Jalen Pickett triple-double leads Penn State to win over Butler

Jalen Pickett had just the second triple-double in Penn State history in a win over Butler Monday night.

After somewhat cruising past the first two opponents of the season, Penn State men’s basketball faced a stiffer challenge Monday night in the Gavitt Tipoff Games from the Butler Bulldogs. But a historic night from [autotag]Jalen Pickett[/autotag] helped the Nittany Lions overcome some adversity on the court and improve to 3-0 at the Bryce Jordan Center with a 68-62 victory.

Pickett recorded a triple-double with 15 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists. It is just the second triple-double in Penn State’s program history. The last Nittany Lion to record a triple-double was Calvin Booth in an NIT game against Dayton on March 16, 1998.

“He starts to do things as he starts to play in the post or off picks,” Penn State head coach Micah Shrewsberry said of Pickett’s play in his postgame press conference. “He’s adjusting as the game goes. There may be things he misses early on in the game, but he makes the switch pretty quickly after learning about it. He’s also really good at seeing the defense and trying to take advantage of the opportunity.”

Butler got a big effort from center Manny Bates, who had a game-high 16 points and 10 rebounds. Four different Butler players scored in double figures, but the same was true for Penn State as well. In addition to Pickett’s big night, [autotag]Seth Lundy[/autotag], [autotag]Andrew Funk[/autotag], and [autotag]Camren Wynter[/autotag] each scored in double figures in the win. Funk drained three three-pointers as Penn State hit on 10 of their 24 three-point shots for another game with at least 10 three-pointers made.

Penn State led by as many as 16 points after regaining control of the game in the second half, but Butler worked its way out of an 11-point hole in the first half to lead by two late in the first half. Penn State did manage to get to halftime with a lead though.

Gavitt Tipoff Games Update

Penn State’s win evened the Gavitt Tipoff Games between the Big Ten and the Big East. Monday’s doubleheader to kick off the week-long series of games between the two conferences actually began a little earlier in the night with DePaul handing Minnesota a loss in Minneapolis, 69-53. The series is now even at one win each going into Tuesday night.

Tuesday night features the next two games in the Gavitt Tipoff Games with Northwestern visiting Georgetown and Purdue hosting Marquette. Both games will air on FS1 with Georgetown and Northwestern first to tip at 6:30 p.m. ET.

Other Big Ten teams in action on Tuesday not participating in the event include Wisconsin (vs. Green Bay), Maryland (vs. Binghamton) and Michigan State (vs. Kentucky in the Champions Classic in Indianapolis).

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Up Next

Penn State’s next game will take them away from the Bryce Jordan Center as they head south to participate in the Charleston Classic, beginning Thursday and running through Sunday. Penn State will face Furman in their first game in the tournament on Thursday at 11:30 a.m. ET.

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