Nittany Lions Host Minnesota in Thursday MatineeNittany Lions Host Minnesota in Thursday Matinee
Penn State Athletics

Nittany Lions Host Minnesota in Thursday Matinee


UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's basketball team, fresh off a 62-58 win over #19 Michigan State Tuesday night, immediately returns to action Thursday afternoon when the Nittany Lions host Minnesota at 4 p.m. inside the Bryce Jordan Center. All Penn State students will receive free admission with a student ID by entering at Gate A. The 2021-22 Penn State men's basketball season is presented by Highmark Health.
 
FOLLOW ALONG

 
OPENING TIPS

  • Penn State faces a quick turnaround when the Nittany Lions meet Minnesota for the second time in five days Thursday afternoon at the Bryce Jordan Center.
  • The Nittany Lions are coming off a thrilling comeback victory over #19 Michigan State Tuesday night -- the first ranked win for first-year head coach Micah Shrewsberry.
  • Four Nittany Lions are averaging double-digit points, led by Seth Lundy's 13.1 ppg. Jalen Pickett (12.6 ppg) and Sam Sessoms (11.6 ppg) follow, while John Harrar is nearly averaging a double-double with 10.5 ppg and 9.7 rpg.

 
IF PENN STATE BEATS MINNESOTA

  • The Nittany Lions would win their second-straight Big Ten game, and second game in the last three days.
  • Penn State would improve to 9-4 at home this season.

 
SCOUTING THE GOPHERS

  • The Gophers are 12-11 overall and 3-11 in Big Ten play under first-year head coach Ben Johnson.
  • Minnesota is 1-6 in conference road games, with its lone Big Ten win away from home coming back on Dec. 11, a 75-65 victory at Michigan.
  • The Gophers are coming off a 70-45 loss at #18 Ohio State Tuesday night. Minnesota led the Buckeyes by two at halftime, but OSU outscored the Gophers 47-20 in the second half to pick up the 25-point win.
  • Jamison Battle (16.5 ppg) and Payton Willis (16.0 ppg) lead Minnesota offensively this season.

 
AGAINST MINNESOTA

  • Penn State and Minnesota meet for the second time in five days Thursday afternoon.
  • The Gophers lead the all-time series 38-16, but Penn State holds a 13-11 advantage when playing in Happy Valley. The Nittany Lions have defeated the Gophers in five of Minnesota's last six trips to the Bryce Jordan Center.
  • Minnesota won the season's first matchup on Saturday with a 76-70 victory at Williams Arena. Penn State shot a season-best 54.7 percent from the field, but the Gophers scored 26 points off 13 Nittany Lion turnovers. Sam Sessoms led the Nittany Lions with 18 points, while Seth Lundy scored 16.

 
HELLO AGAIN

  • The Nittany Lions and Gophers meet for the second time in five days Tuesday.
  • It's the second time this season that Penn State has just one game in between a rematch with an opponent. The Nittany Lions and Iowa met first on Jan. 22, a 68-51 Hawkeye win in Iowa City, and then again on Jan. 31, a 90-86 double-overtime Penn State victory in Happy Valley.
  • Penn State looks to turn the tides in the same way Thursday when the Nittany Lions take on the Gophers after a 76-70 loss in Minneapolis Saturday night.

 
SIGNATURE WIN

  • Penn State used a 33-15 run in the game's final 13 minutes to erase a 14-point deficit and rally to defeat #19 Michigan State 62-58 Tuesday night at the Bryce Jordan Center.
  • The Nittany Lions only led the game for a total of 2:07, trailing by as much as 14 with 13:20 to play in the second half.  The 33-15 game-closing run was cemented with a 12-4 Penn State advantage in the final 3:04 as the Nittany Lions clawed back for first-year head coach Micah Shrewsberry's first head coaching victory over a ranked team.
  • Penn State has now defeated at least one top-25 ranked team at the Bryce Jordan Center for the seventh-straight season.
  • Junior Seth Lundy led all scorers with a game-high 17 points behind five 3-pointers. Graduate student John Harrar had a monster game for his seventh double-double of the season with 16 points and a career-high 16 boards.

 
CLOSE BATTLES

  • Penn State's last five games have been decided by a total of 17 points.
  • The stretch began on Jan. 31 in a double-overtime 90-86 win over Iowa. Penn State then took on then-No. 11 Wisconsin on the road on Feb. 5. Nittany Lions ran into travel troubles, arriving in Madison just 2.5 hours before tipoff, before taking the Badgers to the wire in a two-point, 49-51, loss. The Nittany Lions then suffered a one-point loss at home to Michigan on Feb. 8 and a six-point loss at Minnesota on Feb. 12.
  • Penn State bounced back in a big way with a four-point win over #19 Michigan State (62-58) Tuesday night. The Nittany Lions erased a 14-point second-half deficit to rally for the win.
  • Five of Penn State's nine Big Ten losses have come by seven points or less: #3 Purdue (67-74), at #16 Ohio State (56-61), at #11 Wisconsin (49-51), Michigan (57-58) and at Minnesota (70-76).

 
HAPPY TO BE HOME

  • After a tough stretch of five of seven games on the road, Penn State returned home in style Tuesday night, earning a 62-58 victory over #19 Michigan State at the Bryce Jordan Center.
  • Penn State played five of seven on the road between Jan. 16 and Feb. 12 - going 1-6 during that stretch. The win over Michigan State began a stretch of four of five games in the friendly confines of the BJC.
  • The Nittany Lions have found much more success at home, sitting at 8-4 inside the Bryce Jordan Center compared to their 1-7 record in true road games.

 
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE

  • Penn State sits 11th in the nation in the NET strength of schedule metric.
  • According to the NET rankings, Penn State's strength of schedule is the highest in the Big Ten. Wisconsin is the next highest Big Ten team, coming in at No. 12 in the NET strength of schedule rankings.
  • A tough schedule is nothing new for Penn State, as the Nittany Lions finished the 2020-21 season with the No. 1 spot in both the NET and KenPom strength of schedule metrics.

 
PAINT PARTY

  • Penn State has held an advantage in points in the paint in seven of its last nine games, despite having the smallest roster by height in the Big Ten as ranked by KenPom's avg, height metric.
  • The Nittany Lions rank 14th out of the 14 Big Ten teams, and 232nd out of 358 Division I teams in average roster height according to KenPom. 
  • Penn State has averaged 26.0 points in the paint per game over the last nine contests, compared to its opponents' 20.7 paint points per contest.
  • Despite the height disadvantage, Penn State has also out-rebounded its opponent or tied its opponent in rebounding in 10 of 14 Big Ten contests.

 
UP NEXT

  • The Nittany Lions are back on the road Monday night when Penn State travels to Maryland for a 7 p.m. tipoff on either ESPN or ESPN2.