UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's basketball team wraps up its three-game homestand Wednesday night when the Nittany Lions welcome NEC preseason favorite Wagner to the Bryce Jordan Center for a 7 p.m. tipoff. The Penn State men's basketball season is presented by Highmark Health.
FOLLOW ALONG
- WATCH: B1G+
- RADIO: Penn State Sports Network (PDF) with Steve Jones and Dick Jerardi – 103.7 FM & 1450 AM
- NATIONAL RADIO: Sirius XM – XM Ch. 380 | SXM App Ch. 970
- LIVE STATS: Live Stats
- GAME NOTES: Penn State Notes | Wagner Notes
- TICKETS: Tickets
PROMOTIONS
Holiday Toy Drive
- Fans are encouraged to bring a new and unwrapped toy for donation.
- Bring the toy to the ticket office to claim a special $10 group ticket rate offer before dropping the toy in a marked bin on the concourse on your way into the game.
OPENING TIPS
- Penn State wraps up a three-game homestand Wednesday night when the Nittany Lions host NEC favorite Wagner.
- Wednesday's non-conference game is sandwiched in between a pair of conference contests against Big Ten heavyweights in #21 Ohio State and #19 Michigan State.
- Four Nittany Lions are averaging double-digit points, led by junior Seth Lundy's 14.9 ppg. Seniors Sam Sessoms (13.1 ppg) and Jalen Pickett (11.3 ppg) follow, while grad student John Harrar is averaging a double-double with 10.8 ppg and 11.0 rpg.
IF PENN STATE BEATS WAGNER
- The Nittany Lions would snap a two-game losing streak and improve to 5-4 overall.
- Penn State would remain undefeated against the Seahawks and improve to 5-0 all-time against Wagner.
SCOUTING THE SEAHAWKS
- The Seahawks are 3-1 on the season. Wagner had three games postponed from Nov. 17-24 due to Covid-19 issues within the program.
- The Seahawks are coming off a 78-49 thumping of Stony Brook Saturday in their most recent game. Wagner's best win of the season was a 58-44 road victory at VCU.
- Wagner's only loss of the season was on Dec. 1, a 63-85 defeat at #25 Seton Hall. It was the Seahawks' first game back off the Covid-19 pause.
- Four Seahawks are averaging double-digit points, led by Alex Morales' 18.0 points and 8.3 rebounds per contest.
- Wagner was picked to finish first in the NEC this season after earning the regular-season championship during the 2020-21 season.
AGAINST WAGNER
- Penn State is 4-0 all-time against Wagner, with all four of those meetings coming in Happy Valley.
- The two teams last met on Nov. 9, 2019, with the Nittany Lions earning a 91-64 victory. Five Nittany Lions scored in double figures in that game, including 12 points from current Penn State junior Seth Lundy.
THREE CAN BE A KEY
- Penn State's performance from three-point range has proven to be a key to success through the first eight games of the season.
- The Nittany Lions are shooting 38.4 percent (38-99) from deep with an average of 9.5 made threes per game in Penn State's four wins.
- Penn State is shooting 28.7 percent (27-94) from downtown with an average of 6.8 treys per game in the Nittany Lions' four losses.
- 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).
B1G JOHN
- Penn State graduate student and Illinois All-American Kofi Cockburn are the only two Big Ten men's basketball players averaging a double-double thus far into the season.
- Harrar owns season-long marks of 10.8 points and 11.0 rebounds per game. His 11.0 rebounds per game ranks in the top 10 nationally.
- The Wallingford, Pa. native has tallied four double-doubles thus far, pulled down double-digit rebounds in six of eight contests, and is shooting a blistering 73.5 percent (36-49) from the field.
- Harrar owns 10 career double-doubles, making him one of just 17 Penn State players all-time to register double-digit double-doubles in their Penn State career.
PICKETT-ING IT UP
- After adjusting in the first three games of the season, senior transfer Jalen Pickett has since picked up his pace. The senior is averaging 14.0 ppg, 5.6 rpg and 4.6 apg over the last five contests.
- Pickett is coming off his best performance in a Penn State uniform in Sunday's Big Ten opener against Ohio State in which he scored a game-high 23 points, 13 of which came in the second half. Pickett added four rebounds and three assists against the Buckeyes.
- Pickett was one of the most highly-touted transfers in the portal, coming in at No. 21 on ESPN's transfer rankings this spring. He owned career averages of 15.0 points, 6.1 assists and 4.9 rebounds per game through three seasons at Siena, where he earned MAAC Player of the Year honors as a sophomore in 2019-20 and MAAC Rookie of the Year honors as a freshman in 2018-19. The Rochester, N.Y. native was a three-time first-team All-MAAC selection with the Saints.
LUNDY'S LEAP
- Junior Seth Lundy is the team's leading scorer through the first eight games of the season, averaging 14.9 points per game in addition to his 5.9 rebounds per contest that ranks second on the squad.
- Lundy has scored in double figures in seven of eight games this season and has led the Nittany Lions in scoring in three games thus far.
- He notched his fifth and sixth-career 20-point games in the season opener against Youngstown State and on Nov. 22 against Cornell.
- He went off for 30-plus points on two occasions during his sophomore season - 32 vs. VCU on Dec. 2, 2020 and 31 at Maryland on March 7, 2021.
UP NEXT
- Penn State heads to East Lansing, Mich. for its first Big Ten road battle of the season when the Nittany Lions travel to take on #19/20 Michigan State on Saturday. Tipoff is slated for 2 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.