BLACKSBURG – Playing at home for the second game in a row, Virginia Tech men's basketball will play host to Penn State on Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET on ESPNU in the ACC/B1G Challenge.
The Hokies (4-0) will go up against the Nittany Lions (2-1) for the second straight time in the challenge, with Tech seeking to avenge its one-point loss in 2018. Tech is 5-8 all-time in the challenge (for more info, click here).
Tech, which is 6-3 in the all-time series with Penn State, has won all of its games in Blacksburg at 2-0 (2010, '79). The two schools have faced each other three times in the challenge and Tech has never won once out of the tries in 2018, '14 and '07.
Tech head coach Mike Young has never faced Penn State or interim head coach Jim Ferry.
The matchup will be broadcast on ESPNU, with Dave O'Brien (play-by-play) and Jordan Cornette (analyst) on the call, while Jon Laaser (play-by-play) and Mike Burnop (analyst) will broadcast on Virginia Tech Sports Network.
GAME INFORMATION
Tue. | 9 p.m. ET vs. Penn State | Stats | Watch | Radio | Notes | Gameday Central
Down by four points with eight minutes left, the Hokies picked it up a notch and would go on to win by eight points over VMI Thursday. Similar to last season when the two schools faced off, both teams didn't shoot it particularly well, with each under 36 field-goal percentage.
Posting his first double-double since Jan. 24, 2019, and just the second of his career, Keve Aluma tallied a team-high 17 points and 12 rebounds vs. VMI. Aluma had career-high 13 free-throw attempts and made a career-best seven free throws.
Filling up the stat sheet, Justyn Mutts turned in an almost double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds. He also dished out a career-high six assists, topping his previous high of five set twice during the 2019-20 season at Delaware.
SCOUTING PENN STATE
• Penn State is coming off an overtime loss at home to Seton Hall (2-3) this past Sunday, falling by a score of 98-92. The Pirates relied heavily on working it inside, outscoring the Nittany Lions 54-30 in points in the paint, and had to put together quite the comeback to earn the win, trailing by as many as 19 points (first half, 10:59 mark).
• Jim Ferry enters his fourth season in University Park, but just the first as the interim head coach, following his three-year stint as an assistant. A well-versed traveler, Ferry has been a head coach at all three divisions, including Plymouth State (DIII), Adelphi (DII), LIU (DI) and Duquesne (DI). He's racked up 316 wins in his 20-year head coaching career.
• Penn State is led by a freshman who is scoring 22.3 points per game in Seth Lundy, a three-start forward who was ranked No. 221 in the 247Sports rankings. At 6-foot-6 and 219 pounds, Lundy is averaging 4.3 rebounds per game and can do a little bit of everything, hitting nine 3-pointers and owning a team-high 14 free-throw attempts (shooting 85.7% FT), while chipping in a team-high four blocks and two steals.
• Some of the strengths the Nittany Lions possess are causing havoc on the defensive end, with averaging 10.7 steals per game to rank 14th nationally and second in the Big Ten, and can shoot it well from downtown, averaging 11 triples a contest to sit 18th in the nation and second in its league.
