Nittany Lions Host Hurricanes in Big Ten/ACC Men’s Basketball Challenge WednesdayNittany Lions Host Hurricanes in Big Ten/ACC Men’s Basketball Challenge Wednesday
PSU Athletics/Selders

Nittany Lions Host Hurricanes in Big Ten/ACC Men’s Basketball Challenge Wednesday


UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's basketball team returns home Wednesday night to host the Miami Hurricanes in the 2021 edition of the Big Ten/ACC Men's Basketball Challenge. Tipoff is set for 9:15 p.m. from the Bryce Jordan Center and the game will air nationally on ESPNU. The Penn State men's basketball season is presented by Highmark Health.
 
FOLLOW ALONG

 
PROMOTIONS
2000s Night

  • First 2000 people get a free t-shirt.
  • 2000s themed photo booth on the concourse.
  • Throwback to all the great hits of the early 2000s.

 
OPENING TIPS

  • Penn State returns home to open a three-game homestand Wednesday night when the Nittany Lions welcome Miami (Fla.) to the Bryce Jordan Center for the 2021 Big Ten/ACC Men's Basketball Challenge.
  • Penn State is 6-1 in its last seven Big Ten/ACC Challenge matchups.
  • The Nittany Lions are coming off a 1-1 weekend at the Emerald Coast Classic that saw Penn State take eventual tournament champion and undefeated LSU to overtime (68-63 L (OT)) before defeating Oregon State 60-45 in the tourney finale.

 
IF PENN STATE BEATS MIAMI

  • Penn State would move to 7-1 in its last eight Big Ten/ACC Challenge contests.
  • The Nittany Lions would move to 4-0 at home this season and improve to 58-25 when playing the Bryce Jordan Center over the last six seasons.
  • Penn State would move to 4-0 all-time against Miami.

 
UP FOR THE CHALLENGE

  • Penn State is one of only three of the 29 combined Big Ten and ACC men's basketball teams that is 6-1 in its last seven Big Ten/ACC Men's Basketball Challenge games.
  • Wednesday's showdown in Happy Valley pits two of those three 6-1 teams together in Penn State and Miami. Duke is the only other of the 29 combined Big Ten/ACC teams that has gone 6-1 in its last seven Challenge games.
  • The Nittany Lions are 11-9 all-time in 20 Big Ten/ACC Challenge appearances.

 
B1G/ACC CHALLENGE HISTORY

  • Penn State has won six of its last seven Big Ten/ACC Challenge games with an 11-9 overall record in 20 Challenge appearances.
  • The Nittany Lions are 6-4 all-time in Challenge home games. This is the first time Miami and Penn State will meet in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.
  • The Big Ten has won the last two Challenges, posting a 7-5 record in 2020 and an 8-6 record in 2019. The leagues split 7-7 in 2018.

 
TEAMMATES FOR MENTAL HEALTH

  • The Penn State and Miami coaching staffs will wear green ribbon lapel pins on Wednesday night to raise awareness about the importance of mental health and wellness among student-athletes.
  • The Big Ten, ACC and Pac-12 announced a joint initiative entitled "Teammates for Mental Health" earlier this week. The initiative officially tips off during the 2021 Big Ten/ACC Women's and Men's Basketball Challenge games and will highlight the mental health and wellness efforts underway and/or being planned across three conferences and at all 41 Alliance member institutions throughout the 2021-22 college athletics season.

 
SCOUTING MIAMI

  • The Hurricanes come to Happy Valley with a 4-3 overall record through the first seven games of the season.
  • Miami has picked up wins over Canisius (77-67), Florida Atlantic (68-66), Florida A&M (86-59) and North Texas (69-63).
  • The Hurricanes have fallen to UCF (89-95), Dayton (60-76) and Alabama (64-96).
  • Miami is shooting just 27.1 percent from three-point range and averaging 5.0 treys per contest.
  • Kameron McGusty leads three Hurricanes in double figures with 17.6 points per game. Isaiah Wong (15.6 ppg) and Charlie Moore (10.7 ppg) follow.

 
AGAINST THE HURRICANES

  • Penn State is 3-0 all time against Miami and this will be the first Big Ten/ACC Challenge matchup for the Nittany Lions and the Hurricanes.
  • The two teams last met in the 1995 NIT, with Penn State taking a 62-56 decision in the NIT opener. The Nittany Lions went on to finish third in the 1995 NIT.
  • Penn State is 2-0 all-time when playing Miami in Happy Valley.

 
UNDER 60

  • Penn State has held three of its first six opponents under 60 points, and four of its first six foes under 60 points in regulation -- LSU scored 58 in regulation and finished with 68 including overtime.
  • The last time the Nittany Lions held three of their first six foes under 60 points was the 2017-18 season (Fairleigh Dickinson 57, Montana 57 and Pittsburgh 54).
  • You'd have to go back to the 2010-11 season to find the last time Penn State kept four of its first six opponents under 60 in regulation, when the Nittany Lions limited Lehigh (56), Saint Joe's (57), Fairfield (49) and Furman (49) to under 60 in 40 minutes of play. Penn State went on to make an NCAA Tournament appearance that season.

 
DEFENSE SETS THE TONE AT HOLIDAY TOURNEY

  • Penn State's identity on the defensive end set the tone on the Nittany Lions' trip to the Emerald Coast Classic over Thanksgiving weekend.
  • The Nittany Lions first faced an LSU team that came into Friday's game averaging 85.4 points per game. Penn State held the undefeated Tigers to 58 points in regulation, 27.4 points less than its season-long average. The Tigers finished the game with 68 points thanks to the extra five minutes of overtime, but shot just 34.8 percent (24-69) from the field during the entirety of the contest - 15.2 percent less than the 50.0 percent field goal percentage that LSU entered the game with.
  • The Nittany Lions turned out their best defensive effort of the season in the tournament finale against Oregon State, holding the 2021 Elite Eight team to just 45 points. It marked the first time Penn State held a team to 45 or fewer points since Jan. 17, 2018 when Penn State limited Rutgers to 43 points. The Beavers entered Saturday's game averaging 69.2 points per game, meaning Penn State kept Oregon State 24.2 points below its season average.

 
MAKE IT RAIN

  • The Nittany Lions made just an average of 5.0 three-pointers per game it their first three games of the season, but have since averaged 13.0 treys per contest over Penn State's last three games.
  • Penn State made a program-record tying 15 3-pointers in its win over Cornell on Nov. 22. It has happened twice before, against Purdue in 2001 (2/7/01) and again against Hartford in 2008 (11/20/08). The Nittany Lions entered that game not having made more than six three-pointers in a contest this season.
  • Senior transfer Jalen Pickett has led the way from downtown over the last three games, draining nine treys at a 40.9 percent (9-22) clip. Senior Sam Sessoms has contributed seven threes at a blistering 53.8 percent (7-13) mark over the last three contests.

 
DEFENDING THE ARC

  • In addition to Penn State's offensive three-point threat over the last few games, the Nittany Lions have also stepped up on the defensive end of the arc.
  • The Nittany Lions allowed their opponents to shoot 43.4 percent (23-53) from downtown over the first two games of the season, with an average of 11.5 three-pointers made per game. Since then, Penn State has held its last four opponents to just a 25.3 percent (24-95) clip from deep with an average of 6.0 made treys per contest.

 
SWITCHING SIDELINES

  • Penn State associate head coach Adam Fisher will find himself on the opposite bench than he's been for the past eight years Wednesday night.
  • Fisher was head coach Micah Shrewsberry's first hire in March 2021 and he came to Penn State after eight years on the Miami sideline. The Penn State alum served as the director of basketball operations at Miami for the first two (2013-15) and an assistant coach the next six (2015-21).
  • He helped Miami to 151 victories, four-straight 20-win seasons (two with 25-plus), four consecutive postseason berths, three-straight NCAA Tournament trips, two top-three ACC finishes and the program's third Sweet 16 appearance.
  • Fisher, a Jamison, Pa. native, started his career at Penn State and returned home in March 2021. He was the Nittany Lions' head student manager from 2003-06 during his undergraduate days. He later returned for the 2011-12 season as video coordinator and 2012-13 season as director of player development.

 
UP NEXT

  • Penn State remains home Sunday when the Nittany Lions open Big Ten Conference play against Ohio State. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. from the Bryce Jordan Center and the game will air nationally on Big Ten Network.