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February 7, 2018
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Lamar Stevens went 10-12 from the field for 25 points to lead all scorers as Penn State held off Maryland 74-70 in the Bryce Jordan Center. The Nittany Lions are 7-0 with the sophomore forward as the team's leading scorer.
The victory marked Penn State's seventh Big Ten win and third-straight conference win at home.
"I give Maryland credit; they played great and did what they had to do, but we found a way and that's what good teams do, they find a way," said Penn State men's basketball coach Patrick Chambers. "We looked a little slow and that's what happens in February: your legs are a little shot and you have to dig a little deeper, get a stop and get a rebound. We found a way and Lamar Stevens really stepped up for us and we needed every one of those points he had tonight."
Penn State improved to 17-9 and to a 7-6 mark in the Big Ten Conference using a 10-1 run early in the second half to build a 10-point lead, 64-54. Stevens scored seven of the 10 points in the stretch with a 3-pointer from sophomore guard Tony Carr.
The Terps responded with a 9-3 run with 3:14 left to play to pull within three points 73-70. It was the closest margin for Maryland since trailing by one at the 13:00 mark of the second half.
The game's six ties and six lead changes all took place in the first half. Maryland led by as many six points, 20-14, but three-straight 3-pointers by Stevens, senior guard Shep Garner and Carr put Penn State up by three, 23-20.
After ties at 25 and 27, Maryland's Anthony Cowan, Jr., hit back-to-back threes to give the Terps a 33-32 lead with less than five minutes before the break. Penn State closed the opening stanza with a 9-3 run fueled in part by two Mike Watkins' dunks and a triple by Carr. Penn State led 41-35 at halftime.
The Nittany Lions outrebounded the Terps 27-23 for the game with Josh Reaves pulling down nine boards for his Big Ten career best. Carr finished with 16 points and six assists on the night, while Reaves had 14 points and Watkins 11. Two of Watkins' total five rebounds came on the defensive end in the last 30 seconds as the Terps continued their offensive attack.
Penn State held the advantage in the paint 32-22 and also had a 10-point margin in points off turnovers 23-13.
The two teams were equal with nine 3-pointers, 11 free throws, 14 assists and six steals as well as at 50 percent shooting in the second half. Maryland's 59.1 percent in the first period led to a 54.3 final field goal percentage while the Nittany Lions had 10 turnovers to the Terps' 14.
Cowan was Maryland's top scorer with 15 as five Terps finished in double figures. Bruno Fernando, Kevin Huerter and Jared Nickens all had 13 and Darryl Morsell finished with 10. Fernando shared the game-high rebounding honors with Reaves with 9.
With the seven Big Ten wins on February 7, this is the latest date that Penn State has been over .500 in the Big Ten since the 2008-09 season. During that season, the Nittany Lions defeated Minnesota on February 14, 2009, to improve to 7-6 in conference play.
Penn State heads to Illinois for a Sunday, February 11 game in Urbana-Champaign. Tipoff is 7 p.m. ET. The Nittany Lions' next home game is Thursday, February 21 vs. Ohio State. Tickets for the remaining two games are available at .
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.