Men’s Basketball Returns to Philadelphia to host #1 Purdue in Sold-Out Palestra SundayMen’s Basketball Returns to Philadelphia to host #1 Purdue in Sold-Out Palestra Sunday

Men’s Basketball Returns to Philadelphia to host #1 Purdue in Sold-Out Palestra Sunday


PHILADELPHIA – The Penn State men's basketball team makes its return to Philadelphia Sunday evening to host #1/1 Purdue in a Big Ten battle inside the historic Palestra on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania. Tipoff is slated for 6 p.m. on the Big Ten Network. General public tickets for the highly-anticipated matchup sold out within hours in early November.
 
FOLLOW ALONG


KNOW BEFORE YOU GO

  • What to Wear: Wear White!
  • Doors Open: 4:30 p.m.
  • Parking: Game day parking is available near The Palestra including the Penn Museum garage, Chestnut 34 garage and Penn Park. The cost of parking on game day is $20. For alternate parking options, click here.
  • Mobile Ticketing Info: Penn Athletics has implemented a mobile-first ticketing strategy. Spectators should ensure tickets are downloaded prior to arriving to the arena. Your tickets will be sent to the email address used when purchasing tickets and be available to download to any Apple or Android device. Tickets will also be available through Print-At-Home format as well, which can be printed on an 8.5"x11" sheet of paper prior to attending the game. Please note that Print-At-Home tickets will not scan from a mobile device. Mobile ticketing guides are available here.
  • Bag Policy: All guests and their belongings are subject to search by security personnel upon entry and within the facility. All bags must be in accordance with the below guidelines and more information is available here.
    • Bags should be smaller than 16" x 16" x 8"
    • No large bags, such as duffel or equipment bags
  • Will Call Locations: General will call and player-guest will call are located on the North Side of The Palestra lobby. 

 
OPENING TIPS

  • The Nittany Lions return to the City of Brotherly Love and a sold-out Palestra Sunday evening for a meeting with the nation's top-ranked team in #1 Purdue.
  • Penn State has won five of its last six games and is 11-4 on the season and 2-2 in Big Ten play.
  • Jalen Pickett leads PSU in scoring (17.4 ppg), rebounds (7.5 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 (12.1 ppg) are also averaging double-digit points.

 
IF PENN STATE BEATS #1 PURDUE

  • Penn State would earn its first win over the nation's top-ranked team in program history.
  • The Nittany Lions would move to 3-0 in Big Ten games played at the Palestra.

 
SCOUTING THE BOILERMAKERS

  • The #1 Boilermakers are in their fourth-straight week as the top-ranked team in the nation. Purdue is 14-1 overall and 3-1 in Big Ten play.
  • Purdue is coming off a tight 71-69 road victory at #24 Ohio State Thursday. The win helped the Boilermakers bounce back from their first loss of the season Monday night, a 64-65 home defeat to Rutgers.
  • Center Zach Edey, a leading candidate for National Player of the Year, averages 21.3 points and 13.2 rebounds per game to lead Purdue, while Fletcher Loyer follows with 12.1 ppg.

 
AGAINST PURDUE

  • Penn State will be looking for its first win against Purdue in nearly three years. The Boilermakers have won the last four meetings and own a 43-13 all-time advantage in the series.
  • Penn State and Purdue met twice last season with the Boilermakers winning both games by single digits.
  • Purdue defeated Penn State 69-61 in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament on March 11, 2022. The Nittany Lions made it a one possession game in the final minutes, but Purdue held on for the win.
  • Last season's regular-season meeting was similar in that PSU erased a 13-point second-half deficit to take a one-point lead in the final minutes, but Purdue claimed the 74-67 win.

 
BACK TO PHILLY

  • Penn State makes its return to the historic Palestra on Sunday when the Nittany Lions host #1 Purdue in the City of Brotherly Love. General public tickets for the contest sold out within hours in early November.
  • The Nittany Lions have won both Big Ten games they've previously hosted in the "Cathedral of College Basketball", defeating Michigan State in 2017 and Iowa in 2020. Penn State has played 60 total games in The Palestra dating back to 1927.
  • The 2022-23 Nittany Lion roster includes several student-athletes with Philadelphia-area ties including Seth Lundy (Paulsboro, N.J.; Roman Catholic), Jameel Brown (Philadelphia, Pa.; Westtown School), Andrew Funk (Warrington, Pa.; Archbishop Wood), Demetrius Lilley (Philadelphia, Pa.; Lower Merion) and Camren Wynter (transfer from Drexel.)

 
FAMILIAR VENUE

  • A number of Penn State's players are quite familiar with The Palestra.
  • Seth Lundy and Andrew Funk both won Philadelphia Catholic League championships inside the famed venue, Lundy winning the 2016 and 2018 titles with Roman Catholic and Funk winning the 2017 championship with Archbishop Wood.
  • Lundy and Myles Dread were both on the 2019-20 Penn State team that defeated Iowa at the Palestra on Jan. 4, 2020. Dread finished with 14 points, including six free throws in the final 30 seconds that secured the win. Lundy had seven points in 11 minutes as a freshman on a senior-laden squad.

 
PENN STATE AT THE PALESTRA

  • The historic Palestra, on the University of Pennsylvania campus in Philadelphia, opened on Jan. 1, 1927. The Palestra has hosted more games, more visiting teams and more NCAA tournaments than any other facility in college basketball. At the time of its construction, it was one of the world's largest arenas.
  • Penn State played its first game at the Palestra on Jan. 27, 1927, less than a month after the building's opening.
  • Rec Hall, the longtime home for Penn State basketball, was designed by the same architect, Charles Klauder, responsible for The Palestra. The groundbreaking for Rec Hall started in January 1927 and opened two years after The Palestra, in January 1929.
  • The Nittany Lions have a 24-36 record when playing in the Palestra with a 14-8 mark in  games played vs. teams other than Penn. Penn State has won its last four contests in The Palestra and 13 of its last 20 games played in the historic venue.
  • Sunday's game will count as a neutral-site game for the teams, originally a home game for the Nittany Lions, who announced the game site in September.
  • The Penn State-Michigan State matchup in 2017 was the first regular-season league game to take place in the City of Brotherly Love, with the Nittany Lions earning a 72-63 win. The #21 Nittany Lions took down #23 Iowa in a thriller on Jan. 4, 2020 in Penn State's most recent game at The Palestra.

 
HISTORIC OPPORTUNITY

  • The Nittany Lions have an opportunity to make history Sunday as Penn State looks for its first win over the nation's top-ranked team in program history.
  • Penn State is 0-12 all-time against the number one team in the nation. The Nittany Lions are set to meet the nation's top-ranked team for the first time since a 68-78 loss to #1 Duke in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off on Nov. 19, 2016.
  • Penn State has come close before. The Nittany Lions took #1 Indiana to double-overtime in an 84-88 loss in 1993, fell by one point (49-50) at #1 Temple in 1988 and dropped a 50-56 game in overtime to #1 North Carolina in 1981.

 
FROM PURDUE TO PSU

  • Penn State head coach Micah Shrewsberry squares off against one of his great friends and mentors Sunday when the Nittany Lions take on Matt Painter and Purdue. Shrewsberry served two stints on Painter's Purdue staff, most recently as associate head coach and offensive coordinator during the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons. He was also on Painter's staff as an assistant coach during the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons before serving six seasons as an assistant coach with the Boston Celtics.
  • Penn State video coordinator Grady Eifert also has Boilermaker roots, starring on Purdue's 2019 Elite Eight team before spending the 2020-21 and 2019-20 seasons as a graduate assistant on Painter's staff.

 
THE NITTANY LIONS

  • Penn State's bread and butter boils down to four things: they're experienced, they take care of the ball, and shoot the ball well from both downtown and the foul line.
  • The Nittany Lions own the nation's most experienced roster per KenPom. Penn State leads the country in fewest turnovers per game (8.7). The Nittany Lions are fond of the long ball, making the fifth-most 3-pointers per game (10.9) in Division I while shooting a Big Ten-best 38.4 percent from beyond the arc. Penn State's free throw shooting percentage (77.6% - 15th) and 3-point shooting percentage (38.4% - 22nd) both rank in the top 25 in the country.

 
11-4

  • Penn State is off to an 11-4 start to the 2022-23 season, its best since start through 15 games since the 2019-20 team started 12-3.
  • Penn State's only four losses were a two-point neutral-site defeat to Virginia Tech, a double-overtime road loss at Clemson, and two Big Ten losses against Michigan State and Michigan in a pair of games that were one-possession contests until the final two minutes. 

 
BALL SECURITY

  • Penn State leads the nation in fewest turnovers per game (8.7) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.72). Since the turn of the millennium, Penn State has never finished the season averaging fewer than 10.5 turnovers per game (2010-11 team).

 
THE MAESTRO

  • Jalen Pickett is the only player in the country currently averaging at least 17 points (17.4) per game, 7 rebounds (7.5) per game and 7 assists (7.3) per game. Pickett ranks fourth in the nation in both assists per game (7.3) and assist-to-turnover ratio (3.63).
  • The Rochester, N.Y. native is the only player in the Big Ten that ranks in the top 10 in scoring (5th), rebounding (10th) and assists (1st) in the conference statistical standings. He's recorded a triple-double and four double-doubles through 15 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.

 
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 most recent game at Michigan Wednesday. The Nittany Lions now have four 1,000-point scorers on their 2022-23 roster - Myles Dread (1,001 points), Andrew Funk (1,412 points), Jalen Pickett (1,813 points) and Camren Wynter (1,803 points). And there will soon be a fifth - Seth Lundy sits just 35 points away from reaching the milestone with 965 career points.

 
ELITE EFFICIENCY FOR LUNDY

  • Senior Seth Lundy is producing at an elite level on both ends of the floor through the first 15 games of the season. The Paulsboro, N.J. native is the only player in the country that is averaging more 10 points and 6 rebounds per game while shooting at least 60% from 2-point range, 40% from 3-point range and 80% from the charity stripe.
  • Lundy is averaging 13.7 points and 6.7 rebounds per game while shooting 61.7% from two-point range, 40.3% from three-point range and 80.2 percent from the charity stripe.
  • In addition to his offensive efficiency, 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 contributing at least 2.2 3-pointers per game.
  • Myles Dread (2.3 3-pointers/game) is converting his looks from deep at a team-best 44.7 percent clip. Andrew Funk has made a Big Ten-best 3.0 3-pointers per contest at a 41.3 percent clip. Seth Lundy is shooting 40.3 percent from behind the arc while draining 2.2 treys per game.

 
UP NEXT

  • Penn State returns to the Bryce Jordan Center to host #15 Indiana Wednesday night at 7 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.

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