Nittany Lions Host Rutgers In THON Game Tuesday NightNittany Lions Host Rutgers In THON Game Tuesday Night
Jaydyn Isiminger

Nittany Lions Host Rutgers In THON Game Tuesday Night


UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's basketball team plays its fourth game in nine days Tuesday night when the Nittany Lions host a red-hot Rutgers squad for a 6:30 p.m. tipoff inside the Bryce Jordan Center. The 2021-22 Penn State men's basketball season is presented by Highmark Health.
 
FOLLOW ALONG

OPENING TIPS

  • Penn State wraps up a four games in nine days stretch Tuesday night when the Nittany Lions host red-hot Rutgers at 6:30 p.m. inside the Bryce Jordan Center.
  • PSU has won two of its last three games - a 61-58 Quad 2 home victory over Indiana and a gritty 74-70 Quad 1 comeback win at Northwestern.
  • Four Nittany Lions are averaging double-digit points, led by junior Seth Lundy's 14.5 ppg. Seniors Jalen Pickett (13.3 ppg) and Sam Sessoms (11.5 ppg) follow, while grad student John Harrar is averaging a double-double with 10.7 ppg and 10.3 rpg.
     

IF PENN STATE BEATS RUTGERS

  • Penn State would win its third game in a nine-day stretch and even its Big Ten record at 3-3.
  • The Nittany Lions would improve to 29-10 all-time when playing Rutgers at home.

 
SCOUTING THE SCARLET KNIGHTS

  • An up-and-down season finds the Scarlet Knights red hot coming into Happy Valley as Rutgers has won its last four games.
  • Rutgers is 9-5 on the season and 3-1 in Big Ten play. The Scarlet Knights' lone conference loss came in the Big Ten opener at Illinois (51-86) on Dec. 3. Rutgers has since beaten Purdue (70-68), Michigan (75-67) and Nebraska (93-65).
  • The Scarlet Knights will be searching for their first road win of the season, however, as Rutgers is 0-4 in away games. RU is 9-1 when playing at home this season.
  • Ron Harper Jr. leads the team with 16.3 points and 7.1 rebounds per game.

 
AGAINST RUTGERS

  • The Nittany Lions own a 44-33 lead in the all-time series and 28-10 edge when playing the Scarlet Knights in Happy Valley.
  • Penn State has won the last two meetings and four of the last six against Rutgers.
  • The two teams met just once last season, a 75-67 Penn State win inside the Bryce Jordan Center on Jan. 21, 2021. Penn State never trailed in the game, getting out to a quick start by shooting 53.3 percent from the field in the first half. Rutgers used 51.3 percent shooting in the second half to make a run, but Penn State held on for the eight-point win.

 
FOR THE KIDS

  • Tuesday's game against Rutgers is Penn State's annual THON game. The student section will don colorful THON shirts and in-game activities will be based around raising awareness for the largest student-run philanthropy in the world.
  • The Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon, or THON, is the largest student-run philanthropy in the world. THON is a year-long effort which raises funds and awareness for the fight against childhood cancer. With the support of students from all across the commonwealth of Pennsylvania and supporters all around the world, we continue to make great strides towards finding a cure for all childhood cancers. Our efforts culminate with a 46-hour, no-sitting, no-sleeping dance marathon in February. This year's dance marathon is set for Feb. 18-20 in the Bryce Jordan Center.
  • THON has raised more than $190 million for the Four Diamonds Fund since it began in the 1970s.

 
BACK IN A B1G WAY

  • Penn State returned from a 22-day layoff from game action to play some of its best basketball, winning back-to-back Big Ten games with a Quad 2 win over Indiana (61-58, Jan. 2) and a Quad 1 win at Northwestern (74-70, Jan. 5) before giving #3 Purdue all it could handle in a close loss Saturday (67-74, Jan. 8).
  • The Penn State defense set the tone against the Hoosiers, holding Indiana nearly 20 points below its season scoring average of 77.2. The Nittany Lions dominated the glass, out-rebounding Indiana 39-29. Penn State shot a season-best 50.0 percent (11-for-22) from 3-point range to provide timely offense.
  • The Nittany Lions mounted a gritty comeback to take down the Wildcats Wednesday. Northwestern led for 33 minutes and Penn State trailed by as much as 10 at 55-45 with 9:37 to play. The Nittany Lion offense came to life in the final 9:14 as Penn State shot 9-for-13 from the field, 4-for-6 from 3-point range and 7-for-8 from the FT line in the final nine-plus minutes. Seth Lundy scored a game-high 23 points, including 10 points in the final 2:25.
  • Penn State nearly pulled off a historic upset of #3 Purdue Saturday, erasing a 13-point second-half deficit to come back and take a one-point lead, but the Boilermakers pulled out the win in the final minutes.

 
DE-FENSE!

  • Penn State's defense has held seven of its last 10 opponents at least 10 points under their season scoring averages.
Team Season Avg. Vs. PSU (Margin)
#3 Purdue 85.9 74 (-11.9)
Indiana 77.2 58 (-19.2)
Wagner 69.0 54 (-15)
Miami (Fla.) 73.3 63 (-10.3)
Oregon State 69.2 45 (-24.2)
LSU 85.4 68 (OT) (-17.4)
Cornell 87.8 74 (-13.8)

 
PICKETT'S CHARGE

  • Senior transfer Jalen Pickett is the only Big Ten player averaging at least 18.0 points and 4.5 assists per conference game thus far this season.
  • Pickett owns the only points-assists double-double in a Big Ten game this season after registering 21 points and 10 assists against #3 Purdue Saturday.
  • The guard is averaging 18.0 points, 4.8 assists and 3.6 rebounds per Big Ten contest while shooting 45.6 percent from the field. His points per game, assists per game and FG% mark all rank in the top 11 amongst Big Ten players in conference play.
  • Pickett came to PSU after 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 13 games of the season, averaging 14.5 points per game in addition to his 6.0 rebounds per contest that ranks second on the squad.
  • Lundy has scored in double figures in 11 of 13 games this season and has led the Nittany Lions in scoring in five games thus far.
  • He notched his seventh-career 20-point game in Penn State's road win at Northwestern on Jan. 5 with a game-high 23 points - 10 of which came in the final 2:25.
  • The junior leads the team with 30 made free throws and is shooting a team-best 85.7 percent (30-35) from the charity stripe.

 
B1G JOHN

  • Penn State graduate student John Harrar 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 10.7 points and 10.3 rebounds per game. His 10.3 rebounds per game ranks 13th nationally. as of Sunday, Jan. 9.
  • The Wallingford, Pa. native has tallied five double-doubles thus far, pulled down double-digit rebounds in eight contests, and is shooting a blistering 69.6 percent (55-79) from the field. Harrar owns 11 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.

 
UP NEXT

  • Penn State is back on the road Sunday to take on #16 Ohio State. Tipoff is set for noon from Columbus and the game will air nationally on the Big Ten Network.