Penn State's Jalen Pickett Produces a Rare College Basketball Feat

Pickett compiled a turnover-free triple-double vs. Butler, a unique stat line in Division I basketball.

Penn State's Jalen Pickett has kicked off his All-Big Ten candidacy right this season, compiling the team's first triple-double in 24 years. That he did so without a turnover made his performance even more impressive.

Pickett had 15 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds in the Lions' 68-62 win over Butler on Tuesday at the Bryce Jordan Center. Pickett's performance lifted Penn State to a victory in the Gavitt Tipoff Games and to the Lions' second 3-0 start in three years.

Pickett's triple-double marked the first for Penn State since Calvin Booth went for 19-10-10 in the 1998 NIT Tournament? How long ago was that? Booth's son Carey is part of Penn State's 2023 recruiting class.

Further, Pickett produced a rare turnover-free triple-double performance. According to Sports Reference, Pickett's was just the eighth such Division I triple-double in college basketball over the past four years.

Over the last 4 seasons there had been only 7 turnover free triple-doubles in D-I men's basketball

Last night @JalenPickett7 made it 8 pic.twitter.com/rHiHZg5E1A

— CBB Analytics (@CBBAnalytics) November 15, 2022

"He rebounds at a high level. That’s where some of those numbers start to creep up on you, that you don’t realize are there," Penn State coach Micah Shrewsberry said of Pickett after the game. "... As for the assists, he just sees the floor now. He starts to do things as he starts to play in the post or off picks. He’s adjusting as the game goes.

"There may be things he misses early on in the game, but he makes the switch pretty quickly after learning about it. He’s also really good at seeing the defense and trying to take advantage of the opportunity."

Shrewsberry also wanted to talk about the end of the game, a situation from which the Lions can learn. Penn State led Butler by 14 points with 3:56 remaining, then committed four turnovers and two fouls on successive possessions.

Butler went on a 12-2 run, cutting Penn State's lead to four with 28 seconds remaining. Those were important lessons to learn in a win, Shrewsberry said.

"We didn't perform well at the end," Shrewsberry said. "I think we'll be better. I think that’s because that is us not playing together. [We got] a little bit loose at the end but for stretches, I thought we played really well. I thought we really guarded. I thought we got them into the shots we wanted them to take. We kept our defense. We kept our shell intact, but we didn't have to over rotate too much, which keeps us in great block-out position.

"So, you know, for the third game in a row, we will rebound somebody. "Those are things you talk about, right? When you have a small team, your base defense has to be really solid."

Penn State hits the road this week for the first time, traveling to the Charleston Classic beginning Thursday. The Lions play Furman at 11:30 a.m. ET on ESPNU.

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