UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's basketball team (8-13, 5-12) will celebrate the senior members of its program prior to the Wednesday, March 3 game against Minnesota. BTN will broadcast the 7 p.m. contest. This is the only regular-season meeting between the Nittany Lions and Golden Gophers in 2020-21.
Five Nittany Lion senior student-athletes, Trent Buttrick (Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania), John Harrar (Wallingford, Pennsylvania), Kyle McCloskey (Lower Gwynedd, Pennsylvania), Taylor Nussbaum (South Salem, New York) and Jamari Wheeler (Live Oak, Florida), and seven senior managers, Sean Brennan, Rudy Gabriel, Andrew Kandravi, Michael Ottomano, Thomas Quinlan, Shamus Shields and Casey Woodford
will be honored Wednesday in a Senior Night ceremony, presented by Penn State Alumni Association.
The celebration will be streamed live on the Penn State men's basketball facebook page at facebook.com/pennstatebasketball beginning at 5:45 p.m. ET.
WATCH: BTN and Fox Sports mobile app
Kevin Kugler (pxp) and Stephen Bardo (analyst)
LISTEN: Penn State Sports Network
Steve Jones (pxp) & Dick Jerardi (analyst)
Affiliates: GoPSUsports.com/affiliates2021
Listen online: GoPSUsports.com/lionvision
SiriusXM | XM 372 | Internet 372 TuneIn
LIVE STATS: Penn State vs. Minnesota
SOCIAL: Twitter @PennStateMBB | Facebook | Instagram @PennStateMBB
ROSTER: Penn State | Minnesota
SCHEDULE: Penn State | Minnesota
STATS: Penn State | Minnesota
GAME NOTES: Penn State | Minnesota
MINNESOTA GOLDEN GOPHERS
Coach: Richard Pitino (Providence, 2005)
Minnesota Record: 140-120 (Eighth season)
Career Record: 158-134 (Ninth season)
2020-21 Record: 13-12, 6-12 Big Ten
Leading Scorer
#5 Marcus Carr, R-Jr., G – 20.0 ppg
Leading Rebounders
#0 Liam Robbins, Jr., C – 6.6 rpg
Assists Leader
#5 Marcus Carr, R-Jr., G – 5.0 apg
PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS
Interim Head Coach: Jim Ferry (Keene State, 1990)
Penn State Record: 8-13 (First season)
Career Record: 322-278 (20th season)
Top Scorer
#0 Myreon Jones, Jr., G – 15.4 ppg
#12 Izaiah Brockington, Jr., G – 13.0 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: Averaged a double-double with 10.1 points and 10.0 rebounds over first 13 games of restart; Leads the Big Ten in offensive rebounds per game (3.67) and ranks 11th nationally in that category; closing in on 500 career rebounds and 500 points
G – 0 – Myreon Jones -- Jr. | 15.4 ppg | 2.7 rpg
Note: All-Big Ten Conference honors candidate has scored 10+ points in all but two games this season; Has 40 career double-figure scoring games and 12 career 20+ point games after career-high 29 at Nebraska; Scored 8 of his 11 points in second half vs. Purdue
G -- 2 – Myles Dread – Jr. | 8.1 ppg | 2.1 rpg
Note: Started game 3-3 from beyond arc with 9 points in first half; made fifth start of season vs. Purdue; has seven-straight games with at least 2 treys
G – 5 – Jamari Wheeler -- Sr. | 6.2 ppg | 4.4 rpg | 3.6 apg
Note: Candidate for Big Ten All-Defensive team who leads league in steals per game as an individual (1.9) and factor in Big Ten's top team turnovers forced average at 14.48 per game; Picked up 8 steals in two games last week with four each at Nebraska and against Purdue
G – 12 – Izaiah Brockington -- Jr. | 13.0 ppg | 4.5 rpg
Note: Team's second-leading scorer and rebounder; No. 21 in Big Ten in scoring
STARTING 5
Five Nittany Lion senior student-athletes, Trent Buttrick, Kyle McCloskey, Taylor Nussbaum, John Harrar and Jamari Wheeler, and seven student managers will be honored Wednesday on Senior Night, presented by the Penn State Alumni Association.
Penn State and Minnesota meet just once in 2020-21 after two years of "double-play" seasons. The Nittany Lions are 2-3 against their planned "single-play" opponents this year.
According to kenpom.com calculations, Penn State's current strength of schedule rating is +19.51, second overall nationally. Of the top 10 SOS ratings, nine are held by Big Ten teams.
The Nittany Lions are the Big Ten's top-ranked team for steals per game (8.0) and turnovers forced (14.48).
Senior guard Jamari Wheeler picked up eight steals two last week and owns the Big Ten's top individual average at 1.9 steals per game overall as well as in league-only games.
SERIES vs. MINNESOTA
Penn State and Minnesota split their meetings last year with each team winning at home. With the Nittany Lion win in the BJC last February, PSU broke the Golden Gophers' previous five-game win series win streak.
Series streak: Penn State, W1
Last game: University Park, Pa.
No. 22 Penn State 83, Minnesota 77, 2/8/20
Overall series: Minnesota leads 37-15 (PS H: 12-11)
Ferry vs. Minnesota: 0-1 (LIU: 70-54, 11/17/2006)
Ferry vs. Richard Pitino: First meeting
Series record and results from the last 20 games are on page 5 of the game notes.
NET & KENPOM.COM
Penn State is ranked 41 on kenpom.com, one of 10 Big Ten teams in the kenpom.com top 45. The March 2, 2021 NCAA NET ranking has Penn State at 52, one of 10 Big Ten teams in the top 60.
March 2, 2021
Kenpom.com – 41
NCAA NET – 52
SWIPE RIGHT
The Nittany Lions have six games with double digits in steals this season, five in B1G games, including 14 in the game at Nebraska last week (2/23/2021).
PSU's three consecutive games with 10 steals (Illinois, Rutgers & Northwestern) marked the first time in the last decade it achieved this feat. In the Nittany Lions' season opener, they tied their single-game record for steals with 18 vs. VMI.
FOR 3!
Penn State is averaging 9.0 3-point field goals per game, good for second in the Big Ten. Penn State has connected for at least nine 3-point field goals in 12 games this season and has eight games in double figures.
Over the last five years, the 3-point field goals made per-game average has increased. The highest final team average in the Nittany Lions' Big Ten era is 8.4 (278 in 33 games) by the 2000-01 Sweet Sixteen squad.
BY THE NUMBERS
1 – Minnesota was Penn State's first opponent in the Bryce Jordan Center when it opened 25 years ago. The Nittany Lions registered their first win in their new home over the Golden Gophers 76-61 on Jan. 11, 1996.
8 – With four steals each in back-to-back games at Nebraska and against Purdue, senior guard Jamari Wheeler tied his best two-game total. Wheeler had 8 over two games as a freshman (2017-18) and again in 2018-19 at Ohio State (5) and vs. Michigan (3).
14 – Penn State connected on a season-high 14 treys at Nebraska, one shy of tying the single-game record (15). The Nittany Lions have eight double-figure 3-pointer totals in 2020-21.
32 – The Nittany Lions have won 32 Big Ten Conference games over a four-year span (2017-2021), one shy of their record of 33 set from 2016-2020.
86 – Penn State's 86-point total at Nebraska marked its highest Big Ten game total in 2020-21 and highest total for a road game since an 88-76 win at Purdue last year (Feb. 11, 2020).
494 – Senior forward John Harrar has added 176 rebounds this year alone for 494 career to date. His career points total is 473.
LAST TIME OUT: STRONG SHOOTING LEADS PURDUE PAST PENN STATE
Penn State played a close second half, but Purdue's hot shooting in the first period provided all it needed for the 73-52 win in the Bryce Jordan Center. Myreon Jones scored eight of his team-best 11 points in the second period while three other Nittany Lions, senior forward John Harrar, senior guard Jamari Wheeler and junior guard Myles Dread had nine points each on the night.
Purdue's Sasha Stefanovic had a game-high 16 points as four Boilermaker starters finished the night in double figures. Aaron Wheeler picked up a game-high seven rebounds as Purdue won the battle of the boards 41-28.
The Boilermakers offensive efficiency in the paint provided 40 points and accounted for 55 percent of their scoring effort in the contest. Purdue started the game 10-13 for 76.9 percent from the field and cooled to 58.1 percent for the first half. The Boilers finished the game at 51.9 percent.
Trailing 41-26 at the half, the Nittany Lions made their first five shots, three by Harrar, to open the second period to cut into the Boilermakers lead. After their first their first five makes, Penn State went 0-8 from the field before Harrar made a layup and converted the free throw. Purdue used drought to build its lead to 22 points, 36-58, before Harrar's field goal.
Jones connected on the next four field goals for Penn State while Purdue missed shots and committed turnovers during a six-minute stretch, but the double-digit lead was too much to overcome.
Wheeler had a team-best six rebounds and added six assists and four steals. He moved into 14th place on Penn State's all-time assists list with 319 assists.
The Boilermakers strung together scoring runs while the Nittany Lions struggled to score consistently to build a 41-26 lead at the half.
The game was tied at 9 and 11 before Purdue made four of its next five field goals, including two by Jaden Ivey, for a 20-13 Boilermaker lead. Zach Edey finished the 13-2 scoring run with two-straight baskets for a 24-13 score in favor of Purdue.
The Boilermakers connected on 10 of 13 attempts from the field (76.9 percent) at the midway point of the half before Dread started an 8-0 run for Penn State with two treys and Izaiah Brockington added a jumper to pull the Nittany Lions within three, 24-21, at the 8:40 mark.
The Boilermakers used a 9-0 run to push their lead back to 12, 33-21, with 3:13 to play in the half. Jones ended the run with a strong take to the basket and converted an and-one. Wheeler split to Boilermaker defense for a layup to quickly cut the lead to seven, 33-26. Purdue finished the half on an 8-0 run to take the 15-point lead into the locker room.
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.
