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Taking the Temperature of Penn State Basketball after first four games

By Evan Smith

Nov 10, 2021; University Park, Pennsylvania, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions forward Seth Lundy (1) shoots the ball against the Youngstown State Penguins during the first half at the Bryce Jordan Center. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 10, 2021; University Park, Pennsylvania, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions forward Seth Lundy (1) shoots the ball against the Youngstown State Penguins during the first half at the Bryce Jordan Center. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports /
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Penn State Basketball has gotten off to a bit of an inconsistent start to the Micah Shrewsberry era, in the first week of the 2021 college basketball season

On this day of Thanksgiving, we take the temperature of Penn State Basketball four games into the season … who is the perfectly brined turkey, who is the overcooked brussel sprouts, and who is requiring a stiff after meal drink!

Penn State Basketball opened the year with a win over Youngstown State before getting destroyed at UMass (thanks for former Nittany Lion Trent Buttrick).  They rebounded with home wins vs St. Francis (Brooklyn) and Cornell, moving to 3-1 on the season (but 0-4 against the spread).

Our analysis will compare team and player performance compared to pre-season expectations.

Here’s a look at where things stand for Penn State Basketball so far this season:

Exceeding Expectations

Sam Sessoms

The Binghamton transfer came to the Nittany Lions a year ago as a top rated transfer recruit and played decently as a reserve guard behind Jamari Wheeler.

But, look at the jump he’s taken this year:

2020-2021: 8.2 points per game (40.8% from the field, 28.1% from 3, 71.4% FT), 2.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists

2021-2022: 19.3 points per game (58.3%, 63.6%, 77.8%), 4.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists

I’m not sure anyone saw this jump coming.

Last year, Sessoms was primarily a back-up ball handler but had virtually no shooting ability.  This year against St. Francis, he was able to get to the rim at ease.  So Cornell dared him to shoot, he went 6-7 from three.  While turnovers are up (3.3 assists per game to 2.8 turnovers per game isn’t great), his usage is significantly higher so that’s understandable.

Can he continue to shoot this well and get to the rim versus significantly better opponents and teams?  Only time will tell, but Sessoms’ start to the year has been all anyone could ask for.

Seth Lundy

shooters gotta shoot, right?

Lundy is averaging 17.8 points per game, using a variety of mid-range game and 12-21 from three point range thus far.  He hasn’t shyed away from rebounding (5.8 per game) and is almost at 85% from the free throw line.  He needs to cut down on the turnovers (3.5 per game) but Lundy is by far the best shooter on the team and he’s doing his part thus far.

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