Game Day Essentials: Game #24 vs Penn St

Penn St. Info

Head Coach: Micah Shrewsberry
Location: University Park, PA
Conference: B1G
Nickname: Nittany Lions

Mascot: The Nittany Lion

Point Spread: Penn St by 8.5

Typical Rotation Depth: 8

KenPom rank: 45

A couple of Famous Alumni: Tim Frazier, Lamar Stevens

Other:  

• Nebraska dropped their Jan matchup at Penn St 76-65 with Bandoumel suffering a college career ending knee injury 7 minutes into the game. Derrick Walker paced Nebraska with 20 while Andrew Funk poured in 23 for Penn St. 
• For the last two games Penn St has been starting little used veteran post players 6'7" 235# Jr Caleb Dorsey and 6'8" 244# Sr Michael Henn. They add some size to a Penn St squad that plays small lineups
• Despite playing a handful of freshman Penn St has what KenPom considers to be the oldest roster in D-1 thanks to bringing in several grad transfers

KenPom Analysis: Penn St is a team of extremes, their short team excelling at outside shooting and not turning over the ball. The Nittany Lions need to shoot well as they're not making it to the line nor grabbing offensive rebounds. On the other end, the Lions' defense is about trying to force bad shots as opposed to pressure.

Player to watch: G Jalen Pickett

Pickett has been a force in the conference and is in the running for CPOTY. He currently leads the team in points, assists, rebounds, and steals. The beefy guard will work his way inside the arc and will spray balls out to shooters if the defense manages to keep him from shooting

Player to watch: F Seth Lundy

Penn St's 2nd leading scorer and rebounder is shooting 43% from 3

KenPom most used lineup

Others to watch

• Bucknell transfer Andrew Funk is shooting 40.4% from 3
• Drexel Transfer Camren Winter is another secondary scorer and is shooting 37.3% from 3
• Freshman center Njie is a rim protector but is foul prone; not much of an offensive threat relative to his teammates
• Veteran guard Myles Dread clocks in at 6'4" 235#. Dread can operate as Penn St's small ball center and is shooting 39.4% from 3
• Freshman PG Kanye Clary and wing Evan Mahaffey are in the rotation

Probable starters for Nebraska
5    Sam Griesel    G    6-7

30  Keisei Tominaga    G    6-2

10  Jamarques Lawrence - G  6-3

32  Wilhelm Breidenbach    F    6-10

13  Derrick Walker    F    6-9

Bench

0   C.J. Wilcher    G    6-5

12  Denim Dawson - F  6-6

33  Oleg Kojenets    F    7-0
12   Sam Hoiberg    G    6-0

35  Henry Burt  F  6-6

24  Jeffrey Grace III  G  6-3

Probable

15   Blaise Keita C   6-11 - Ankle

Injured

3   Quaran McPherson   G   6-3 - Out for the Year

4   Juwan Gary  F  6-6 - Out for the Year

25  Emmanuel Bandoumel    G    6-4 - Out for the Year

Redshirting 

2   Ramel Lloyd Jr.  G 6-6

31  Cale Jacobsen  G  6-4

Hoiberg Presser

Discussing the need to limit turnovers and fouls

Walker Presser

The Skinny: 

In some ways this Penn St team is exactly what the doctor ordered: they're near the bottom in D-1 in generating turnovers or FT attempts. Expect Nebraska to turn around in those areas simply because of the opponent.

Pickett had a so-so game against Nebraska in their first matchup thanks to 7 turnovers. Simply keeping him in check would go a long way today. Minus the last 12 minutes vs Illinios, Nebraska has been shooting the ball well the last few games. Probably need that to carry over in this one. 

Here is a stat for you: Penn St hasn't won a road game in 2023. Let's hope the trend continues.

Prediction: Nebraska 66 - Penn St 64