Men’s Basketball Faces Northwestern in Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinals FridayMen’s Basketball Faces Northwestern in Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinals Friday
Penn State Athletics

Men’s Basketball Faces Northwestern in Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinals Friday

CHICAGO – The Penn State men's basketball team takes on Northwestern in the Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinals Friday night from the United Center in Chicago. Tipoff is slated for 6:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. CT on the Big Ten Network.
 
FOLLOW ALONG

 
OPENING TIPS

  • The 10th-seeded Nittany Lions take on the second-seeded Wildcats in the Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinals Friday night.
  • Penn State has won six of its last seven games and advanced to the quarterfinals by way of a 79-76 win over seventh-seeded Illinois in Thursday's second round.
  • Consensus first-team All-Big Ten selection Jalen Pickett leads PSU in scoring (17.8 ppg), rebounds (7.3 rpg) and assists (7.0 apg) and is the only player in the country averaging 17/7/7. Honorable mention All-Big Ten picks Seth Lundy (14.1 ppg) and Andrew Funk (12.3 ppg) are also averaging double-digit points.

 
IF PENN STATE BEATS NORTHWESTERN

  • The Nittany Lions would advance to Saturday's Big Ten Tournament Semifinals for the first time since 2018 and take on either third-seeded Indiana or sixth-seeded Maryland at approximately 3:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. CT.

 
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS

  • The Wildcats earned a double-bye in the Big Ten Tournament by way of a 21-10 overall record and 12-8 mark in conference play.
  • Northwestern has lost three of its last four games coming into the Big Ten Tournament, with the most recent game being a 65-53 road win at Rutgers in the regular-season finale Sunday.
  • All-Conference selections Boo Buie (17.2 ppg) and Chase Audige (14.1 ppg) lead the Wildcats.

 
AGAINST NORTHWESTERN

  • The Nittany Lions and Wildcats meet for the second time in nine days Friday in the Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinals.
  • Penn State has won the last four meetings between the two teams, including a dramatic 68-65 overtime victory on March 1 in Evanston. Camren Wynter hit the game-winning 3-pointer with less than a second left in overtime to send the Nittany Lions home with a Quad 1 win. Freshman Evan Mahaffey pulled down a clutch offensive rebound to keep Penn State's possession alive before Wynter drilled the corner three to silence Northwestern's sold-out crowd.
  • Penn State and Northwestern have met four times in the Big Ten Tournament, with the postseason series even at 2-2. The Nittany Lions have won the last two matchups in 2018 and 2006.

 
MARCHING ON

  • The 10th-seeded Nittany Lions advanced to the Big Ten Quarterfinals for the second-straight year by way of a 79-76 win over seventh-seeded Illinois in Thursday's second-round game.
  • Penn State looks to advance to Semifinal Saturday for the first time since its 2018 run ended in the semis.
  • The Nittany Lions used a 14-3 run in a 4:26 stretch late in the second half to pull away before holding on for a 79-76 win over Illinois Thursday night. Andrew Funk led Penn State with 20 points behind a 6-for-9 showing from 3-point range. Camren Wynter tallied 18 points and five rebounds, while Seth Lundy had a double-double with 17 points and 10 boards. Jalen Pickett orchestrated masterfully all night long, finishing with 12 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.

 
RESUME WORKSHOP

  • Penn State owns six total Quad 1 wins, three Quad 1 road wins, and two double-digit Quad 1 victories.
  • The Nittany Lions earned a regular-season sweep of Illinois, first beating the Illini 74-59 on Dec. 10 in Champaign. Penn State handed Indiana its second-largest loss of the season on Jan. 11, an 85-66 thumping. The Nittany Lions picked up their third Quad 1 victory on Feb. 23 with a 75-71 road win at Ohio State. Penn State grabbed two more Quad 1 wins in its final two games of the regular season as the Nittany Lions earned a dramatic 68-85 overtime road win at Northwestern on March 1 and come-from-behind 65-64 win over Maryland on March 5. Penn State collected its sixth Quad 1 win Thursday night with its 79-76 neutral site win over the Illini.
  • The Nittany Lions also own four Quad 2 wins in home victories over Illinois, Iowa and Michigan, in addition to a neutral site win against SoCon Tourney champion Furman.
  • Penn State is 10-1 in Quad 3/4 games, with the lone loss being a home overtime defeat to Wisconsin. The Nittany Lions have only lost one game to a team outside of the NET top 90, with that loss coming on the road at Nebraska on Feb. 5.

 
PEAKING AT THE RIGHT TIME

  • The Nittany Lions have won six of their last seven games. That stretch started with Penn State's 93-81 win over Illinois on Feb. 14.
  • Four of those six wins are currently Quad 1 victories: at Ohio State, at Northwestern, Maryland, vs. Illinois.
  • The last three wins have been by three points or less. Entering the road win at Northwestern on March 1, the Nittany Lions were 0-3 this season in games decided by three points or less.

 
THE SHREWSBERRY EFFECT

  • Head Coach Micah Shrewsberry has guided the 20-12 Nittany Lions to just the 12th 20-win season in the 127-year history of Penn State basketball.
  • He collected more Big Ten wins (17) in his first two seasons than any other Penn State head coach has previously through their first two seasons.
  • The Nittany Lions finished 10-10 in the Big Ten this season, just the eighth time in Penn State's 31 seasons in the Big Ten that the Nittany Lions have finished .500 or better.

 
ALL-BIG TEN HONORS

  • The Nittany Lions collected the following All-Big Ten honors Tuesday:
    • Jalen Pickett - Consensus First Team All-Big Ten (Coaches & Media - unanimous pick by the conference media)
    • Seth Lundy - All-Big Ten Honorable Mention (Coaches & Media)
    • Andrew Funk - All-Big Ten Honorable Mention (Coaches & Media)
    • Camren Wynter - Big Ten Sportsmanship Award Honoree

 
17/7/7

  • Jalen Pickett is the only player in the country averaging at least 17 points (17.8) per game, seven rebounds (7.3) 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 AP National Player of the Year accolades.

 
THE ALL-AMERICAN MAESTRO

  • Jalen Pickett is Penn State's first All-American in nearly 70 years. He was named to the Sporting News All-America Second Team Tuesday. Pickett joins Jesse Arnelle as the only two Nittany Lions in program history to earn second-team or higher All-America status. Arnelle collected first-team All-America honors in 1954 from the Helms Foundation and second-team honors in 1955. Pickett is the first Penn State player to ever land on the Wooden Award National Ballot and is also an Oscar Robertson Trophy Late Season Watchlist honoree and Top 5 Finalist for the Bob Cousy Award.
  • Pickett ranks in the top five nationally in both assists per game (7.0) and assist-to-turnover ratio (3.24) while engineering a Penn State offense that ranks third nation in fewest turnovers per game (8.8) and 15th in KenPom's adjusted offensive efficiency metric.
  • The six-foot-four guard played his best in Big Ten play, averaging 19.2 points per game, 7.7 rebounds per game and 6.6 assists per game while shooting 55.8% from the field. The Rochester, N.Y. native's season highlights include a 41-point game, a 32-point game, 12 20-point games, six double-doubles and one triple-double. He has already set a Penn State single-season assists record through 32 games this season, dishing 224 assists to this point.

 
THE BIG TEN'S BEST SHOOTING DUO

  • Penn State's duo of Andrew Funk and Seth Lundy have provided a lethal 1-2 punch on the perimeter as they both rank in the top three in the Big Ten in 3FG% and 3FG made per game.
  • Andrew Funk leads the conference with a 41.6 3FG% and 3.0 triples per game. Seth Lundy ranks second with a 40.6% 3FG% and third with 2.6 treys per contest.

 
WYNTER IS COMING

  • Camren Wynter has kicked it up a notch over the last six games. He's averaging 16.0 ppg while shooting 63.8% (37-58) from the field and 72.2% (13-18) from 3-point range in Penn State's last six games.
  • Wynter was the hero in back-to-back Quad 1 wins against Northwestern and Maryland, hitting the game-winning shots with under a second left in both contests to earn Big Ten Co-Player of the Week honors on March 6.

 
ELITE EFFICIENCY FOR LUNDY

  • Senior Seth Lundy is producing at an elite level. He is the only player in the Big Ten and one of just eight players in the nation that is averaging double-digit points (14.1) and six-plus (6.3) rebounds per game while shooting at least 50% from two (53.7%), 40% from three (40.6%) and 80% from the free throw line (80.0%).
  • Lundy is having his most consistent year in the Blue & White and has scored in double figures in 26 games this season, including five 20-point contests. 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

  • The winner of Friday's quarterfinal game advances to take on the winner of third-seeded Indiana/sixth-seeded Maryland in the Big Ten Tournament Semifinals Saturday at approximately 3:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. CT on CBS.

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