How to watch Penn State basketball vs. Northwestern: Live stream, players to watch & key matchups
Penn State men’s basketball will play its fourth game in seven days Saturday when it takes on the Northwestern Wildcats at the Bryce Jordan Center.
Their schedule following the matchup with Northwestern will also see a few changes. They’ll now take on Michigan on Jan. 27 with their game against Wisconsin moving from that date to Jan. 30. Penn State’s originally scheduled Jan. 30 matchup with Nebraska has been postponed due to COVID-19 issues within the Nebraska program.
In the meantime, the Nittany Lions are looking to build off their first conference win which came Thursday night when they took down the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.
Here’s everything you need to know about the home game against the Wildcats.
Player to watch
Myreon Jones: Penn State was less isolation-heavy Thursday night in its first Big Ten win of the season and Jones was a key beneficiary. He scored 17 points in the game and continues to thrive offensively, as he has since late December. The junior guard is averaging 20.2 points per game in the team’s last five contests and can score regardless of the way the team runs. He can score in isolation when necessary in late-game situations or when the shot clock is close to expiring. However, his shooting ability makes him a threat no matter who has the ball.
Jones is a high-level shooter and can make shots from beyond the arc and does it at an efficient clip. When the ball swings to him on the perimeter, he doesn’t need much time or space to launch and has shown the willingness to fire away. Jones is going to be a key figure on offense for Penn State as long as he’s a Nittany Lion.
Key matchup
Miller Kopp vs. Seth Lundy: Thursday night’s victory over Rutgers saw Lundy do a good job of slowing down Ron Harper Jr. on the wing when he was charged with defending him. Saturday he’s likely to see the opponent’s leading scorer once again in Kopp, who is an elite shooter. The junior forward has made 44.7% of his 3-point attempts this season, but is willing to attack around the rim and shoot mid-range jumpers as well, and only takes 3.6 shots from deep per game.
Lundy and the rest of the Nittany Lions should try to run Kopp off the 3-point line and force him to make plays off the dribble and limit his attempts from deep. His best shots are the ones he takes from beyond the arc and are the most efficient looks the team gets. Limiting him to three 3-pointers or fewer should be considered a success for Penn State and should put the team in a position to win.
How to watch
Who: Northwestern Wildcats (6-7) at Penn State Nittany Lions (4-6)
When: 7 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 23 | Where: Bryce Jordan Center
TV: Big Ten Network
Live stream: FoxSportsGo
Online radio stream: GoPSUSports (university-run)
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This story was originally published January 22, 2021 at 11:51 AM.
