Jalen Pickett dazzles with 41, propels Penn State in 93-81 win over Illinois

Penn State head coach Micah Shrewsberry wanted to go back to the formula that helped produce a December win over Illinois when hosting the Illini Tuesday night. That meant keeping turnovers down, competing on the boards, and taking good shots.

Desperately needing to snap a four-game slide to keep its postseason hopes on life support, the Nittany Lions did so, limiting their turnovers, holding their own in rebounding, and hitting on a high percentage of their shots. As Shrewsberry detailed Monday, the same would be critical to achieving a similar result.

“We gotta try that again,” Shrewsberry said. “We’re gonna try and get those same opportunities by getting quality shots. if we don’t turn it over.”

At the forefront of the effort, Penn State fifth-year point guard Jalen Pickett shined. Producing one of the most electric scoring efforts in program history, Pickett’s 41 points led the Nittany Lions to a 93-81 win in front of 7,297 fans at the Bryce Jordan Center.

Here’s how it happened:

Jalen Pickett’s last stand

At every point in the game, Pickett was electric on the offensive end of the floor. 

At the onset, that meant a contested jumper to open the scoring for Penn State. A few minutes later, he produced a 7-0 run on his own to give the Nittany Lions breathing room. And, by the half, his scoop shot, and subsequent Illinois goal tend, gave Pickett 24 before heading to the locker room.

“Those guys are cheering me on all game. Just telling me to keep going and keep attacking,” Pickett said. “We were just trying to get off this four-game skid. So it feels really good to get the win”

Understanding what Pickett had going, but not quite aware of the extent of his possibility on the night until it was over, Shrewsberry said it was a reflection of the magnitude of the moment and what the program needed in it. Adding on to his tally and finishing with 41 for the night, a program record for the Bryce Jordan Center and just five points shy of Gene Harris’ 46 scored against Holy Cross in 1961, and a mark that stands at third-all-time and ties Jesse Arnelle’s 41 against Rutgers in 1954, Pickett’s effort was one acknowledged for its importance.

“That’s special. Sometimes when you’re going through it, you just need somebody special to have a special performance. I think that’s what he did.” 

Team game

Pickett was alone among all scorers in the game, finishing with a line of 15-of-20 from the floor, 5-of-9 from deep, and 6-of-6 at the free throw line. But, he wasn’t alone in the significance of his contributions to the game.

Rather, on a stat sheet that also showed 15 points for Seth Lundy, 10 for Andrew Funk, and another key 12 points for Kanye Clary, Penn State’s scoring attack had answers for everything Illinois wanted to do against Pickett. 

And it wasn’t just scoring. Kebba Njie helped keep Penn State competitive on the boards with five rebounds. Mikey Henn and Evan Mahaffey also chipped in with key offensive rebounds. 

A comprehensive performance in which Pickett paced the Nittany Lions, but found help surrounding him throughout, the effort was one Shrewsberry wanted to recognize.

“Not to downplay what some of the other guys did, maybe they didn’t score as much, maybe they didn’t rebound as much, but I thought their effort and some of the contributions we got from everybody was special,” Shrewsberry said. 

Defensive carry over

Desperately needing a win coming out of a four-game losing streak, one in which defensive letdowns have been a primary culprit, Penn State did little to upend the trajectory in the first half on Tuesday evening.

Locked in a back-and-forth that saw the hosts’ lead balloon to nine points, then dwindle to 3, the Illini scored seemingly at will. Case in point, by the game’s end, the Illini averaged 1.19 points per possession. But, by limiting them to just seven offensive rebounds, only 11 second-chance points, and seven points off of turnovers, Penn State took small strides in an area Shrewsberry was desperate to see.

“I felt that things that we worked on practice the last two days and emphasized, I felt like we did a better job of doing it. That’s our biggest issue right there is having carryover. But then having the discipline to do it every single time. I thought, for the most part, we did it,” Shrewsberry said. “There are still some things that we can get better at, we can clean up But this team’s a hard team to guard just because they have so many guys that can make plays off the bounce, they got guys that can shoot threes, they can score in the post. They challenge you and they challenge your principles, but I thought we tried to do what we’re supposed to do.”

Next steps

The win improved the group to 15-11 for the season with a 6-9 mark against Big Ten competition.

It also leaves a glimmer of hope for the Nittany Lions’ postseason aspirations.

Next facing Minnesota in Minneapolis on Saturday, Penn State will get the league’s last-place team. The Nittany Lions will follow it back on the road against the 13th-place program, 3-11 Ohio State.