Penn State gets Clemson in annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge matchup
Penn State basketball has its 2022 ACC/Big Ten Challenge opponent on the books. On Tuesday, Nov. 29, head coach Micah Shrewsberry and the Nittany Lions will travel to face Clemson.
The time and television pairing for the game has not yet been set, though the ESPN family of networks will have it.
This is the first meeting for Penn State against Clemson since 2005.
Scouting the Tigers
Under longtime head coach Brad Brownell, Clemson finished 17-16 last season with an 8-12 mark in the ACC. The Tigers’ conference record landed them a 10-seed in the ACC Tournament, first topping NC State before falling to eventual champ Virginia Tech.
Clemson was led in scoring by 6-10, 240-pound center P.J. Hall last season. As a sophomore, the South Carolina product averaged 15.5 points per game. His 5.8 rebounds were also good for second on the team, leading on the offensive glass with 52 in 30 games played.
His production was complemented by three double-digit scorers for the Tigers. Guard Al-Amir Dawes (11.3 ppg), David Collins (10.3), and Hunter Tyson (10.0) played a big role in the team’s 71.7 points per game average on the season.
Collins was a grad transfer and ran out of eligibility, while Dawes and fifth-leading scorer, Nick Honor, both transferred out this offseason. Boston College’s Brevin Galloway is in after averaging 8.3 ppg for the Eagles last season. Also bolstering the Tigers’ lineup is Class of 2022 enrollee Dillon Hunter, a three-star guard.
The Tigers’ final NCAA NET ranking was No. 81.
Penn State’s next steps
Penn State welcomed eight newcomers to the program this summer. The latest arrival, Denver transfer Mikey Henn, landed with the Nittany Lions late Tuesday night this past week.
His addition came on top of transfers from Cam Wynter (Drexel) and Andrew Funk (Bucknell) this offseason. Having been on Penn State’s campus with the other core returning Nittany Lions from last season for a few weeks, they were joined by Shrewsberry’s first recruiting class to the program.
That group included five Class of 2022 additions in the form of Jameel Brown, Kebba Njie, Evan Mahaffey, Kanye Clary, and Demetrius Lilley, each of whom arrived to Penn State last weekend.
The rest of the Nittany Lions’ non conference schedule has not yet been set. They’re due to play in the Charleston Classic the weekend before Thanksgiving. And, as announced last week, the Big Ten slate of opponents is now known.
