March 13, 2018
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The Penn State men's basketball team makes its 11th appearance in the National Invitation Tournament as a No. 4 seed and hosts in-state opponent and No. 5 seed Temple at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, March 14 in the Bryce Jordan Center.
WATCH: ESPNU and WatchESPN
Mike Corey (pxp) and Malcolm Huckaby
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.
TICKETS: Tickets for Wednesday's NIT game vs. Temple are available at Ticketmaster.com.
DIGITAL PROGRAM: NIT Digital Program
TEMPLE OWLS
RECORD: 17-15, 8-10 American
Coach: Fran Dunphy (12th year at Temple)
2017-18 Leading Scorer
#13 Quinton Rose, So., G - 18.4 ppg
2017-18 Leading Rebounder:
#0 Obi Enechionya, Sr., F - 5.8 rpg
2017-18 Assists Leader:
#1 Josh Brown, RSr., G - 4.3 apg
PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS
RECORD: 21-13, 9-9 Big Ten
Coach: Patrick Chambers (7th year at Penn State)
2017-18 Leading Scorer:
#10 Tony Carr, So., G - 19.9 ppg
2017-18 Leading Active Rebounder:
#11 Lamar Stevens, So. F - 6.2 rpg
2017-18 Assists Leader:
#10 Tony Carr, So., G - 4.7 apg
OPENING TIP
The Nittany Lions, enter the 2018 National Invitation Tournament (NIT) as a No. 4 seed and will meet instate opponent Temple, a No. 5 seed, for the 93rd time in history.
This is the third meeting between the two teams in a postseason tournament and first in the NIT.
SERIES RECORD VS. TEMPLE
Penn State and Temple have met 92 previous times, dating back to a first meeting in the 1928 season. The two programs have not met since 2011 when the Owls came away with a 66-64 win over the Nittany Lions in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Nittany Lions' last win in the series came on Dec. 9, 2000 with a 66-60 win in the Bryce Jordan Center.
Streak: Temple, W7
Overall series: Temple leads 60-32
at the BJC: Tied 2-2
at University Park: Penn State leads 22-21
QUICK HITS
• Penn State has scored 2,537 points in the 2017-18 season and needs only 36 points to break the team's single-season record of 2,572 points, set in 35 games in 2000.
• Senior guard Shep Garner, with 33 points to match his uniform number against No. 8 Purdue on 3/3, took over the top spot on Penn State's Big Ten Tournament career scoring list with 135 points. Garner had 58 points in the 2018 tournament at Madison Square Garden.
• With 25 points against both Northwestern and Ohio State, Tony Carr became one of only six Big Ten players to record multiple 25-point games in a single Big Ten Tournament. The sophomore also claimed the No. 6 spot on Penn State's Big Ten Tournament career scoring list with 89 points, 62 coming in the three games in 2018.
• There's no sophomore slump for Carr who broke Talor Battle's sophomore scoring record of 635 points with 638 to date. The total ranks seventh on Penn State's top 10 for single-season scoring.
CONNECTIONS
Many of the Penn State and Temple players know each other and one notable friendship is between Nittany Lion Lamar Stevens and Owl Shizz Alston, Jr. The two attended the same high school for two years.
Nittany Lion coach Patrick Chambers and Temple coach Fran Dunphy both played for Philadelphia legend Dan Dougherty, Chambers at Episcopal Academy and Dunphy at Malvern Prep.
Paul Chambers, Coach's older brother, was a three-year starting point guard (1989-92) for Dunphy during his 17-year tenure at Penn.
GOOD COMPANY
As of March 10, Penn State is one of only 10 NCAA Division I teams that hasn't lost a game by more than 12 points in 2017-18. Other teams in its company include Duke, Purdue, Villanova and Virginia.
HIGH FIVE FOR 25
Penn State scored 70 or more points 25 times in 2017-18, the most games in a single season in program history.
Penn State averaged 75.3 points per game in the regular season and 72.1 ppg in Big Ten action (tied for third all-time in Nittany Lion league scoring averages). Both 2017-18 averages are the highest since that 2000-01 season.
MILESTONES FOR CHAMBERS
Coach Patrick Chambers, in his seventh year, has achieved several milestones as leader of the Nittany Lions. He earned his 100th win at Penn State vs. Nebraska Jan. 12 and his 11th win over a ranked team over No. 13 Ohio State on March 2.
The Philadelphia, Pa., native led Penn State to its first 20-win season since 2008-09 and 10th in the program's history. This squad has reached 21 wins faster than any other PSU team.
With the win over Ohio State, Chambers is now 150-150 for his nine-year career following two 21-14 seasons and an NCAA appearance as the America East champion.