15 Virginia Tech.
162 – The Nittany Lions totalled 162 3-point field goals in Big Ten play this year to break the previous record of 157 set in 2019-20. PSU also took the top spot with a 39.8 3-point field goal percentage in league play.
327 – With three assists in the Maryland win, senior guard Jamari Wheeler has 327 career assists, moving him up to the No. 13 spot on Penn State's career assists list.
LAST TIME OUT: LUNDY'S 31 POINTS PROPEL PENN STATE TO COMEBACK WIN
Sophomore forward Seth Lundy's 31 points led Penn State to a 66-61 victory over Maryland. The Nittany Lions scored 43 points in the second half to overcome an early 16-point deficit and sweep the season series with the Terps. It was the only the second win in 10 games at College Park, the first coming in December 1962.
Over the final 2:40, Penn State outscored the Terps 15-4 and Maryland's lone basket came on an uncontested dunk with one second remaining in the game.
Penn State's resiliency was on full display as the Nittany Lions overcame a 14-point deficit with less than 10 minutes remaining in the game. The Nittany Lions used an 11-0 run, which included six free throws, four from senior forward John Harrar and two from Lundy, to trim the lead to three, 50-47.
The Terps pushed their lead back to six with 2:51 left and Lundy's fourth trey of the game cut the lead to three, 57-54, and sparked the Nittany Lions' 15-4 run to close the game. After two of Harrar's free throws to pull Penn State within one, 57-56, Lundy hit a jumper in the paint for the Nittany Lions' first lead of the game at 58-57 with just 1:23 to go. His fifth triple, with just 32 seconds left, put Penn State up by four, 61-57.
Myreon Jones added 17 points, making all seven of his free throws in the second stanza, four in the final 22 seconds.
Big plays on defense, 13 points off turnovers and a 22-12 second-half rebounding advantage helped Penn State rally. The Nittany Lions attacked the offensive glass (10-1) and had 12 second-chance points to just two for the Terps.
Lundy was the offensive catalyst for the Nittany Lions in the first half, scoring Penn State's first 11 points after a slow start. His layup at the 14:28 mark in the first half ended Maryland's 12-0 run to begin the game as Penn State missed its first nine shot attempts.
The Terps shot 55.6 percent from the field in the first half and had a 16-point lead with 5:33 left in the period, but missed five of their last seven shots to allow the Nittany Lions to stay in the hunt. Lundy's offensive efforts, in addition to treys by Brockington and Jones, clipped the double-digit deficit to six with under two minutes to play in the half. The final two Terp field goals produced a 33-23 score going into the locker room.
Aaron Wiggins turned in a double-double (15 points, 10 rebounds) for Maryland.
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.
