UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's basketball team returns home to welcome Lafayette to the Bryce Jordan Center Friday evening for a 7 p.m. non-conference battle. The 2022-23 Penn State men's basketball season is presented by Highmark Health.
FOLLOW ALONG
- TICKETS: Tickets
- PROMOTIONS: Toy Drive – Fans that bring a new, unwrapped toy for donation can get a $10 ticket. This ticket price must be redeemed at the ticket office between Gates A and B at the Bryce Jordan Center.
- VIDEO: B1G+
- RADIO: Penn State Sports Network with Steve Jones & Dick Jerardi – 103.7 FM & 1450 AM
- NATIONAL RADIO: SiriusXM Ch. 390 | SXM App Ch. 980
- LIVE STATS: Live Stats | StatBroadcast
- GAME NOTES: Penn State Notes
OPENING TIPS
- Penn State returns home following the three-game Charleston Classic to host in-state foe Lafayette in a Black Friday battle at the Bryce Jordan Center.
- The Nittany Lions are 5-1 on the season, with their only loss being a two-point defeat to RV/RV Virginia Tech in the Charleston Classic Semifinals.
- Preseason All-Big Ten selection Jalen Pickett leads Penn State in points (14.7 ppg), rebounds (6.7 rpg), assists (7.5 apg), steals (9) and blocks (4). Andrew Funk and Seth Lundy follow with 11.8 points per game apiece.
IF PENN STATE BEATS LAFAYETTE
- Penn State would move to 6-1 on the season for the first time since the 2019-20 slate.
- The Nittany Lions would improve to 4-0 at home this season.
- Penn State would improve to 13-4 all-time against Lafayette.
SCOUTING THE LEOPARDS
- The Leopards are 1-5 on the season and coming off a 68-74 overtime loss to Penn Tuesday night.
- Lafayette's lone win of the season came on Nov. 19, a 55-50 neutral-site victory over Central Connecticut State.
- Four Leopards are averaging double-digit points, led by Leo O'Boyle's 13.5 points per game. Jon Brantley (13.0 ppg), Kyle Jenkins (12.5 ppg) and CJ Fulton (11.2 ppg) follow. Jenkins leads the team in rebounding with 5.3 rpg, while Fulton has dished a team-best 32 assists.
- Lafayette is in its first season under head coach Mike Jordan. The Leopards finished the 2021-22 campaign 10-20 overall.
AGAINST LAFAYETTE
- In-state foes Penn State and Lafayette meet for the 17th time in program history Friday night. The two programs are set to meet for the first time since 2011 in an all-time series that dates back to 1916.
- The Nittany Lions own a 12-4 advantage in the all-time series, including a 7-2 mark when playing Lafayette in Happy Valley.
- Lafayette won the most recent meeting, a 61-57 decision inside the Bryce Jordan Center on Dec. 7, 2011, but Penn State has won five of the last six matchups with the Leopards.
5-1
- Penn State is off to its first 5-1 start since the 2019-20 season. Three of the Nittany Lions' five wins have come over teams currently ranked in the top 85 of the KenPom rankings, and Penn State's only loss was a two-point neutral site defeat to RV/RV Virginia Tech.
- The Nittany Lions opened the season with a pair of 25-point wins over Winthrop (93-68) and Loyola Maryland (90-65). Penn State earned a pair of closer victories over Butler (68-62) and Furman (73-68) before falling to the Hokies (59-61) in the Nittany Lions' first loss of the season. Penn State bounced back in the Charleston Classic finale Sunday to take down Colorado State (68-56) and improve to 5-1 on the season.
- Four Nittany Lions are averaging nine or more points to lead the Penn State offense. Preseason All-Big Ten selection Jalen Pickett leads the way with 14.7 points, 7.5 assists and 6.7 rebounds per game. Andrew Funk (11.8 ppg), Seth Lundy (11.8) Myles Dread (9.5 ppg) and Camren Wynter (9.3 ppg) follow.
FIRING ON ALL CYLINDERS
- Penn State and Nittany Lion players rank in the top 25 in the nation in a number of statistical categories as of Nov. 22:
| Team Stat | Value | Rank |
| 3FG made/game | 12.5 | 3 |
| 3FG% | 42.4% | 14 |
| Assist-to-turnover ratio | 1.68 | 18 |
| Fewest turnovers/game | 10.0 | 19 |
| Effective FG% | 0.588 | 22 |
| Player Stat | Value | Rank |
| Total assists – Jalen Pickett | 45 | 2 |
| Assists/game – Jalen Pickett | 7.5 | 8 |
| Total 3FG made – Myles Dread | 19 | 9 |
| Total 3FG made – Andrew Funk | 19 | 9 |
| 3FG% - Myles Dread | 52.8% | 24 |
MAKE IT RAIN
- Penn State ranks third in the nation with 12.5 3-pointers made per game. The Nittany Lions are shooting the long ball at a 42.4 percent (75-177) clip, a mark that ranks 14th in the country.
- The 3-point line has existed in the college game for 36 years. Heading into this season, Penn State had never made more than 15 3-pointers in a single game, but the Nittany Lions did so twice in the first two games of the season. Penn State drilled a program-record 18 3-pointers in the Nov. 7 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. The Nittany Lions followed that up with 16 treys on Nov. 10 against Loyola Maryland.
- Penn State has made double-digit 3-pointers in five of its six games this season.
THE MAESTRO
- Preseason All-Big Ten selection Jalen Pickett has put on a show through the first six games of the season, leading the Nittany Lions in points (14.7 ppg), rebounds (6.7 rpg), assists (7.5 apg), blocks (4) and steals (9).
- Pickett put together the second triple-double and first points-rebounds-assists triple-double in Penn State history Nov. 14 against Butler with his 15 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists. Penn State's only other triple-double came in 1998 when all-time great Calvin Booth tallied 19 points, 10 rebounds and 10 blocks against Dayton in an NIT game.
- Pickett's triple-double was just the eighth turnover-free triple-double by a collegiate player in the last four seasons. It was the first triple-double by a Big Ten player since the 2020-21 season when Ayo Dosunmu of Illinois reached the milestone on Feb. 22, 2021.
- The Rochester, N.Y. native followed his triple-double performance with a strong three-game showing at the Charleston Classic to earn All-Tournament team honors. He averaged 15.0 ppg, 7.3 rpg and 6.0 apg in Penn State's three tourney games.
- Pickett ranks second in the country with 45 assists thus far this season (as of Nov. 22), while his 7.5 assists per game rank in the top 10.
1-2 PERIMETER PUNCH
- Penn State guards Myles Dread and Andrew Funk have provided a lethal 1-2 punch on the perimeter as the two Nittany Lions are tied for ninth in the nation with 19 made 3-pointers thus far into the season (as of Nov. 22).
- Dread is shooting a Big Ten-best 52.8 percent (19-36) from downtown, a mark that ranks in the top 25 amongst Division I players.
- Dread returned to Penn State for his fifth season to utilize his extra year of eligibility and already has his name etched in the Penn State record books with 251 career 3-pointers, the fifth-most in Penn State history. Funk, a graduate transfer, came to Penn State after a stellar four-year career at Bucknell. He owns 1,301 career points and 209 career 3-pointers.
NITTANY LION DEPTH
- The Penn State bench has scored 124 points (20.7 ppg) through the first six games of the season.
- All 13 scholarship players have scored so far this season, while 11 different players have made a 3-pointer.
UP NEXT
- Penn State travels to its first true road game of the season Tuesday night when the Nittany Lions head to Clemson for the ACC/Big Ten Men's Basketball Challenge presented by Continental Tire. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. and the game will be nationally televised on ESPNU.