UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's basketball team looks to gain momentum heading into next week's Big Ten Tournament when the Nittany Lions close out the regular season at Rutgers Sunday at noon on the Big Ten Network. The 2021-22 Penn State men's basketball season is presented by Highmark Health.
FOLLOW ALONG
- TV: Big Ten Network – Jeff Levering (pxp) & Jess Settles (analyst)
- RADIO: Penn State Sports Network (PDF) with Steve Jones and Dick Jerardi – 103.7 FM & 1450 AM
- NATIONAL RADIO: XM Ch. 383 | SXM App Ch. 973
- LIVE STATS: Live Stats
- GAME NOTES: Penn State Notes | Rutgers Notes
OPENING TIPS
- Penn State looks for the season sweep of Rutgers Sunday at noon when the Nittany Lions and Scarlet Knights square off in the regular-season finale.
- Penn State won the season's first meeting, 66-49, on Jan. 11 at the Bryce Jordan Center.
- Four Nittany Lions are averaging double-digit points, led by Jalen Pickett's 13.0 ppg. Seth Lundy (12.3 ppg) and Sam Sessoms (11.3 ppg) follow, while John Harrar is averaging a double-double with 10.4 ppg and 10.0 rpg.
IF PENN STATE BEATS RUTGERS
- Penn State would sweep Rutgers for the first time since the Scarlet Knights joined the Big Ten.
- The Nittany Lions would earn just their second road win of the season.
SCOUTING THE SCARLET KNIGHTS
- Rutgers is 17-12 on the season and 11-8 in Big Ten play.
- The Scarlet Knights are 13-3 at home compared to their 4-9 road record. Rutgers has defeated four ranked Big Ten teams at Jersey Mike's Arena this season.
- Rutgers is coming off a 66-63 road win at Indiana Wednesday night. Ron Harper Jr. hit the game-winning 3-pointer in the final seconds.
- Harper Jr. leads Rutgers with 15.8 points per game, while Geo Baker (12.2 ppg) and Clifford Omoruyi (11.8 ppg) follow.
SEARCHING FOR A SWEEP
- Penn State has won the last three and four of the last five against Rutgers.
- The Nittany Lions are aiming for their first regular-season sweep of the Scarlet Knights since Rutgers joined the Big Ten. Penn State owns a 7-4 advantage over Rutgers since the Scarlet Knights joined the Big Ten in 2015 and are 3-2 when playing in Piscataway since 2015.
- It was all Penn State from start to finish in the season's first meeting - a 66-49 victory on Jan. 11 inside the Bryce Jordan Center. The Nittany Lions snapped Rutgers' four-game winning streak as the Penn State defense held the visitors 21 points below their season scoring average of 70.4 ppg.
- Four Nittany Lions scored in double figures, led 17 points from senior Sam Sessoms who also scored the 1,500th point of his career in the process. Sessoms shot a blistering 70 percent (7-for-10) from the field and a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc, while also adding six assists and three rebounds.
- Graduate student John Harrar contributed 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting, while senior Jalen Pickett recorded 15 points. Junior Seth Lundy rounded out the scoring with 10 points, four rebounds, one block and a game-high three steals.
CLOSE BATTLES
- The Nittany Lions have consistently found themselves in close games as 12 of Penn State's 19 Big Ten contests have been decided by seven points or less.
- Five of Penn State's seven Big Ten wins have come by seven points or less: Indiana (61-58), at Northwestern (74-70), Iowa (90-86, 2OT), #19 Michigan State (62-58), and Northwestern (67-60).
- Seven of Penn State's 12 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), at Maryland (61-67), and at #20 Illinois (55-60).
DE-FENSE!
- The Nittany Lions own the Big Ten's best scoring defense in conference games, giving up just 66.58 points per Big Ten contest.
- 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 overall mark of 65.5 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.
B1G JOHN
- Penn State graduate student John Harrar is averaging a double-double with 10.4 points and 10.0 rebounds per game. His 10.0 rebounds per game rank second in the Big Ten and 14th in all of Division I.
- The Wallingford, Pa. native has tallied 10 double-doubles thus far, pulled down double-digit rebounds in 13 contests, and is shooting 65.5 percent (110-168) from the field. His 65.5 percent clip tracks to be the second-best season percentage in program history, behind only Mike Watkins' mark of 68.5 percent in 2017-18.
- He leads the Big Ten and ranks ninth nationally with 3.48 offensive rebounds per game. Harrar owns 16 career double-doubles, tied for eighth most in Penn State history. He needs just 17 points to become the sixth-ever Nittany Lions to record both 800 career points and 800 career rebounds.
- Harrar became Penn State's all-time leader in games played on March 3 at #20 Illinois when he suited up for his 142nd career contest in the Blue & White.
PICKETT'S POP
- Senior transfer Jalen Pickett is averaging 14.2 points, 4.3 assists and 3.8 rebounds per Big Ten contest.
- The Rochester, N.Y. native enters Sunday's regular-season finale needing just nine points to hit the 1,500-career point mark. He ranks 17th amongst active career Division I leaders with 580 career assists.
- Pickett is nearing an impressive multi-faceted achievement of 1,500 career points (needs 9), 500 career assists (has 580), and 500 career rebounds (needs 19). There are currently only three active Division I players that have achieved all three: Marreon Jackson of Arizona State, Conley Garrison of Furman and Terrell Brown Jr. of Washington.
- Pickett's 37.0 minutes per game leads the Big Ten and ranks 10th in the country. His 2.44 assist-to-turnover ratio is a top-35 mark in the country.
- 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 turns its attention to next week's Big Ten Tournament at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
- A full bracket with seeds, matchups and game times will be released upon the conclusion of Sunday's regular-season finales across the conference.