Penn State Travels To UMass Monday For First Road TestPenn State Travels To UMass Monday For First Road Test
Penn State Athletics

Penn State Travels To UMass Monday For First Road Test

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's basketball team heads to Massachusetts Monday evening for the Nittany Lions' first road test of the season at 7 p.m. on CBS Sports Network. The Penn State men's basketball season is presented by Highmark Health.
 
FOLLOW ALONG

 
OPENING TIPS

  • Penn State faces its first road test of the season when the Nittany Lions travel to take on Massachusetts Monday night on CBS Sports Network.
  • Peter and Ann Tombros Endowed Head Coach Micah Shrewsberry earned his first-career Division I head coaching victory when the Nittany Lions defeated Youngstown State 75-59 in Wednesday's season opener.
  • Seth Lundy, Sam Sessoms and John Harrar combined for 56 points and 25 rebounds in the victory.

 
IF PENN STATE BEATS UMASS

  • The Nittany Lions would improve to 2-0 on the season for the fifth-straight year.
  • Penn State would win its first road game of the season.
  • The Nittany Lions would improve to 14-10 all-time against UMass.

 
SCOUTING THE MINUTEMEN

  • UMass is 1-1 on the young season after defeating UMBC (77-60) in its season opener Tuesday and falling to Ivy League preseason favorite Yale (71-91) on Friday.
  • Former Nittany Lion Trent Buttrick is the Minutemen's leading scorer though two games with 13.5 ppg. He is also tied for the team lead with 5.5 rebounds per contest.
  • Noah Fernandes is also averaging double-digit points with 12.5 per contest. Four other UMass players have contributed eight or more points per game.
  • The Minutemen finished the 2020-21 season with an 8-7 overall record with a 7-4 mark in Atlantic 10 play on their way to a fourth-place finish in the conference.

 
AGAINST UMASS

  • Old Atlantic 10 foes meet again for the first time since 1991 when Penn State travels to UMass Monday evening.
  • The Nittany Lions hold a 13-10 all-time advantage in the series that dates back to 1976.
  • Penn State is 4-7 all-time when playing at UMass, but 9-2 when playing the Minutemen in Happy Valley.

 
SHREWSBERRY ERA BEGINS 1-0

  • With fans back in the Bryce Jordan Center for the first time in 617 days, Peter and Ann Tombros Endowed Head Coach Micah Shrewsberry earned his first-career Division I head coaching victory when Penn State defeated Youngstown State 75-59 in Wednesday's season opener.

 
TRIO LEADS THE WAY AGAINST PENGUINS

  • Penn State's returning veteran trio of Seth Lundy, Sam Sessoms and John Harrar led the way for the Nittany Lions in their 75-59 victory over Youngstown State.
  • The trio of returning Nittany Lions combined for 56 of Penn State's 75 points, 25 of Penn State's 43 rebounds and the three Nittany Lions collectively shot 63.2 percent (24-for-38) from the field.
  • Lundy tallied his fifth career 20-point game, rattling off a game-high 23 points to go along with six rebounds.
  • Sessoms stuffed the stat sheet with 17 points, eight assists and five rebounds. Fourteen of his 17 points came in the second half.
  • Harrar was a perfect 7-for-7 from the field en route to his seventh-career double-double with 16 points and a career high-tying 14 rebounds. His perfect shooting performance made him the first Nittany Lion to shoot 100% from the field with at least 7 FGA since Mike Watkins was a perfect 8-for-8 at Iowa on March 5, 2017.

 
DEFENSE FINDS ITS FOOTING

  • Youngstown State started Wednesday night's season opener 9-for-11 (81.8%) from the field through the game's opening 11 minutes, but the Penn State defense acclimated quickly.
  • The Nittany Lions held the Penguins to just a 28.9 percent (14-for-45) clip from the field for the final 29 minutes of Wednesday's contest as Penn State controlled the tempo to put the Penguins out of reach.

 
A NEW SHERIFF IN TOWN

  • Shrewsberry was announced as the 14th men's basketball head coach in Penn State history on March 15, 2021. He came to Penn State after two years as the associate head coach at Purdue, his second stint with the Boilermakers, that followed a six-year run as assistant coach with the Boston Celtics under head coach Brad Stevens. During his tenure, the Celtics reached the playoffs in five consecutive seasons, including back-to-back appearances in the Eastern Conference Finals in 2017 and 2018.
  • Shrewsbery's first stint at Purdue came during the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons, in which he helped the Boilers reach the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Prior to that, he spent four seasons at Butler under Stevens, helping guide the Bulldogs to three NCAA Tournaments and two Final Four appearances.

 
UP NEXT

  • Penn State returns home Thursday to host St. Francis Brooklyn in an Emerald Coast Classic campus site matcup. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. from the Bryce Jordan Center and the game will stream on B1G+.