Nittany Lions Host Hoosiers Wednesday NightNittany Lions Host Hoosiers Wednesday Night
Penn State Athletics

Nittany Lions Host Hoosiers Wednesday Night


UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's basketball team returns to the Bryce Jordan Center Wednesday night to host the Indiana Hoosiers at 7 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.
 
FOLLOW ALONG

 
OPENING TIPS

  • Penn State returns to the Bryce Jordan Center Wednesday night to host Big Ten preseason favorite Indiana.
  • Both teams are looking to snap two-game skids as Penn State sits 2-3 in conference play and Indiana owns a 1-3 Big Ten record.
  • Jalen Pickett leads PSU in scoring (17.9 ppg), rebounds (7.6 rpg) and assists (7.3 apg) and is the only player in the country averaging 17/7/7. Seth Lundy (13.7 ppg) and Andrew Funk (11.6 ppg) are also averaging double-digit points.
     

IF PENN STATE BEATS INDIANA

  • The Nittany Lions would snap their two-game losing streak and move back to .500 in Big Ten action at 3-3 in conference play.
  • Penn State would improve to 9-1 inside the Bryce Jordan Center this season.

 
SCOUTING THE HOOSIERS

  • The Hoosiers are 10-5 overall, 1-3 in conference play and come to Happy Valley looking to snap a two-game losing streak.
  • Indiana's lone conference win came on Dec. 7 against Nebraska (81-65). The Hoosiers are coming off back-to-back losses against Northwestern (83-84) and at Iowa (89-91) and dropped their conference opener at Rutgers (48-63) back on Dec. 3.
  • Trayce Jackson-Davis leads Indiana with 17.7 points and 9.6 rebounds per game. Jalen Hood-Schifino follows with 13.4 points per game. Hood-Schifino has averaged 27.0 points per Big Ten game in the two conference contests that he has played in.

 
AGAINST INDIANA

  • The home team has won each of the last five meetings between Penn State and Indiana.
  • The teams split last season's regular-season series, with Penn State earning a 61-58 win on Jan. 2, 2022 in Happy Valley and the Hoosiers earning a 74-57 victory on Jan. 26, 2022 in Bloomington.
  • Indiana leads the all-time series 41-13, but eight of Penn State's wins over the Hoosiers have come in Happy Valley.

 
THE NITTANY LIONS

  • Penn State's bread and butter boils down to four things: they're experienced, they take care of the ball, shoot the ball well from 3-point range and capitalize on opportunities at the free throw line.
  • The Nittany Lions own the nation's most experienced roster per KenPom. Penn State leads the country in fewest turnovers per game (8.8). The Nittany Lions are fond of the three ball, making the sixth-most 3-pointers per game (10.7) in Division I while shooting 38.3 percent from beyond the arc. Penn State's free throw shooting percentage (78.0% - 14th) and 3-point shooting percentage (38.3% - 26th) both rank in the top 30 in the country.

 
11-5

  • Penn State is off to an 11-5 start to the 2022-23 season, its best since start through 16 games since the 2019-20 team started 12-4.
  • Penn State has no bad losses on its resume. The only five losses were a two-point neutral-site defeat to Virginia Tech, a double-overtime road loss at Clemson, two Big Ten losses against Michigan State and Michigan in a pair of games that were one-possession contests until the final two minutes, and a defeat to #1 Purdue.

 
NATIONAL NUMBERS

  • Penn State and Nittany Lion players rank in the top 30 in the nation in a number of statistical categories as of Jan. 10:
Team Stat Value National Rank
Fewest turnovers/game 8.8 1
Assist-to-turnover ratio 1.69 2
3FG made/game 10.7 6
FT% 78.0% 14
3FG% 38.3% 26
Player Stat Value National Rank
Assist-to-turnover ratio – Jalen Pickett 3.77 4
Assists per game – Jalen Pickett 7.3 4

 
 
17/7/7

  • Jalen Pickett is the only player in the country averaging at least 17 points (17.9) per game, 7 rebounds (7.6) per game and 7 assists (7.3) per game.
  • Only one college basketball player in the last 30 years (since 1992-93 season) has finished the season averaging 17/7/7. Michigan State's Denzel Valentine finished the 2015-16 season averaging 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 7.8 assists per game en route to first team All-America honors and Big Ten Player of the Year accolades.

 
THE MAESTRO

  • Jalen Pickett ranks fourth in the nation in both assists per game (7.3) and assist-to-turnover ratio (3.77).
  • The Rochester, N.Y. native is the only player in the Big Ten that ranks in the top 10 in scoring (4th), rebounding (10th) and assists (1st) in the conference statistical standings. He's recorded a triple-double and four double-doubles through 16 games this season.
  • Pickett owns eight 20-plus point games this season and has scored a Penn State career-best 26 points in each of the last three games. Over the last three games, all Big Ten games, he's averaging 26.0 ppg, 8.3 rpg and 6.0 apg while shooting 59.2% (29-49) from the field, 71.4% (5-7) from 3-point range and 93.8% (15-16) from the charity stripe.

 
SOON TO BE FIVE 1,000 POINT SCORERS

  • Myles Dread became the 38th member of Penn State's 1,000 career point club in Penn State's Jan. 4 game at Michigan last week. The Nittany Lions now have four 1,000-point scorers on their 2022-23 roster - Myles Dread (1,006 points), Andrew Funk (1,415 points), Jalen Pickett (1,839 points) and Camren Wynter (1,806 points).
  • And there will soon be a fifth - Seth Lundy sits just 21 points away from reaching the milestone with 979 career points.
  • San Diego and UAB are currently the only two teams in the country that have five active 1,000-point scorers on their 2022-23 rosters.

 
ELITE EFFICIENCY FOR LUNDY

  • Senior Seth Lundy is producing at an elite level on both ends of the floor through the first 16 games of the season. The Paulsboro, N.J. native is the only player in the Big Ten and one of just four players in the country that is averaging 10+ points (13.7 ppg) and 6+ rebounds (6.6) per game while shooting more than 55% from two (57.9%), 40% from three (40.2%) and 80% from the free throw line (82.0%).
  • Lundy's having his most consistent year in the Blue & White and has scored in double figures in all but one game 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.

 
LETHAL PERIMETER PUNCH

  • Penn State's trio of Myles Dread, Andrew Funk and Seth Lundy have provided a lethal 1-2-3 punch on the perimeter as all three are shooting over 40% from deep while each contributing at least 2.2 3-pointers per game.
  • Myles Dread (2.2 3-pointers/game) is converting his looks from deep at a team-best 43.8 percent clip. Andrew Funk has made a Big Ten-best 2.9 3-pointers per contest at a 40.4 percent clip. Seth Lundy is shooting 40.2 percent from behind the arc while draining 2.2 treys per game.

 
UP NEXT

  • Penn State will have its regular-season bye this weekend and return to action Tuesday, Jan. 17 at #18 Wisconsin. Tipoff is slated for 8:30 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. CT on the Big Ten Network.

 
The 2022-23 Penn State men's basketball season is presented by Highmark Health.