Nittany Lions Host Northwestern on Senior Night FridayNittany Lions Host Northwestern on Senior Night Friday

Nittany Lions Host Northwestern on Senior Night Friday


UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's basketball team hosts Northwestern to open up the final homestand of the regular season Friday on Senior Night presented by the Penn State Alumni Association. Tipoff from the Bryce Jordan Center is set for 7 p.m. with a pre-game Senior Night ceremony set to start at 6:40 p.m. The 2021-22 Penn State men's basketball season is presented by Highmark Health.
 
FOLLOW ALONG

 
OPENING TIPS

  • Penn State looks to complete the regular-season sweep of Northwestern Friday night when the Nittany Lions host the Wildcats on Senior Night.
  • Penn State won the season's first meeting 74-70 in Evanston, Ill. on Jan. 5.
  • The Nittany Lions are 9-4 inside the Bryce Jordan Center this season.
  • Four Nittany Lions are averaging double-digit points, led by Jalen Pickett's 13.0 ppg. Seth Lundy (12.3 ppg) and Sam Sessoms (11.5 ppg) follow, while John Harrar is nearly averaging a double-double with 10.7 ppg and 9.8 rpg.

 
IF PENN STATE BEATS NORTHWESTERN

  • The Nittany Lions would improve to 10-4 inside the BJC this season.
  • Penn State would complete the regular-season sweep of the Wildcats for the first time since 2011.

 
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS

  • Northwestern owns a 13-13 overall mark and 6-11 mark in Big Ten play.
  • The Wildcats have lost three of their last four games, but are coming off a 77-65 win over Nebraska Tuesday night in their most recent game.
  • Pete Nance leads three Wildcats in double figures with 15.1 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. Boo Buie scored 15.0 points per game with a team-best 114 assists.

 
AGAINST NORTHWESTERN

  • Penn State looks to complete the regular-season sweep of the Wildcats for the first time since 2011.
  • The Nittany Lions hold a 35-20 advantage in the all-time series, including an 18-6 mark when playing Northwestern at home.
  • Penn State won the season's first meeting, 74-70, at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Jan. 5.
  • Northwestern led 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 12 of his game-high 23 points during that stretch including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 36 seconds left that turned a 63-63 tie into a 66-63 PSU lead.

 
SENIOR NIGHT PRESENTED BY THE PENN STATE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION

  • Friday's game will serve as Penn State's Senior Night, and the Nittany Lions will honor all seven of their four-plus year players: John Harrar, Myles Dread, Sam Sessoms, Jalen Pickett, Greg Lee, Jalanni White and Jaheam Cornwall.
  • Harrar (five years) and Dread (four years) have played their entire collegiate careers at Penn State. Sessoms played two years at Binghamton before his two years at Penn State. Pickett (three years at Siena), Lee (three years Cal-State Bakersfield, one Western Michigan), White (four years at Canisius), and Cornwall (four years at Gardner-Webb) are all wrapping up their first year at Penn State.
  • This group of seven has combined for the following throughout their careers (includes both Penn State and previous institutions):
    • 7,320 career points
    • 3,129 career rebounds
    • 1,787 career assists
    • 894 career 3-pointers
    • 19,952 career minutes played
    • 844 career games played

 
DE-FENSE!

  • The Nittany Lions own the Big Ten's best defense, allowing just 64.8 points per game.
  • Penn State has limited its opponents to 65.8 points per conference game, which is also the best mark in the Big Ten.
  • The Nittany Lions have held three opponents to under 50 points this season - Jan. 17 vs. Minnesota (67-46 Win), Jan. 11 vs. Rutgers (66-49 Win), and Nov. 27 vs. Oregon State (60-45 Win). Penn State has held its opponent under 60 points 10 times this season.
  • Penn State's current mark of 64.8 points per game allowed tracks to be the Nittany Lions' best defensive season since 2010-11 when Penn State surrendered just 62.5 ppg. The 2010-11 team made an NCAA Tournament appearance.

 
HAPPY TO BE HOME

  • The Nittany Lions have found much more success at home, sitting at 9-4 inside the Bryce Jordan Center compared to their 1-8 record in true road games.
  • Penn State is 73-33 (.689) when playing inside the Bryce Jordan Center since the start of the 2015-16 season.

 
CLOSE BATTLES

  • The Nittany Lions have consistently found themselves in close games as 10 of Penn State's 16 Big Ten contests have been decided by seven points or less.
  • Four of Penn State's six Big Ten wins have come by four points or less: Indiana (61-58), at Northwestern (74-70), Iowa (90-86, 2OT), and #19 Michigan State (62-58). Six of Penn State's 10 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), at Minnesota (70-76), and at Maryland (61-67).

 
THE LAST SEVEN

  • Penn State is 3-4 in its last six games, with the four losses coming by a combined 15 points.
  • The Nittany Lions earned wins over Iowa (90-86 2OT), #19 Michigan State (62-58) and Minnesota (67-46) during the last seven games. The four losses by a combined 15 points came at #11 Wisconsin (49-51), against Michigan (57-58), at Minnesota (70-76), and at Maryland (61-67).

 
B1G JOHN

  • Penn State graduate student John Harrar owns season-long marks of 10.7 points and 9.8 rebounds per game. His 9.8 rebounds per game rank second in the Big Ten.
  • The Wallingford, Pa. native has tallied nine double-doubles thus far, pulled down double-digit rebounds in 12 contests, and is shooting 64.9 percent (100-154) from the field. Harrar owns 15 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. He leads the Big Ten with 3.5 offensive rebounds per game.
  • Harrar has notched a double-double in each of the last three games and was the catalyst in Penn State's 62-58 comeback win over #19 Michigan State on Feb. 15. He scored 16 points, nine of which came in the final seven minutes, and added a career-best 16 rebounds.
  • Harrar has played in 139 games throughout his Nittany Lion career, just two games shy of tying and three games shy of breaking the Penn State career games played record of 141 that is currently held by Julian Moore (2013-18).

 
LOCKDOWN LUNDY

  • Junior Seth Lundy is the team's second-leading scorer, averaging 12.3 points per game. But it's his defense that has stolen the show as he is top defender on the Big Ten's leading defensive team.
  • Take a look at the work he's done on some of the nation's best that he has been tasked with guarding:
Team – Player Guarded by Lundy Season Average Vs. Penn State
Minnesota – Jamison Battle 16.4 ppg, 44.3 FG% 8 points, 3-7 FG
Michigan – Caleb Houstan 10.0 ppg, 39.7 FG% 6 points, 1-4 FG
Wisconsin – Johnny Davis 20.7 ppg, 44.1 FG% 4 points, 2-13 FG
Rutgers – Ron Harper Jr. 15.7 ppg, 42.5 FG% 7 points, 2-9 FG
Purdue – Jaden Ivey 17.0 ppg, 46.4 FG% 12 points, 5-15 FG
Ohio State – EJ Liddell 19.9 ppg, 51.7 FG% 14 points, 4-9 FG
Miami (Fla.) – Kam McGusty 17.8 ppg, 47.2 FG% 12 points, 5-10 FG

 
 
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 221 career treys, tied for fifth-most all-time at Penn State.
  • Dread has proven to have a knack for clutch shots, most recently hitting the game-tying basket to force double overtime in Penn State's 90-86 2OT win over Iowa on Jan. 31.
  • Dread is 12-for-16 (75.0 percent) from downtown over Penn State's last five games. 
  • The senior is currently shooting 40.4 percent (44-109) from deep this season, by far the most efficient mark of his career. He shot 35.6% from three as a freshman, 31.9% as a sophomore, and 34.6% as a junior.

 
PICKETT'S POP

  • Senior transfer Jalen Pickett is averaging 14.3 points, 3.9 assists and 3.8 rebounds per Big Ten contest.
  • Pickett has played 303 minutes over the last eight games with 30 assists and just eight turnovers during that eight-game stretch. Pickett's 36.9 minutes per game leads the Big Ten.
  • 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. He was a three-time first-team All-MAAC selection.

 
UP NEXT

  • Penn State hosts its final home game of the regular season Sunday night at 7 p.m. on Big Ten Network when the Nittany Lions welcome Nebraska to the Bryce Jordan Center.