Penn State pushes past Quinnipiac, 77-68; Pickett shines

For the first time all season, Penn State senior forward Seth Lundy wasn’t in the starting lineup on Thursday afternoon. Sidelined with a right ankle injury, that meant the Nittany Lions would have to push past visiting Quinnipiac without their veteran performer.

Replacing one veteran with another, Penn State did exactly that. 

Led by another standout performance from Jalen Pickett, the Nittany Lions slogged through a 77-68 win over the Bobcats in front of 3,804 fans at the Bryce Jordan Center. The decision improved Penn State to 9-3 on the season with a 1-1 mark in Big Ten play. 

“I think I’ve talked about the veteran leadership that we have,” head coach Micah Shrewsberry told the television crew following the game. “Just having a bunch of guys that have been really good players at their previous schools.

“All they care about is winning. It’s different guys that step up, different guys that make plays.”

Led by Pickett, now they’re doing it for Penn State, a point demonstrated again Thursday evening. Still, even with his 21 points, 12 rebounds, and nine rebounds, the win wasn’t without challenges. 

Here’s a look at what put the Nittany Lions over the top:

Pickett does it again

Penn State wasn’t itself from the jump. 

Connecting on just 1 of 10 3-pointers attempted in the first seven minutes of action, the Nittany Lions instead turned to Pickett working in the paint. In a game that saw the two sides even at 20-20 at the 6:39 mark in the first half, though, a 13-3 run, sparked by Pickett and capped by a Cam Wynter layup and Myles Dread 3-pointer in the final minute, helped deliver a 33-23 advantage before heading into the locker room.

Despite a series of missed open looks created by Pickett to Penn State’s shooters, he still entered the half well on his way to a triple-double. His nine points, nine rebounds, and five assists led the Nittany Lions in every category.

More important, he represented a calm and collected presence on the floor for a Penn State team unable to find its footing from deep, finishing the half just 2-of-16 from beyond the arc.

“You love to have him,” said Shrewsberry. “He can make so many things happen. You can look at the game and he can be having a game where we feel like he’s struggling because we’ve seen him play so well.”

Then, Shrewsberry continued, you look down at the box score and see another stat-sheet-stuffing performance from Pickett.

“That’s the impact he makes,” Shrewsberry said. “I love having him on our team.”

Well, almost

In the game, the performance was enough to create a comfortable lead that held through most of the second half. But, it wasn’t enough to reach a second triple-double of the season for Pickett.

Building a 71-54 lead Pickett flirted with an elusive 10th assist from the 5:22 mark on.

It never came.

More open looks, from deep or on the floor, went unconnected. And, in the process, what’d been a steady, unflustered margin for Penn State dwindled into single digits as the Nittany Lions continued to seek out the assist that would put Pickett in exclusive company in the program.

Already becoming just the second Penn State player to ever notch the feat, Calvin Booth being the other, Pickett’s opportunity to do it twice in the same season was dashed when an Andrew Funk dribble-drive and jumper didn’t pass muster for the home stat crew. 

Penn State’s next steps

Pickett’s close call came in concert with three other double-digit scoring efforts. All were from fellow Penn State transfers into the program.

Led by a hot-shooting Funk, who was held scoreless but sparked his way to 16 points in the second half, and 12 points from Wynter, the Nittany Lions finally found some success shooting from deep. Mikey Henn, who also finished with 11 for a career-high as a Nittany Lion, also connected from deep.

Overall, though, the effort was an uncharacteristically dismal shooting night from 3 for the Nittany Lions. Connecting on just 6-of-29 shots from deep, Penn State’s 20.7 hit rate was its lowest of the season. 

Considered day-to-day, according to earlier reporting, Lundy is expected to be a possibility for Penn State’s final game of the calendar year. The Nittany Lions will host Delaware State at 2 p.m. at the BJC on Dec. 29, marking their last nonconference game of the regular season before Big Ten resumes on New Year’s Day.