UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State men's basketball point guard Jalen Pickett put together the first 40-point game by a Penn State player since 1961 to lead the Nittany Lions to a 93-81 win over Illinois and a regular-season sweep of the Illini Tuesday night inside the Bryce Jordan Center.
Pickett scored 41 points on 15-of-20 shooting while adding eight assists. Pickett's 41-point game is the sixth 40-point game in Penn State history and the first since 1961. His 41 points set a Bryce Jordan Center record and are the most points scored by a Big Ten player this season.
Pickett scored his 2,000th career point with his 19th point of the game late in the first half. Pickett is the only active Division I player with 2,000+ career points, 600+ career rebounds and 700+ career assists.
The Nittany Lions had a well-rounded team effort to compliment Pickett's historic performance. Seth Lundy finished with 15 points and seven rebounds. Kanye Clary tallied his second-straight double-digit game with 12 points, while Andrew Funk added 10.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Pickett scored nine points and the Nittany Lions made eight of their first 11 shots to take an early 19-11 lead just under six minutes into the game. The Illini answered with a 9-3 run to pull within three at 25-22 at the 10:13 mark, but it would be as close as Illinois would get for the remainder of the half.
- Pickett then answered with eight points in a 1:27 stretch to propel the Nittany Lions to a double-digit lead at 33-24 with 8:46 left on the first-half clock.
- Penn State put a bow on its highest-scoring first half of the season in the remaining eight minutes, shooting 7-for-12 from the field and 4-for-8 from deep while holding the Illini to just four field goals in the final 7:30 as the Nittany Lions took a 53-40 lead into the locker room.
- The Illini scored seven of the second half's first eight points to trim the Nittany Lion lead to seven at 54-47 two minutes into the term.
- Penn State made eight of its next nine shots with the help of another nine points from Pickett to go back ahead by double-digits and put the Illini in a 15-point hole at 72-57 with 11:56 to play.
- The Illini went on an 11-6 run heading at the midway point of the final half, but the Nittany Lions countered with 19 of the next 30 points over the next 7:53, taking a 91-74 lead into the final 1:31 of the game.
- Two free throws in the final minute and a half for Pickett gave him the 40th and 41st points of his historic game as the Nittany Lions won comfortably, 93-81.
GAME NOTES
- Penn State completed the regular-season sweep of the Illini. The Nittany Lions defeated then-No. 17 Illinois 74-59 on Dec. 10 in Champaign, Ill.
- The Nittany Lions improved to 12-2 inside the Bryce Jordan Center this season.
- The Nittany Lions earned their third Quad 1 of the season.
- Jalen Pickett put together the sixth 40-point game in Penn State history and the first since 1961. He is just the third player in program history to have a 40-point game (Jesse Arnelle 4x, Gene Harris).
- Pickett's 41 points set a Bryce Jordan Center record. The previous BJC record was 39 that was set by Campbell's Chris Clemons on Nov. 10, 2017. The previous record for a Penn State player in the BJC was D.J. Newbill's 37 points in an overtime game vs. Purdue on Jan. 17, 2015.
- Pickett's 41 points are the most scored by a Big Ten player this season.
- Pickett's 15 made field goals set the Bryce Jordan Center facility record, surpassing Lamar Stevens' 14 made field goals in a game against Northwestern on January 5, 2018.
- Pickett scored his 2,000th career point with a 3-pointer at the 2:51 mark of the first half.
- Pickett is the only active Division I player with 2,000+ career points, 600+ career rebounds, and 700+ career assists.
- Penn State scored 53 points in the first half, the first time it has scored 50-plus in the opening half since December 20, 2019, against Central Connecticut State (51).
- Penn State finished the game shooting 57.9 percent (33-for-57) from the field, its highest mark in conference competition this season.
FROM THE SOURCE
Head Coach Micah Shrewsberry
Jalen Pickett
UP NEXT
- The Nittany Lions are back on the road Saturday night for a 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT tipoff at Minnesota.
The 2022-23 Penn State men's basketball season is presented by Highmark Health.