Nittany Lions Visit Northwestern For Wednesday Night ShowdownNittany Lions Visit Northwestern For Wednesday Night Showdown
Penn State Athletics

Nittany Lions Visit Northwestern For Wednesday Night Showdown

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's basketball team looks to carry its momentum into a midweek Big Ten battle Wednesday night when the Nittany Lions travel to Northwestern for a 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT tipoff on Big Ten Network. The 2021-22 Penn State men's basketball season is presented by Highmark Health.
 
FOLLOW ALONG

OPENING TIPS

  • Penn State looks to stay hot Wednesday night when the Nittany Lions travel to Northwestern for a midweek Big Ten battle.
  • The Nittany Lions are coming off a 61-58 win over visiting Indiana Sunday afternoon. The defense led the way in Penn State's first Big Ten win of the season.
  • Four Nittany Lions are averaging double-digit points, led by junior Seth Lundy's 14.1 ppg. Seniors Sam Sessoms (13.0 ppg) and Jalen Pickett (12.2 ppg) follow, while grad student John Harrar is averaging a double-double with 10.9 ppg and 10.7 rpg.

IF PENN STATE BEATS NORTHWESTERN

  • The Nittany Lions would win their second-straight Big Ten game.
  • Penn State would earn its first true road win of the season.
  • Penn State would improve to 35-20 all-time against Northwestern.

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS

  • Northwestern owns an 8-3 overall record and 1-1 mark in Big Ten play.
  • The Wildcats fell in a down-to-the-wire 73-67 battle against #10 Michigan State Sunday afternoon in their most recent matchup. Northwestern earned a 67-61 road win at Maryland in its conference opener on Dec. 5.
  • Four Wildcats are averaging double figures, led by Pete Nance and his team-best marks of 16.0 ppg and 7.8 rpg.
  • Boo Buie (14.6 ppg), Chase Audige (11.3 ppg) and Ryan Young (10.6 ppg) are also major offensive contributors.
  • NU averages 77.9 points per game while outscoring its opponents by an average of 16 points per game.

AGAINST NORTHWESTERN

  • The Nittany Lions own a 34-20 edge in the all-time series between the two teams and Penn State has won four of the last five meetings.
  • The Nittany Lions won last season's lone meeting 81-78 on Jan. 23, 2021 inside the Bryce Jordan Center. Penn State withstood a furious second-half shooting performance from Northwestern. The Wildcats shot 70 percent (14-20) from the field through the first 13:18 of the period, but Penn State's defense anchored down and held the Wildcats to a 1-7 mark in the final 4:02.

BACK IN A B1G WAY

  • Penn State returned from a 22-day layoff from game action Sunday afternoon and the Nittany Lions came back with a vengeance. A strong defensive effort and timely 3-point shooting presence led the Nittany Lions to a 61-58 victory over a previously 10-2 Indiana team.
  • The Penn State defense set the tone, holding Indiana nearly 20 points below its season scoring average of 77.2. The Nittany Lions dominated the glass, out-rebounding Indiana 39-29. The Hoosiers entered the game averaging 41.6 boards per contest.
  • Penn State shot a season-best 50.0 percent (11-for-22) from 3-point range to provide timely offense. Senior Myles Dread led Penn State's barrage from downtown, finishing 4-for-5 from deep.

NITTANY LION LEGEND ON OPPOSITE SIDELINE

  • Penn State squares off against a familiar face Wednesday night -- Nittany Lion all-time leading scorer Talor Battle, who is an assistant coach on Chris Collins' Northwestern staff.
  • Battle, a 2011 Associated Press honorable-mention All-American, is Penn State's all-time leading scorer with 2,213 career points during his four-year career. He helped lead the Nittany Lions to the 2009 NIT championship and the 2011 NCAA Tournament. He led the Nittany Lions in scoring in four-straight seasons and was a two-time All-Big Ten selection. Battle finished his career having set the school record for career starts (131) and the Big Ten record for minutes played (4,799).
  • Battle spent the 2020-21 season as an assistant coach at Penn State where he began his career in the coaching ranks after spending seven years playing professionally overseas. He spent a month on Micah Shrewsberry's staff as Assistant to the Head Coach, before joining the Northwestern staff where his half-brother Boo Buie is a member of the Wildcats.

DE-FENSE!

  • Penn State's defense has held six of its last eight opponents at least 10 points under their season scoring averages.
  • Over the last eight games, Penn State has limited its opponents to a 41.5 percent (195-470) clip from the field and 29.9 percent (53-177) mark from 3-point range.
Team Season Avg. Vs. PSU Margin
Indiana 77.2 58 -19.2
Wagner 69.0 54 -15
Miami 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

 
UNDER 60

  • Penn State has held five of its first 11 opponents under 60 points, and six of its first 11 foes under 60 points in regulation -- LSU scored 58 in regulation and finished with 68 including overtime.
  • The last time the Nittany Lions held five of their first 11 foes under 60 points was the 2017-18 season (Fairleigh Dickinson 57, Montana 57, Pittsburgh 54, Oral Roberts 48, George Washington 54).  Penn State won an NIT Championship at the conclusion of the 2017-18 season.
  • You'd have to go back to the 2008-09 season to find the last time Penn State kept six of its first 11 opponents under 60 in regulation, when the Nittany Lions limited William & Mary (51), NJIT (47), New Hampshire (50), Towson (54), Army (45) and Mount St. Mary's (56) to under 60 in 40 minutes of play. Penn State also won an NIT Championship during that 08-09 season.

 
THREE IS KEY

  • Penn State's performance from three-point range has proven to be a key to success through the first 11 games of the season.
  • The Nittany Lions are shooting 39.6 percent (59-149) from deep with an average of 9.8 made threes per game in Penn State's six wins.
  • Penn State is shooting 28.1 percent (32-114) from downtown with an average of 6.4 treys per game in the Nittany Lions' five losses.
  • The Nittany Lions shot a season-best 50 percent (11-22) from deep in Penn State's win over Indiana on Jan. 2.
  • 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).

 
UP NEXT

  • Penn State returns home for its next two contests, beginning with a Saturday showdown against #3 Purdue. Tipoff is set for noon from the Bryce Jordan Center and the game will be broadcast nationally on Big Ten Network.