Michigan Basketball: 3 takeaways from a purposeful win over Penn State

By Nick Popio | Jan 5, 2023

Jan 4, 2023; Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA; Michigan's Jace Howard (center) and Will Tschetter (right) try to tell Hunter Dickinson (1) (left) that his nose is bleeding from the bench during their game against Penn State in the second half at Crisler Center. Mandatory Credit: Lon Horwedel-USA TODAY Sports /

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Lon Horwedel-USA TODAY Sports /

2. Jalen Pickett is a menace to guard

The senior guard netted 40 minutes and was the one-man attraction show for Micah Shrewsberry’s team. He was living in the paint like Hunter Dickinson normally would for the maize and blue. He posted up in the paint against whoever was guarding him and that’s how he got most of his 26 points on the evening.

Pickett is a huge reason why Penn State ripped off five wins coming into Wednesday night. He’s performing at an all-Big Ten level right now with back-to-back 26-point outings. He’s broken the double-digit mark in 10 straight games and is averaging around 19 per contest during this torrid stretch of play.

Penn State's Jalen Pickett is seriously in the running to be my favorite player in college basketball. He's such a matchup nightmare.
— Brad Evans (@NoisyHuevos) January 5, 2023

He’s been shooting better than 50% from the field in five of his last six. He was 100% from behind the arc and only missed one free-throw attempt in the loss.

Pickett will continue to give defenses trouble because of the way he can score at will. Michigan will see him again at the end of this month in Happy Valley.

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