Nittany Lions Return Home for First Time in 20 Days Monday vs. IowaNittany Lions Return Home for First Time in 20 Days Monday vs. Iowa
Penn State Athletics

Nittany Lions Return Home for First Time in 20 Days Monday vs. Iowa


UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's basketball team returns to the friendly confines of the Bryce Jordan Center for the first time in 20 days Monday evening when the Nittany Lions host Iowa in Penn State's annual Coaches vs. Cancer game at 7 p.m. on the Big Ten Network. The 2021-22 Penn State men's basketball season is presented by Highmark Health.
 
FOLLOW ALONG

COACHES VS. CANCER

  • The Penn State men's basketball team will host its annual Coaches vs. Cancer of Penn State game Monday. Coaches vs. Cancer of Penn State and the Nittany Lion basketball program have worked together for more than 25 years to raise funds and awareness to support cancer initiatives in the Centre County region.
  • Five dollars from each ticket bought from this link will be donated to the Penn State chapter of Coaches vs. Cancer.
  • The Penn State chapter of Coaches vs. Cancer was established in 1995 by former Nittany Lion head coach Bruce Parkhill who grew up and attended high school in State College. Penn State basketball coaches since have carried on the mission. Since the organization's launch, the CvC-Penn State chapter has raised more than $3.4 million net to date and is among nation's most successful fundraising chapters.

 
OPENING TIPS

  • Penn State and Iowa meet for the second time in nine days Monday night when PSU returns to the Bryce Jordan Center for its first home game in 20 days.
  • The Nittany Lions are coming off a rough road stretch and look to bounce back at home where Penn State is 6-3 this season.
  • Four Nittany Lions are averaging double-digit points, led by Jalen Pickett's 13.4 ppg. Seth Lundy (13.2 ppg) and Sam Sessoms (11.4 ppg) follow, while John Harrar is nearly averaging a double-double with 10.3 ppg and 9.5 rpg.

 
IF PENN STATE BEATS IOWA

  • The Nittany Lions would improve to 7-3 inside the Bryce Jordan Center this season.
  • Penn State would improve to 13-10 all-time when playing Iowa in Happy Valley.
  • Penn State would snap a three-game losing streak.

 
SCOUTING THE HAWKEYES

  • The Hawkeyes are 14-6 overall and 4-5 in Big Ten play. Iowa comes to Happy Valley with a 1-3 mark in conference road games.
  • Iowa's lone road win of Big Ten play came on Jan. 16, an 81-71 win at Minnesota.
  • Iowa's 82.6 points per game ranks second in the conference and top 10 in the nation. The Hawkeyes are led by the Big Ten's leading scorer Keegan Murray, who averages 22.4 points per game.
  • Three other Hawkeyes are averaging double-digit points in Patrick McCaffery (10.8 ppg), Kris Murray (10.6 ppg) and Jordan Bohannon (10.4 ppg).

 
AGAINST IOWA

  • Penn State and Iowa meet for the second time in nine days Monday.
  • The Nittany Lions are 12-10 all-time when playing Iowa at Home.
  • The Hawkeyes won the season's first meeting on Jan. 22, 68-51. After a close first half in which the Nittany Lions dominated the boards with a plus-12 rebound margin, the Hawkeyes came out of the locker room and turned the rebound margin in their favor to control the second half and come out with the victory. The Nittany Lions held a 22-10 edge in rebounds in the first half, including an 8-1 advantage on the offensive glass. Iowa flipped the script in the second half, controlling the boards 27-12 with a 10-3 edge on the offensive glass.
  • Senior Jalen Pickett led Penn State with 14 points and added three rebounds, three assists and two steals to his stat line. Senior Myles Dread had nine points behind a trio of 3-pointers. Senior Greg Lee had a team-high eight rebounds and added six points.

 
20-PLUS…TWICE!

  • Monday's game will be Penn State's first home game in 20 days. The Nittany Lions last played at home on Jan. 11, a 66-49 win over Rutgers.
  • The long layoff between BJC appearances was due to the postponement of Jan. 19's home game vs. Minnesota. Penn State played three-straight road games at #16 Ohio State (Jan. 16), at Iowa (Jan. 22) and at Indiana (Jan. 26). It'll be four of five on the road as Penn State next heads to #11 Wisconsin on Feb. 5.
  • It's the second time this season that the Nittany Lions will go 20 or more days between playing a game in the BJC, as Penn State went 25 days from Dec. 8 vs. Wagner to Jan. 2 vs. Indiana due to game cancellations in December.

 
HOME SWEET HAPPY VALLEY

  • The home court advantage has been friendly to the Nittany Lions, as Penn State is 71-32 (.689) when playing inside the Bryce Jordan Center since the start of the 2015-16 season.
  • Penn State is 6-3 at home this season, with those three losses coming only against teams that are currently ranked or receiving votes in the latest AP Poll - Purdue (currently #6), Ohio State (currently #16) and Miami (RV).

 
PICKETT'S POP

  • Senior transfer Jalen Pickett is the only Big Ten player averaging at least 16 points and 4 assists per conference game thus far this season.
  • Pickett tallied the first points-assists double-double in a Big Ten game this season after registering 21 points and 10 assists against #3 Purdue on Jan. 8.
  • The guard is averaging 16.0 points, 4.2 assists and 3.6 rebounds per Big Ten contest.

 
DREAD FROM DEEP

  • Senior Myles Dread drilled his 200th career 3-pointer in Penn State's Jan. 5 win at Northwestern, making him the seventh Nittany Lion to ever reach 200 career triples. He currently has 208 career treys, the sixth-most all-time by a Nittany Lion. He needs 13 to match Danny Morrissey's fifth-best mark of 221 career 3-pointers.
  • Dread is shooting 39.2 percent (31-79) from deep during his senior season, by far his most efficient season from downtown. He shot 35.6 percent from 3-point range as a freshman in 2018-19.

 
UP NEXT

  • Penn State returns to the road Saturday when the Nittany Lions travel to take on #11 Wisconsin at 6 p.m. ET/5 p.m. CT on Big Ten Network.