Final Stats
December 17, 2017
| PENN STATE at GEORGE MASON |
|
|
72
|
54 |
|
1st Half |
2nd
Half |
Final |
| Penn State |
38 |
34 |
72 |
| George Mason |
18 |
36 |
54 |
|
| POSTGAME LINKS |
| Box Score | Box Score ( html ) |
| Watch: Stadium | Listen: LionVision |
|
| PENN STATE LEADERS |
| Points: Lamar Stevens (23) |
| Rebounds: Watkins, Stevens (12) |
| Assists: Reaves (4) |
| Blocks: Stevens, Watkins (2) |
| Steals: Wheeler (6) |
|
|
| STAT COMPARISON |
PS |
GM |
| Field Goal Pct. |
49.1 |
37.0 |
| Field Goals |
28-57 |
20-54 |
3-Point Field Goal Pct.
|
31.6 |
0.0 |
| 3-Point Field Goals |
6-19 |
0-14 |
| Free Throws |
10-16 |
14-17 |
| Rebounds |
36 |
32 |
| Assists |
13 |
6 |
| Turnovers |
12 |
15 |
| Steals |
11 |
7 |
| Blocks |
4 |
2 |
|
|
FAIRFAX, Va. - Forwards Lamar Stevens and Mike Watkins each had double-doubles and Fairfax, Va., native Josh Reaves added 13 points as Penn State defeated George Mason 72-54 at EagleBank Arena. It was the sixth time the Nittany Lions held an opponent under 60 points so far this season and second time they accomplished the feat against back-to-back opponents in 2017-18.
Stevens recorded his first career double-double in leading the Nittany Lions with 23 points and a career-best 12 rebounds. Watkins was 5-5 from the floor at the half and finished the night with 14 points and 12 boards for his 10th career double-double. Penn State outscored George Mason in the paint 40-26 for the game with a 26-8 margin in the category at the half.
"We had about eight days off and we looked like we were prepared on the defensive end and we worked on our habits and obviously, they (George Mason) played on Wednesday," said Penn State men's basketball coach Patrick Chambers. "The rest that we had, we had fresher legs today, and with Lamar and Mike, we had a size advantage and we took advantage of that today. As a collective group, even a man down, we really stepped up."
Reaves, who had close to 50 family members and friends present at the game, had his second-straight double-figure scoring game of the season and seventh of the year. He also had the game-high total with four assists.
Penn State took a 20-point advantage, 38-18, at the half, allowing George Mason only 18 points, the lowest offensive output in a half by a Nittany Lion opponent in 2017-18.
George Mason tied the game twice, for the second time at 6-6 at the 16:16 mark, but a three-pointer from Reaves, combined with a four-minute scoring drought by the Patriots would put Penn State ahead. Over the next five-minute period, Stevens and Watkins would each score nine points during a 21-4 Penn State run to extend the Nittany Lion lead to 30-12.
Sophomore guard Justin Kier led the Patriots with 17 points, with a 9-9 mark from the free throw line, and junior guard Jaire Grayer had 13 points and a team-best nine rebounds.
George Mason was 7-27 from the field in the first half for 25.9 percecnt and finished the game at 37 percent for the game, which included an 0-14 mark from beyond the arc. The last time Penn State did not allow a three-pointer in a game was during the 2014-15 season against George Washington (12/14/2014).
Senior Shep Garner added nine points, all off timely three-point field goals, and had three assists. Freshman guard Jamari Wheeler had a career-best 6 steals on the afternoon to go along with five points and an assist. Sophomore guard Nazeer Bostick, who started in place of Tony Carr, had six points, four rebounds and two assists.
The last time Penn State had two players register double-doubles in a regulation game was with Tim Frazier (19 pts/10 reb) and D.J. Newbill (17 pts/10 reb.) against Purdue (1/28/2014). Watkins (12 pts/11 reb) and Carr (23 pts/14 assists) both had double-doubles in the three-overtime game at Indiana (2/1/2017).
Tickets are available for all Penn State home men's basketball games including upcoming home contests vs. Binghamton (Tuesday, Dec. 19), Rider (Friday, Dec. 22) and Coppin State (Dec. 30) to close 2017. Tipoff time for December 30 has changed to 1 p.m. Visit gopsusports.com/tickets/m-baskbl-tickets.html for more information.
Keep up to date with the latest information from Coach Patrick Chambers and the Nittany Lions on Twitter by following @Coach_Chambers and @PennStateMBB, liking the team's page on Facebook and following the team Instagram account at @PennStateMBB.
