Men’s Basketball Heads to Nebraska for Sunday Afternoon ClashMen’s Basketball Heads to Nebraska for Sunday Afternoon Clash
Penn State Athletics

Men’s Basketball Heads to Nebraska for Sunday Afternoon Clash

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's basketball team heads to Nebraska Sunday afternoon to face the Cornhuskers for the second time in two weeks when the teams square off in Lincoln, Neb. at 4:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. CT on the Big Ten Network.
 
FOLLOW ALONG

 
OPENING TIPS

  • Penn State wraps a two-game road swing with a trip to Nebraska Sunday afternoon.
  • The Nittany Lions are looking for the regular-season sweep of the Huskers after winning the season's first meeting 76-65 just two weeks ago in Happy Valley.
  • Jalen Pickett leads PSU in scoring (17.4 ppg), rebounds (7.8 rpg) and assists (7.0 apg) and is the only player in the country averaging 17/7/7. Seth Lundy (14.3 ppg) and Andrew Funk (12.7 ppg) are also averaging double-digit points.

 
IF PENN STATE BEATS NEBRASKA

  • The Nittany Lions would sweep the regular-season series against Nebraska for the first time in program history.
  • Penn State would earn its first true road win since a Dec. 10 win at then-No. 17 Illinois.
  • Penn State would even its Big Ten record at 6-6 and pick up its 15th win of the season.

 
SCOUTING THE HUSKERS

  • Nebraska is 10-13 on the season and 3-9 in conference action. The Huskers have dropped their last four games, three of which have been on the road.
  • Nebraska is 7-3 at home this season.
  • Derrick Walker leads the team with 13.4 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. Sam Griesel (11.5 ppg) and Keisei Tominaga (10.3 ppg) are also averaging double-digit points. 

 
AGAINST NEBRASKA

  • Penn State looks to complete its first-ever regular-season sweep of Nebraska Sunday afternoon.
  • The Nittany Lions have won five of the last eight meetings between the two squads, but Penn State is 3-8 all-time when playing in Lincoln.
  • The two teams meet for the second time in 15 days Sunday. The Nittany Lions earned a 76-65 win over the Huskers on Jan. 21 inside the Bryce Jordan Center.
  • The Nittany Lions never trailed in the season's first meeting and shot 68 percent from the field in the second half to pull away for the double-digit win. Andrew Funk drilled five 3-pointers en route to his game-high 23 points. Seth Lundy (16 points) and Jalen Pickett (12 points) joined Funk in double figures. Pickett added a game-high 13 rebounds and five assists to collect his sixth double-double of the season.

 
BUILDING THE RESUME

  • Penn State is off to a 14-8 start to the 2022-23 season with a number of strong wins.
  • Penn State's two best wins were a pair of dominant Quad 1 victories: a 15-point road win at Illinois (currently 25 in NET rankings) on Dec. 10 and a 19-point thumping of Indiana (currently 22 in NET rankings) on Jan. 11 for the Nittany Lions' largest win over the Hoosiers in program history. The Nittany Lions also own a win over Iowa (33 in NET).
  • Penn State is 9-0 in Quad 3/4 games and the Nittany Lions have no bad losses.
  • Penn State's only two lopsided losses of the season came on the road against the two Big Ten teams that are ranked the highest in the NET - at Purdue (No. 3 in NET, 60-80 loss) and at Rutgers (No. 19 in NET, 45-65 loss).

 
NATIONAL NUMBERS

  • Penn State and Nittany Lion players rank in the top 25 in the nation in a number of statistical categories as of Feb. 3:
Team Stat Value National Rank
Fewest turnovers/game 8.6 1
Assist-to-turnover ratio 1.70 2
3FG made/game 10.7 5
FT% 76.9% 14
3FG% 38.5% 17
Effective FG% .555 20
Player Stat Value National Rank
Assist/game – Jalen Pickett 7.0 4
Assist-to-turnover ratio – Jalen Pickett 3.12 4
3FG made/game – Andrew Funk 3.1 20
Def. Rebounds/game – Jalen Pickett 6.8 23

 
 
17/7/7

  • Jalen Pickett is the only player in the country averaging at least 17 points (17.4) per game, seven rebounds (7.8) per game and seven assists (7.0) per game.
  • Only one men's 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

  • Point guard Jalen Pickett is the engine that makes Penn State go. Pickett leads the conference and ranks in the top five nationally in both assists per game (7.0) and assist-to-turnover ratio (3.12). The Rochester, N.Y. native is the only Big Ten player that ranks in the top 10 of the conference statistical standings in scoring (sixth), rebounding (seventh) and assists (first).
  • The six-foot-four guard has played his best in Big Ten play, averaging 18.7 points per game, 9.1 rebounds per game and 6.2 assists per game through 11 conference contests. He's shooting 54.2% from the field, 41.9% percent from 3-point range and 75.8% from the free throw line in conference action.
  • The 6-4 guard has six double-doubles this season and 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.

 
FIVE 1,000/THREE 1,500

  • The Nittany Lions are one of five teams in the country with five 1,000-point scorers on their 2022-23 roster - Myles Dread (1,028 points), Andrew Funk (1,510 points), Seth Lundy (1,074 points), Jalen Pickett (1,934 points) and Camren Wynter (1,831 points).
  • Penn State is the only team in the country with three 1,500-point scorers on its 2022-23 roster - Andrew Funk, Jalen Pickett and Camren Wynter.
  • Missouri, Notre Dame, San Diego and UAB are the only four other teams that have five or more active 1,000-point scorers on their 2022-23 rosters.

 
THE THREE IS KEY

  • Penn State ranks fifth in the nation with 10.7 3-pointers made per game. The Nittany Lions are shooting the long ball at a 38.5 percent (236-613) clip, a mark that ranks 17th in the nation.
  • Penn State has made double-digit 3-pointers in 13 games this season.
  • The Nittany Lions are shooting 42.0 percent from beyond the arc with 11.9 3-pointers made per game in their 14 wins this season.

 
BALL SECURITY

  • Penn State leads the nation in fewest turnovers per game (8.6) and ranks second in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.70).
  • Penn State's current program record for fewest turnovers in a season is 285 and was set by the 2020-21 team in the Covid-19 shortened season (25 games). The Nittany Lions have turned the ball over just 190 times through 22 games this season.

 
SHARING THE ROCK

  • The Nittany Lions have tallied 15 or more assists in 11 of their 22 games this season after reaching the 15-assist mark just six times all of last season.

 
ELITE EFFICIENCY FOR LUNDY

  • Senior Seth Lundy is producing at an elite level on both ends of the floor through the first 22 games of the season. The Paulsboro, N.J. native is the only player in the Big Ten and one of just three players in the country that is averaging 10+ points (14.3 ppg) and 6+ rebounds (6.0) per game while shooting more than 55% from two (56.0%), 40% from three (43.0%) and 80% from the free throw line (81.0%).
  • Lundy's having his most consistent year in the Blue & White and has scored in double figures in all but two 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.

 
LETHAL PERIMETER PUNCH

  • Penn State's trio of Andrew Funk, Seth Lundy and Myles Dread have provided a lethal 1-2-3 punch on the perimeter as all three are shooting over 39% from deep with at least 40 made 3-pointers.
  • Andrew Funk has made a Big Ten-best 3.1 3-pointers per contest at a 40.4 percent clip. Seth Lundy is shooting 43.0 percent from behind the arc while draining 2.5 treys per game. Myles Dread (1.9 3-pointers/game) is converting his looks from deep at a 39.4 percent clip.
  • Funk and Lundy became the first Big Ten duo in the last 20 seasons with seven made 3-pointers in the same game in Penn State's Jan. 11 win over Indiana. The pair both shot 7-for-12 from deep en route to the 19-point Penn State victory.

 
UP NEXT

  • Penn State returns home to take on Wisconsin Wednesday night inside the Bryce Jordan at 8:30 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.

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