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Penn State Athletics

Men’s Basketball Begins Big Ten Tournament Thursday vs. Illinois

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Postseason play begins Thursday night for the Penn State men's basketball team as the Nittany Lions take on Illinois in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament 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 2023 postseason begins Thursday when the 10th-seeded Nittany Lions take on the seventh-seeded Illini in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament.
  • Penn State enters the Big Ten Tournament having won five of its last six games.
  • Consensus first-team All-Big Ten selection Jalen Pickett leads PSU in scoring (18.0 ppg), rebounds (7.3 rpg) and assists (7.0 apg) and is the only player in the country averaging 18/7/7. Honorable mention All-Big Ten picks Seth Lundy (14.0 ppg) and Andrew Funk (12.0 ppg) are also averaging double-digit points.

 
IF PENN STATE BEATS ILLINOIS

  • The Nittany Lions would advance to the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals for the second-straight year and take on No. 2 seed Northwestern Friday at 6:30 p.m.
  • Penn State would secure the 12th 20-win season in the 127-year history of Nittany Lion men's basketball.

 
SCOUTING THE ILLINI

  • The Illini finished tied for fifth in the Big Ten standings at 11-9 in conference play, but will play as the No. 7 seed due to tiebreak scenarios. Illinois is 20-11 overall.
  • Illinois heads into the conference tournament having lost two of its last three games, most recently a 71-76 road loss at regular-season champion Purdue on March 5.
  • Terrence Shannon Jr., a first-team All-Big Ten selection by the conference coaches, leads Illinois with 17.1 points per game. Matthew Mayer (13.0 ppg) and Jayden Epps (10.0 ppg) follow.

 
AGAINST ILLINOIS

  • The Nittany Lions swept the regular-season series against the Illini this season. Penn State took down then 17th-ranked Illinois 74-59 in Champaign on Dec. 10 before beating the Illini 93-81 in Happy Valley on Feb. 14.
  • The Nittany Lions shot 46.2 percent (24-52) from 3-point range in the two games combined, while Jalen Pickett averaged 30.5 ppg, 7.0 apg and 4.5 rpg in the pair of regular-season contests.
  • Penn State and Illinois have met three times in Big Ten Tournament history, but not since 2008. Illinois has won all three of the previous tourney meetings.

 
TOURNEY TIME

  • March is here and Penn State opens up postseason play in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament Thursday night against Illinois.
  • A win on Thursday would advance Penn State to Friday's quarterfinal round where the Nittany Lions would face second-seeded Northwestern at 6:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. CT.  The winner of Friday's quarterfinal game advances to Saturday's semifinals.
  • Penn State looks to win a game at the Big Ten Tournament for the fifth time in the last six completed tournaments (not including 2020 which was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic). The Nittany Lions have never won a Big Ten Tournament championship, but did advance to the championship game in 2011.
  • Illinois and Penn State have met three times in Big Ten Tournament history, with the Illini winning all three matchups. The two teams last met in 2008.

 

RESUME WORKSHOP

  • Penn State owns five 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 (currently 33 in NET rankings), first beating the Illini 74-59 on Dec. 10 in Champaign. Penn State handed Indiana (currently 29 in NET rankings) 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 (currently 63 in NET rankings). 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 (currently 38 in NET rankings) and come-from-behind 65-64 win over Maryland (currently 26 in NET rankings) on March 5.
  • 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 Tournament champion Furman.
  • Penn State is 10-1 in Quad 3/4 games, with the lone loss being a home overtime defeat to Wisconsin (currently 78 in NET rankings - top 75 in home games is Quad 2). 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 (92 in NET) on Feb. 5.

 
PEAKING AT THE RIGHT TIME

  • The Nittany Lions finished the regular season winning five of their final six games. That stretch started with Penn State's 93-81 win over Illinois on Feb. 14. Three of those five wins are currently Quad 1 victories (at Ohio State, at Northwestern, Maryland).

 
THE SHREWSBERRY EFFECT

  • Head Coach Micah Shrewsberry has guided the Nittany Lions to more Big Ten wins in his first two seasons than any other Penn State head coach has previously:
    • Micah Shrewsberry: 17 - 2021-22 (7) and 2022-23 (10)
    • Jerry Dunn: 15 - 1995-96 (12) and 1996-97 (3)
    • Bruce Parkhill: 8 - 1992-93 (2) and 1993-94 (6)
    • Pat Chambers: 6 - 2011-12 (4) and 2012-13 (2)
  • 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.

 
ONE MORE FOR 20

  • The Nittany Lions, 19-12 on the season, are just one win away from securing a 20-win season. It would mark just the 12th 20-win season in the 127-year history of Penn State basketball.

 
18/7/7

  • Jalen Pickett is the only player in the country averaging at least 18 points (18.0) 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 18/7/7. 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 (3.27) while engineering a Penn State offense that ranks third nation in fewest turnovers per game (8.8) and 15th in effective field goal percentage (.561).
  • 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 31 games this season, dishing 216 assists to this point. 


THIS IS MARCH

  • The Nittany Lions ended the regular season in thrilling fashion as Camren Wynter hit back-to-back game-winning shots in the final second of wins at Northwestern and against Maryland.
  • Penn State trailed by double-digits in both games before coming back to collect the pair of Quad 1 victories. Wynter nailed the game-winning 3-pointer with less than a second left in overtime last Wednesday to send Penn State home with a 68-65 road win at Northwestern before making the game-winning put-back with 0.5 seconds left to lift Penn State to a 65-64 Senior Day comeback win over Maryland Sunday. He was named Big Ten Co-Player of the Week this week for his heroics.

 
NATIONAL NUMBERS

  • Penn State and Nittany Lion players rank in the top 30 in the nation in a number of statistical categories as of March 7:
Team Stat Value National Rank
Fewest turnovers per game 8.8 3
3FG made per game 10.8 3
Assist-to-turnover ratio 1.63 5
3FG% 38.9% 11
Effective FG% .561 15
Player Stat Value National Rank
Assists per game – Jalen Pickett 7.0 4
Assist-to-turnover ratio – Jalen Pickett 3.27 5
FG made – Jalen Pickett 227 19
3FG made per game – Andrew Funk 2.94 25
3FG% - Seth Lundy 40.9% 28
3FG% - Andrew Funk 40.6% 29

 
THE THREE IS KEY

  • Penn State ranks third in the nation with 10.8 3-pointers made per game. The Nittany Lions are shooting the long ball at a 38.9 percent (334-858) clip, a mark that ranks 11th in the nation.
  • The 2022-23 Penn State team (31 games played) has already set the program single-season team record for 3-pointers made in a season (currently at 334). The previous school record stood with the 2017-18 team's 294 treys (39 games played, NIT Champions). The Big Ten record for 3-pointers in a season is 365, which was set by Purdue in 2018-19 (36 games, Elite 8) while Penn State head coach Micah Shrewsberry was an assistant coach on Purdue's staff.
  • Penn State has made double-digit 3-pointers in 20 games this season, including a program-record 18 triples in two games.

 
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

 
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 first and second in the Big Ten in 3-pointers made per game and 3FG%.
  • Andrew Funk has made a Big Ten-best 2.94 3-pointers per contest at a 40.6 percent clip. Seth Lundy leads the Big Ten and ranks in the top 30 in the nation with a 40.9% 3-point shooting percentage while ranking second in the conference, behind only Funk, with 2.63 triples per game.

 
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 (14.0) and six-plus (6.1) rebounds per game while shooting at least 50% from two (53.2%), 40% from three (40.9%) 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 25 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.

 
WYNTER IS COMING

  • Camren Wynter has kicked it up a notch over the last five games. He's averaging 15.2 ppg while shooting 61.7% (29-47) from the field and 72.2% (13-18) from 3-point range in Penn State's last five 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.

 
UP NEXT

  • The winner of Thursday night's Penn State-Illinois game advances to take on second-seeded Northwestern Friday at 6:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. CT in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals.

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