Men’s Basketball Hosts Loyola Maryland Thursday NightMen’s Basketball Hosts Loyola Maryland Thursday Night
Penn State Athletics

Men’s Basketball Hosts Loyola Maryland Thursday Night


UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's basketball team continues its season-opening homestand Thursday night when the Nittany Lions welcome Loyola University Maryland to the Bryce Jordan Center for a 7 p.m. tip. The 2022-23 Penn State men's basketball season is presented by Highmark Health.
 
FOLLOW ALONG

 
OPENING TIPS

  • Penn State continues its three-game homestand to open the 2022-23 season Thursday evening when the Nittany Lions host Loyola University Maryland.
  • The Nittany Lions began the season in record-setting fashion Monday night as Penn State drilled a program-record 18 3-pointers to take down Winthrop, 93-68.
  • Preseason All-Big Ten pick Jalen Pickett led Penn State against the Eagles with 23 points, five rebounds and five assists, while graduate transfer Andrew Funk added six 3-pointers and 22 points.

 
IF PENN STATE BEATS LOYOLA MARYLAND

  • Penn State would improve to 2-0 on the season for the fifth time in the last six years.
  • The Nittany Lions would improve to 6-1 all-time against the Greyhounds and earn their fifth-straight win over Loyola Maryland.

 
SCOUTING THE GREYHOUNDS

  • The Greyhounds come to Happy Valley seeking their first win of the season after dropping a 72-66 decision at DePaul in their season opener Monday night.
  • Loyola Maryland was within four points of the Blue Demons in the final 10 seconds, but DePaul held on for the six-point win.
  • Kenneth Jones led the Greyhounds with 20 points with the help of a 4-for-7 showing from beyond the arc. Deon Perry made his collegiate debut with 13 points, and Jaylin Andrews had 12. Golden Dike posted nine points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead all players.
  • Loyola Maryland is coming off a 2021-22 season that saw the Greyhounds go 14-16 overall and 8-10 in the Patriot League.

 
AGAINST LOYOLA MARYLAND

  • Penn State and Loyola Maryland meet for the seventh time in program history and first time since 2000 Thursday night.
  • The Nittany Lions are 5-1 all-time against the Greyhounds.
  • Penn State defeated Loyola Maryland 87-58 in the last meeting between the two programs in 2000.

 
RECORD-SETTING OPENING NIGHT

  • The Nittany Lions wasted no time taking down a program record that stood for 126 years.
  • Penn State drilled a program-record 18 3-points in Monday night's season opener against Winthrop, besting the previous school mark of 15 that was reached on three occasions, most recently on Nov. 21, 2021 against Cornell.
  • Penn State shot the long ball at a 47.4 percent clip (18-38) Monday night, with seven different Nittany Lions contributing a trey. Graduate transfer Andrew Funk led the way with six 3-pointers behind a 6-for-10 showing from deep, while Myles Dread chipped in four and Jalen Pickett added three.

 
FIRE POWER

  • Penn State's offense was clicking on all cylinders in Monday night's season-opening win.
  • Penn State's 93 points was its most since putting up 95 against Nebraska on Feb. 19, 2019.
  • The Nittany Lions shot 55.5 percent (33-for-60) from the field, their best single-game field goal percentage since shooting 60.0 percent against Bucknell on Nov. 19, 2019.

 
SHARING THE ROCK

  • Penn State had 24 assists on 33 made field goals in Monday night's season opener. The 24 assists were Penn State's most since recording 24 against Central Connecticut State on Dec. 20, 2019.

 
20-20

  • Senior+ guards Jalen Pickett (23) and Andrew Funk (22) both went off for 20-plus points in Monday night's season opener, marking the first pair of Nittany Lions to score 20 each since Nov. 21, 2021 when Seth Lundy (23) and Sam Sessoms (22) did so in a win over Cornell.

 
BEWARE OF THE BACKCOURT

 
1,500/500/500

  • Jalen Pickett (1,575 points, 511 rebounds, 603 assists) is one of just two active Division I players with career marks of 1,500+ points, 500+ rebounds and 500+ assists.
  • Wyoming's Hunter Maldonado (1,720 points, 670 rebounds, 520 assists) is the only other active DI player to have reached the multi-faceted achievement.
  • Grad transfer Camren Wynter (1,666 points, 496 rebounds, 580 assists) is just four rebounds away from joining Pickett in the exclusive 1,500/500/500 club. 

 
TWO OF THE TOP FIVE

  • Jalen Pickett and Camren Wynter rank No. 2 and No. 5 respectively in career assists amongst active Division I players.
  • Pickett owns 603 assists while Wynter has 580. Florida's Kyle Lofton (606) is just three assists ahead of Pickett to hold down the top spot on the active career assists leaders list.

 
BACK-TO-BACK TOP 30 CLASSES

  • Head Coach Micah Shrewsberry has signed his second-straight top-30 recruiting class, as three highly-touted signees inked their National Letters of Intent on National Signing Day Wednesday.
  • Penn State's three-member class currently ranks 24th in the nation according to 247 sports and 27th according to ESPN. It marks the first time in program history that the Nittany Lions have signed back-to-back top-30 recruiting classes, both of which have come under Shrewsberry.
  • The three-member class is comprised of Carey Booth (Englewood, Colo.), Logan Imes (Zionsville, Ind.) and Braeden Shrewsberry (State College, Pa.).
  • Booth is an ESPN Top 100 recruit (No. 75). and ranked as the No. 15 power forward in his class per 247 Sports. He is the second-highest ranked recruit in program history behind Tony Carr and the highest-ranked recruit of Shrewsberry's tenure. Booth is Shrewsberry's second ESPN Top 100 signee (also Kebba Njie).
  • Imes is an ESPN four-star prospect who ranks as the No. 24 combo guard in the 2023 class and No. 6 overall player in the state of Indiana per 247 Sports.
  • Braeden Shrewsberry, Micah's oldest son, is an ESPN four-star prospect and ranked as the No. 33 shooting guard in the 2023 class and No. 4 player in the state of Pennsylvania per 247 Sports.

 
KNOW BEFORE YOU GO
Basketball Game Day Parking

  • Parking for Penn State men's basketball games at the Bryce Jordan Center will be available at the following locations two hours prior to the start of each game: Stadium West, Jordan East and Porter North.
  • There is no charge for patrons with a valid Penn State parking permit.
  • Pre-paid parking is available at a discounted rate of $5.50 through the ParkMobile app. Season-long packages are also available.
  • Parking will cost $10 on the day of an event without a valid permit or prepayment.
  • ParkMobile prepayment availability ends at 11:59 p.m. the night before each event. Events will not be selectable on the site after that time, and payment must then be made on site upon arrival to event parking staff (cash only).

Mobile Ticketing and Updated App

  • All Penn State Athletics tickets are once again mobile tickets.  Fans can access Penn State Athletics mobile ticket guide at GoPSUsports.com/mobiletickets.
  • Make sure to have the NEW Penn State Athletics App downloaded on your phone to easily access and manage your mobile tickets. Download the app now on the App Store and Google Play.

 
Bryce Jordan Center Bag Policy

  • The University has updated its bag policy for the 2022-23 season.
  • Bags that are clear plastic, vinyl or PVB and are 12" x 6" x 12" or smaller are permitted.
  • Small clutches or wristlets that are 4" x 6" x 1" are also permissible.
  • All clear bags and patrons are subject to metal detection and/or bag inspection upon entering the venue.
  • Bag policy details can be found HERE.

 
UP NEXT

  • Penn State hosts Butler in the 2022 edition of the Gavitt Games Monday night at 8:30 p.m. inside the Bryce Jordan Center. The game will be nationally televised on FS1.