Nebraska @ Penn St. preview
Lucas Oil Stadium
Last Meeting ( Feb 23, 2021 ) Penn St. 86, Nebraska 83
The absence of Nebraska star Teddy Allen will be an interesting subplot when the 14th-seeded Cornhuskers play the 11th-seeded Penn State Nittany Lions in the opening round of the Big Ten tournament Wednesday night in Indianapolis.
Nebraska (7-19, 3-16 Big Ten) and Penn State (10-13, 7-12) have split two meetings this year. The winner of Wednesday's matchup will play sixth-seeded Wisconsin on Thursday.
As for Allen, he burned Penn State for 41 points on 16-for-24 shooting, including 6-for-9 three-pointers, on Feb. 23. But the Lions survived that game, 86-83.
"We tried to blitz him, threw the kitchen sink at him," Penn State interim coach Jim Ferry said. "We couldn't guard him. He was really impressive."
Last week, however, Allen left the Huskers to focus on the next step in his basketball career.
"I've decided on getting fully healthy," he said in explaining his departure.
The irony of the Allen saga is that Penn State held him to 14 points -- below his 16.5 season average -- and yet lost at home to Nebraska 62-61 on Feb. 14. Nebraska had a nearly nine-minute scoring drought in the game that was broken with 12 seconds left on Allen's game-winning basket.
Without Allen on Wednesday, the Huskers might struggle to score. Next on Nebraska's points list this season are Trey McGowens (10.7), Dalano Banton (9.7), Lat Mayen (8.7) and Kobe Webster (8).
Then again, Nebraska hasn't been a disaster since Allen left. The Cornhuskers are 1-2, and one of those loses was close, 79-78, to Northwestern. Webster had a game- and season-high 23 points against Northwestern, and McGowens added 15.
Webster, who had a career-high seven three-pointers against Northwestern, could be Nebraska's new go-to scorer. Counting three years at Western Illinois, Webster has 26 career games during which he has at least 20 points. He has played in 111 collegiate games, including 89 starts.
Over the past two weeks, Webster is playing perhaps the best basketball of his career, averaging 13 points while shooting 49 percent on 3-pointers.
Penn State will counter with Myreon Jones, who is averaging 23.5 points in two games against Nebraska this season. That includes a career-high 29 points in the win on Feb. 23. For the season, Jones leads Penn State with a 15.5 scoring average.
"He is a basketball junkie," Ferry said of Jones. "He is in the gym all the time."
Penn State, which has won two straight games and three of its past four, also has a potentially explosive scorer in Seth Lundy, who had 31 points in the Lions' 66-61 win over Maryland on Sunday night.
--Field Level Media