UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's basketball team faces its first road test of conference play Saturday when the Nittany Lions travel to #17 Illinois for a noon ET/11 a.m. CT battle on the Big Ten Network.
FOLLOW ALONG
- TV: Big Ten Network – Dave Revsine (pxp) & Robbie Hummel (analyst)
- RADIO: Penn State Sports Network – Steve Jones & Dick Jerardi
- NATIONAL RADIO: Sirius XM Ch. 380 | SXM App. Ch. 970
- LIVE STATS: Live Stats
- GAME NOTES: Penn State Notes
OPENING TIPS
- Penn State heads to #17 Illinois for its first road test of conference play Saturday.
- The Nittany Lions are 6-3 on the season and coming off a tough 58-67 loss to Michigan State Wednesday in Penn State's Big Ten opener.
- Preseason All-Big Ten selection Jalen Pickett leads Penn State in scoring (15.8 ppg), rebounds (7.8 rpg) and assists (7.7 apg). Seth Lundy (13.9 ppg), Camren Wynter (11.4 ppg) and Andrew Funk (10.0) also average double-digit points.
IF PENN STATE BEATS ILLINOIS
- Penn State would beat a top-20 Big Ten team on the road for the first time since Feb. 4, 2020 (75-70 at #16 Michigan State).
- The Nittany Lions would earn their first true road win since Jan. 5, 2022 (74-70 at Northwestern).
SCOUTING THE ILLINI
- No. 17 Illinois is off to a 7-2 start and is a perfect 5-0 at home this season. The Illini are coming off a dramatic 85-78 overtime victory over #2 Texas Tuesday night.
- Illinois' only two losses of the season were a neutral-site loss to #16 Virginia (61-70) and a tight 66-71 road loss at #22 Maryland in the Illini's Big Ten opener last Friday.
- Terrence Shannon Jr. leads the Illini and ranks fourth in the Big Ten with 19.3 points per game. Dain Dainja (10.9 ppg), Jayden Epps (10.0 ppg) and Coleman Hawkins (10.0) are also averaging double-digit points.
AGAINST ILLINOIS
- Illinois owns a 32-19 advantage in the all-time series, including a 16-8 mark in Champaign.
- The Illini have won the last four matchups, but Penn State had won six-straight before the Illini started their streak.
- The Nittany Lions dropped a close 60-55 contest to then 20th-ranked Illinois on March 3, 2022 in the most recent meeting between the two teams.
- The back-and-forth affair saw 11 lead changes, seven tie scores and came down to the final minute. Jalen Pickett led Penn State with a game-high 18 points to go along with seven assists and five rebounds. Seth Lundy finished with 11 points.
LOOKING FOR A BOUNCE BACK
- The Nittany Lions look to get back on track Saturday at Illinois after dropping a pair of tough battles. Penn State fell in double-overtime on the road at Clemson (94-101) on Nov. 29 before dropping its Big Ten opener to Michigan State (58-67) Wednesday.
- Penn State has shot an uncharacteristically low 30.2 percent (19-63) from 3-point range in its last two games combined. The Nittany Lions were shooting 42.2 percent (86-204) from beyond the arc through the first six games of the season.
CALLING FOR RAIN IN CHAMPAIGN
- Saturday's matchup will feature two of the top 3-point shooting teams in the Big Ten. Penn State leads the conference in 3-pointers made per game (11.7) and 3-point field goal percentage (39.3%). Illinois makes the second-most 3's per game amongst Big Ten teams, averaging 9.9 per contest at a 35.7 percent clip.
THE THREE IS KEY
- Penn State ranks fifth in the nation with 11.7 3-pointers made per game. The Nittany Lions are shooting the long ball at a 39.3 percent (105-267) clip, a mark that ranks 22nd 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 seven of its nine games this season.
NATIONAL NUMBERS
- Penn State and Nittany Lion players rank in the top 25 in the nation in a number of statistical categories as of Dec. 8:
| Team Stat | Value | National Rank |
| 3FG made/game | 11.7 | 5 |
| Assist-to-turnover ratio | 1.60 | 9 |
| Fewest turnovers/game | 9.8 | 9 |
| 3FG% | 39.3% | 22 |
| Player Stat | Value | National Rank |
| Assists/game – Jalen Pickett | 7.7 | 5 |
| Assist-to-turnover ratio – Jalen Pickett | 4.06 | 10 |
| FT% - Camren Wynter | 92.0 | 17 |
THE MAESTRO
- Preseason All-Big Ten selection Jalen Pickett has put on a show through the first nine games of the season and is averaging 15.8 points, 7.8 rebounds and 7.7 assists per game while shooting 47.1 percent (57-121) from the field.
- Pickett ranks fifth in the country with a conference-best 7.7 assists per game and his 4.06 assist-to-turnover ratio is the 10th-best in the nation.
- Pickett has proven to be one of the best all-around guards in the Big Ten and currently ranks in the top 10 of the conference in scoring (6th), rebounding (8th) and assists (1st). He's recorded a triple-double and three double-doubles through nine games this season.
- He 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.
PLENTY OF PERIMETER OPTIONS
- Penn State's Myles Dread (2.4/game), Andrew Funk (2.4/game) and Seth Lundy (2.3/game) have provided a lethal 1-2-3 punch on the perimeter as the three Nittany Lions all rank in the top six in the Big Ten in 3-pointers made per game.
LOCKED IN ON LUNDY
- Senior Seth Lundy is off to a strong start this season, leading Penn State with a 53.4 FG% (39-73), a 46.7 3FG% (21-45) in addition to his marks of 13.9 ppg and 6.8 rpg that rank second on the team.
- Lundy has scored in double figures in eight of nine games this season. In addition to his offensive consistency, Lundy serves as one of the team's top defenders and is consistently tasked with guarding the opposing team's best players.
UP NEXT
- Penn State will now take a break for final exams this week before returning to action in the final three non-conference games of the season. Penn State resumes play on Sunday, Dec. 18 when the Nittany Lions host Canisius at noon inside the Bryce Jordan Center.
The 2022-23 Penn State men's basketball season is presented by Highmark Health.