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Penn State Basketball to host Shrew’s Former Team Butler

By Evan Smith

Penn State Nittany Lions forward John Harrar (21) reaches for Purdue Boilermakers center Zach Edey (15) during the Big Ten tournament on Friday, March. 11, 2022, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Purdue Boilermakers defeated the Penn State Nittany Lions, 69-61.Ncaa Basketball Big10 Men S Tourney Purdue At Penn State Nittany Lions
Penn State Nittany Lions forward John Harrar (21) reaches for Purdue Boilermakers center Zach Edey (15) during the Big Ten tournament on Friday, March. 11, 2022, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Purdue Boilermakers defeated the Penn State Nittany Lions, 69-61.Ncaa Basketball Big10 Men S Tourney Purdue At Penn State Nittany Lions /
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Penn State Basketball will host the Butler Bulldogs in the 2022 Gavitt Games, according to sources.

The Gavitt Tipoff Games started in 2015 and is contracted through the end of this year as an annual eight-game series between the Big Ten Conference and the Big East Conference.  The B1G is 2-1-3 in tournament history, and the Nittany Lions themselves are 2-1, having defeated DePaul in 2015, falling at DePaul in 2018, and destroying Georgetown 81-66 in DC in 2019 (on their way to a program-record #9 AP Poll ranking).

The Butler Bulldogs have quite a basketball history themselves, playing in the NCAA Tournament twice in 2010 and 2011. But this matchup is even more interesting because current Penn State head coach Micah Shrewsberry coached for the Bulldogs from 2008 to 2011.  Shrewsberry has made a point to try to recruit from basketball fertile Indiana and the Nittany Lions and Bulldogs are currently vying for some of the same players on the recruiting trail.

The Butler Bulldogs are one of the more interesting teams to visit the Bryce Jordan Center and despite being a significantly smaller school, will likely have a nice fanbase for the game in State College.

This will be a nice early-season litmus test for Shrewsberry to measure his progress in Happy Valley versus a school he’d likely try to emulate.  And it’s great news for season ticket holders looking forward to a good home non-conference matchup this season!

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