UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's basketball team (2-0) closes out its three-game homestand with Seton Hall (1-3) at 8 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 6 in the Bryce Jordan Center. The two programs last met when they split a home-and-home series during the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons.
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GAME NOTES: Penn State | Seton Hall
SETON HALL
Coach: Kevin Willard (Pittsburgh, 1997)
Seton Hall Record: 191-140 (11th season)
Career Record: 236-189 (14th season)
2020-21 Record: 1-3, 0-0 Big East
Leading Scorer
#23 Sandro Mamukelashvili, Sr., F – 18.8 ppg
Leading Rebounder
#23 Sandro Mamukelashvili, Sr., F – 8.3 ppg
Assists Leader
#33 Shavar Reynolds Jr., Sr., G – 5.5 apg
PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS
Interim Head Coach: Jim Ferry (Keene State, 1990)
Penn State Record: 2-0 (First season)
Career Record: 317-265 (20th season)
Top Scorer
#1 Seth Lundy, So., F – 22.0 ppg
Top Rebounder
#21 John Harrar, Sr., F – 8.5 rpg
Assists Leaders
#5 Jamari Wheeler, Sr., G – 4.5 apg
#0 Myreon Jones, Jr., G – 3.0 apg
PENN STATE PROBABLE STARTERS
F -- 1 – Seth Lundy – So. | 22.0 ppg | 3.0 rpg
Note: Career-best 32 points (11-19 FG, 5-10 3-FG); first career 30+ point game, fastest by a Nittany Lion in the Big Ten era (33 games).
F -- 21 – John Harrar – Sr. | 5.5 ppg | 8.5 rpg
Note: Tied game-high rebounds with Jamari Wheeler (8); 123.9 kenpom rating for 19-20 is highest by a Nittany Lion & was 32nd nationally and third in Big Ten
G – 0 – Myreon Jones -- Jr. | 9.0 ppg | 2.5 rpg
Note: Tied career bests with 6 assists and 4 steals; Tied Wheeler w/gm-best 6a; has 470 career points
G – 5 – Jamari Wheeler -- Jr. | 10.0 ppg | 7.0 rpg | 4.0 apg | 3.0 spg
Note: Tied game-high rebounds with John Harrar (8); Total also tied his career best; Tied Jones for game-best 6 assists
G – 12 – Izaiah Brockington -- So. | 10.0 ppg | 5.5 rpg
Note: Quietly gets it done; Key 6th man in 2019-20, 1st PSU start vs. VMI
STARTING 5
Junior guard Myles Dread hit his third career game-winner vs. VCU Wednesday and his buzzer-beater was SportsCenter's No. 7 play of the day. Sophomore forward Seth Lundy posted his first career 30+ point game with 32, 20 coming in the second half. (Recap on p. 12).
Penn State starts its season 2-0 for the fourth straight year and for the sixth time in the last seven years.
The last time Penn State and Seton Hall met was in 2007, the same year the first iPhone was released. PSU last played a Big East team last year, winning at Georgetown 81-66 (11/14/2019).
The Nittany Lions are ranked third in the nation and best in the Big Ten in steals per game at 13.5. Penn State is among the top 20 in turnovers forced (16th-20.5) and turnover margin (20th-7.5).
Established as a program in 1897, Penn State's 2020-21 season marks its 125th year. Penn State is one of the 10 oldest programs in the nation and currently has 1,499 all-time wins.
SERIES vs. SETON HALL
Penn State owns the series advantage 5-1 with the first four games played in the early 1970s. The last meeting, during the 2007-08 season, is the only game played between the two schools in the Bryce Jordan Center.
Series streak: Penn State, W1
Last game: at BJC, University Park, Pa.
OT – Penn State 89, Seton Hall 86, 12/8/2007
Overall series: Penn State leads 5-1 (H: 4-0)
Ferry vs. Seton Hall: 0-1 (with LIU Brooklyn)
(Seton Hall 95, LIU 66, 11/28/2009)
Series record and game results are listed on page 5 of the game notes.
SOPHOMORES SCORING 30
In Penn State's Big Ten era, sophomore forward Seth Lundy's 32-point outing vs. VCU is the earliest, by number of games, a Nittany Lion reached that single-game scoring mark. Tony Carr had two of his four career 30-point efforts in the first month of his second season.
Name -- Pts -- Opponent (# gms) -- Date
Seth Lundy -- 32 -- VCU (33) -- 12/2/20
Tony Carr -- 33 -- Campbell (34) -- 11/10/17
Tony Carr -- 30 -- Texas A&M (39) -- 11/21/17
Shep Garner -- 30 -- Boston College (40) -- 12/2/15
BY THE NUMBERS
3 – Myles Dread had his third collegiate game-winning 3-pointer vs. VCU, and his first buzzer-beater as a Nittany Lion.
4 – Four Nittany Lions are listed on the season stat sheet with double figures in scoring average: Lundy (22.0), Sessoms (14.5), Brockington (11.0)
& Wheeler (10.0).
18 – Penn State tied its Bryce Jordan Center single-game record for steals with 18 in the opener vs. VMI.
63 – The 2020-21 senior class has amassed 63 wins since the 2017-18 season.
90 – Nittany Lion basketball was among the 16 Nittany Lion teams at or above the Division I sport average and one of nine Penn State squads that posted a Graduation Success Rate at least five points higher than the national average for their sport (90 to 84, +6).
91 – Sophomore forward Seth Lundy's 32-point effort vs. VCU marked the 91st time a Nittany Lion scored 30 points or more in a single game.
470 – Junior guard Myreon Jones is approaching the 500-career points milestone, currently at 470 points.
LAST TIME OUT: DREAD, LUNDY LEAD PENN STATE TO 72-69 WIN OVER VCU
Junior guard Myles Dread drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Nittany Lions a 72-69 victory over VCU and a 2-0 start to the season. The Rams tied the game at 69 with 20 seconds left before Dread's third career game-winning 3-pointer saw Penn State leave the court with the win.
With the clock winding down, senior guard Jamari Wheeler found Dread on the right wing. Dread rose up and drilled his first field goal of the contest as time expired.
The Nittany Lions and Rams battled back and forth until the final minute and scored identical 37-point totals in the second half. With 20 seconds remaining, VCU's Jamir Watkins drove to the lane and made his lone field goal of the game with a layup to tie the contest at 69.
Sophomore forward Seth Lundy turned in a career performance with 32 points on 11-19 shooting. Lundy poured in five 3-pointers while grabbing four rebounds and swatting two shots. Twenty of Lundy's 32 points came in second stanza against the Rams.
Lundy hit two free throws to give the Nittany Lions an eight-point lead at 68-60 with 3:46 left in the game. The Rams capitalized on Penn State's missed shots and turnovers as VCU's Nah'Shon Nyland hit a triple on a fast break and then a Ward layup cut the deficit to three, 68-65. Ward scored again for a one-point contest, 68-67, with 20 ticks left on the clock.
Junior guard Sam Sessoms connected on his second free throw attempt for a 69-67 score before Ward's tying basket. Sessoms scored 17 points, his Penn State best, on 6-11 shooting. Senior forward John Harrar and Wheeler tied the game-high total in rebounds with eight.
The Nittany Lions used a 12-3 run to take a 19-11 lead with 9:42 to play in the half after the two teams were nearly even through the first five minutes. VCU had an 8-7 lead before Penn State grabbed it back at 12-11. A 7-0 run put PSU at 19-11, but the Rams used an 8-0 of their own over 2:40 to take a 27-26 lead.
Penn State outscored VCU 9-5 in the final 3:16 of the first half to go up 25-32 at the break.
Forward Levi Stockard III led VCU in scoring with 13 points.
