Jay Bilas calls Jalen Pickett 'one of the toughest matchups in the country'

During ESPN’s weekly broadcast of College GameDay, Jay Bilas picks a “Dude of the Day” — a player he believes will have a huge game and lead their team to victory. On this Saturday morning, Bilas pointed to Penn State point guard Jalen Pickett as the guy to focus on as the Nittany Lions host Nebraska this afternoon.

Here was what Bilas had to say on PSU’s multi-faceted star:

“I got Jalen Pickett of Penn State, one of the toughest matchups in the country. Against Purdue, he had 26 points, nine rebounds, eight assists. On the season he’s averaging 18 (points), 7.5 (rebounds) and 7.3 (assists). Nobody else in the country is dishing it, rebounding it and scoring it like Jalen Pickett.”

High praise from the longtime college hoops analyst on the Penn State PG. Pickett is certainly enjoying a phenomenal year and is the engine of head coach Micah Shrewsberry’s second-season turnaround. The Nittany Lions are competing for an NCAA Tournament appearance, but they definitely need to take care of business at home against a mediocre Nebraska squad to stay on that trajectory. Per Bilas, Pickett will lead them to win No. 4 in Big Ten play over the Huskers.

A fourth conference win would even the Nittany Lions up at a 4-4 conference record, a markedly better tally than 3-5, which would leave PSU two games under .500 with still a brutal run of Big Ten contests to go. Hitting that .500-mark in the Big Ten is practically a golden ticket to the tournament. Since the league has been so deep the last few years, the losses are rarely bad and the wins are always solid.

It’ll be a battle for the next few months, but behind a lead guard like Jalen Pickett, the ceiling is the clouds in State College.