November 19, 2017
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The Penn State men's basketball team makes its first road trip of the season and travels to New York City for two games in the Progressive Legends Classic at the Barclays Center. Pittsburgh is the home team for the Monday, November 20 game with tipoff at 9:30 p.m.
WATCH:ESPN3
Bob Wischusen (pxp) & Sean Harrington (analyst)
LISTEN: Penn State Sports Network, Steve Jones (pxp) and Dick Jerardi (analyst)
2017-18 Affiliates or online at GoPSUsports.com/lionvision
FOLLOW: Twitter @PennStateMBB & @Coach_Chambers | Facebook | Instagram @PennStateMBB.
PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS
RECORD: 4-0, 0-0 Big Ten
Coach: Patrick Chambers (7th year at Penn State)
Starters Returning/Lost: 5/0
2017-18 Leading Playmaker:
#10 Tony Carr, So., G - 20.0 ppg / 5.3 apg
2017-18 Leading Rebounder:
#24 Mike Watkins, RSo. F - 8.3 rpg
PITTSBURGH PANTHERS
RECORD: 1-2, 0-0 Atlantic Coast
Coach: Kevin Stallings (2nd year at Pittsburgh)
Starters Returning/Lost: 3/2
2017-18 Leading Scorer:
#00 Jared Wilson-Frame, Jr., G/F - 16.3 ppg
2017-18 Leading Rebounder:
#4 Luther Ryan, Sr., F - 9.7 rpg
OPENING TIP
Penn State is 3-2 under Coach Patrick Chambers when playing in New York City and 1-1 in the Barclays Center. The Nittany Lions' last visit to New York City produced a 92-76 win over St. John's in Madison Square Garden (12/18/2016).
STARTING OFF
Penn State enters the contest with a 4-0 record, its first 4-0 start since the 2010-2011 season and only the third 4-0 start since 2000-01.
THE HOMESTAND
Penn State started the 2017-18 season with four homes games over the span of eight days -- all at the Bryce Jordan Center. This opening homestand is the longest in coach Patrick Chambers' tenure -- previously three to tipoff the 2011-12 season -- and matches Penn State's four-game homestand to open the 2010-11 campaign. The Nittany Lions started 2-0 with wins over Campbell (86-75), scoring the most points in a season opener since the 2000-01 campaign, and Fairleigh Dickinson, notable for Penn State as it broke the BJC record for steals in an individual men's game with 18.
The Nittany Lions defeated Montana as part of the Progressive Legends Classic University Park Regional to improve their record to 3-0. The next game in the Progressive Legends Classic University Park Regional takes place on Friday, Nov. 24 vs. Oral Roberts. Penn State topped Columbia last Friday to close the homestand at 4-0.
PITT PICKS UP WIN BEFORE NYC
Pittsburgh split its two Legends Classic home games with an 83-78 overtime loss to Montana (11-13) and a 70-62 win over UCSB (11-15). The Panthers have started their third different starting in as many games with three freshmen starters in the Navy game and six different freshmen in the starting lineups overall so far this season.
Kevin Stallings has 11 newcomers on his roster this season.
THE SERIES VS. PITTSBURGH
Penn State and Pittsburgh are meeting on the basketball court for the 148th time overall and in back-to-back years for the first time since the 1979-80 and 1980-81 seasons. The Nittany Lions lead the overall series 75-72, but Pittsburgh has had the upper hand more recently winning seven straight and eight of the last 10. Monday's meeting will be only the second-ever neutral site contest. The 147 games in a series are the most of any opponent for Penn State. The full game-by-game record vs. Pittsburgh is located on page 189 in the printed Penn State media guide and page 190 in the digital edition located at gopsu.info/MBBMediaGuide1718.
Here's a look at the last 10 meetings:
Game Date Site PS PITT Result
1/16/1982 H 52 46 W-2OT
3/18/1992 H 65 67 L-NIT
12/6/2000 H 88 74 W
12/8/2001 A 53 83 L
12/7/2002 H 60 82 L
12/6/2003 A 37 64 L
12/11/2004 H 71 84 L
12/10/2005 A 54 91 L
12/3/2013 A 69 78 L
12/10/2016 N 73 81 L
HOLDING OPPONENTS UNDER 60 POINTS
Fairleigh Dickinson and Montana were both held to a total of 57 points by the defensive-minded Nittany Lions. The 2015-16 season was the last time Penn State allowed less than 60 points to consecutive opponents against Bucknell (58) and Boston College (58). It was the lowest point total by Montana since February 27, 2016 (54).
Penn State was 11-0 in 2016-17 when keeping its opponents below 70 points and all six Big Ten wins came when opponents were kept at or below 70 with two teams held under 60 points.
STAYING ON TOP
Mike Watkins not only set the Penn State freshman mark for rebounds, he also claimed the top spot for career field goal percentage at 59.0 percent. Watkins is 14-20 from the field so far in 2017-18 (70.0) and at 59.9 percent in his career for tops on the Penn State career chart.
SWAT-KINS
The Philadelphia, Pa., native added three more blocks to his career total and is now sixth on Penn State's career list. He contributed 90 blocked shots to Penn State's record team total in 2016-17. Gyasi Cline-Heard (107) stands just ahead of Watkins in fifth with 107 blocks and Jan Jagla (2002-04) has 110 for fourth.
KING WHEELER
Freshman Jamari Wheeler reached a career high with 17 minutes of playing time against Montana. Coach Patrick Chambers commented that Wheeler brings "great pace and great speed...and did a really good job on both ends of the floor" Wednesday night. Wheeler was a disruptive force against the Grizzlies and had a career-best and team-high three assists to go along with two rebounds. Two nights later, with the absence of Tony Carr, Wheeler doubled his playing time (36 minutes), scored a career-best seven points and also posted career numbers in assists (4) and steals (3).
MINUTE BY MINUTE
An injury at the end of 2016-17 sidelined sophomore guard Nazeer Bostick for the remainder of the season, just as his minutes on the floor were increasing. He provided some spark as the first off the bench in both the Campbell (14 min) and Fairleigh Dickinson games (20 min). He scored four points with two rebounds and two steals against the Camels and had a career-best 12 points against FDU. The Philadelphia, Pa., native played a career-high 22 minutes against Montana and had his first career start against Columbia, producing 10 points and a career-best eight rebounds.
MBB LEADS BIG TEN; POSTS FIFTH-STRAIGHT YEAR WITH 100% GSR
Penn State student-athletes continue to graduate well above their peers nationwide, delivering a record-tying academic performance, according to data recently announced by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
The recent release of the NCAA's annual graduation rates study of institutions across the nation revealed Penn State student-athletes at the University Park campus earned a Graduation Success Rate (GSR) of 90 percent to tie the school's all-time record, previously set in the 2010 NCAA report. Nittany Lion students posted a 90 percent graduation rate compared to the 86 percent average for all Division I institutions for students entering from 2007-08 through the 2010-11 academic year.
The NCAA data revealed student-athletes from nine Penn State squads, including men's basketball, earned a Graduation Success Rate of 100 percent, an increase of two from last year's seven teams and up four from the 2015 total of five squads.
The men's basketball team had a perfect GSR score of 100 percent for the fifth consecutive year and its graduation figure was 22 points higher than the Division I average (100 to 78 percent).
TICKETS
Tickets are available for Penn State home games, including the Friday, November 24 contest vs. Oral Roberts. Visit gopsusports.com/tickets/m-baskbl-tickets.html for more information.
PENN STATE SPORTS NETWORK
More than 40 radio stations in Pennsylvania and New York will carry Nittany Lion Basketball games during the 2017-18 season. Radio announcer Steve Jones, in his 36th year with Penn State, will handle the play-by-play with USBWA Hall of Famer Dick Jerardi of the Philadelphia Daily News serving as analyst. Broadcasts begin 30 minutes prior to tip-off with the "Penn State Bookstore Pregame Show." Broadcasts conclude with the PA Propane Association Postgame Show post-game show featuring coach and player interviews, game statistics and scores from around the nation.
Broadcasts are also available on SiriusXM with specific channels for each game announced in game notes.
THE PENN STATE COACHES SHOW PRESENTED BY PEPSI
"The Penn State Coaches Show -- Featuring Pat Chambers and Presented by Pepsi" with Steve Jones and Roger Corey, airs live from Primanti Brothers in State College Thursday nights from 6:05-7:00 pm beginning November 30, 2017, and ending in early March. "The Penn State Coaches Show" and game broadcasts can also be heard for free via www.GoPSUsports.com/lionvision. The Penn State Sports Network is syndicated by Penn State Sports Properties, a property of Learfield.