The Youngstown State Penguins and Penn State Nittany Lions meet Wednesday in college basketball action at the Bryce Jordan Center. The Youngstown State Penguins won 15 games last year and enter the fifth season under coach Jerrod Calhoun. The Penn State Nittany Lions won 11 games last year and will begin the Micah Shrewsberry coaching era.
The Youngstown State Penguins say goodbye to their top-two players in Naz Bohannon and Darius Quisenberry, but that’s about all they lost this offseason. Youngstown State is loaded with returning role players, and that includes two double-digit scorers. Youngstown State has potential to be a sneaky good team this season. Garrett Covington returns after averaging 12.5 points and 4.6 rebounds, while Shemar Rathan-Mayes averaged 10.4 points and 3.5 assists. Myles Hunter averaged 19.6 minutes per game last year and Michael Akuchie averaged 8.3 rebounds.
The Penn State Nittany Lions lost their two best players in Myreon Jones and Izaiah Brockington, but the remaining production is back for another year. Penn State also snagged Siena transfer Jalen Pickett, a point guard who was a three-time first-team All-MAAC selection. The Penn State Nittany Lions will not be a pushover in the stacked Big Ten this season. Seth Lundy returns after averaging 10.1 points and 4.2 rebounds, while John Harrar averaged 8.8 points and 1.3 assists. Sam Sessoms dished 2.3 assists per game, and Myles Dread averaged 2 rebounds.
The Penguins are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 Wednesday games and 1-3-1 ATS in their last 5 games overall. The Nittany Lions are 1-3-1 ATS in their last 5 home games and 3-0-1 ATS in their last 4 games overall. The under is 4-1 in Penguins last 5 overall. The over is 4-1 in Nittany Lions last 5 Wednesday games.
Both of these teams are going to need time to find their leaders and guys who will take over down the stretch, but the Penn State Nittany Lions have the better top-level talent and should have an edge on the glass. Not the easiest season opener for the Youngstown State Penguins. I’m higher on this Penn State team than most. I’ll lay the chalk.