March 28, 2018
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NEW YORK -- The Penn State men's basketball team will compete for the 2018 National Invitation Championship Thursday, March 29 at Madison Square Garden. Tipoff is 7 p.m. ET.
WATCH: ESPN2 and WatchESPN
Bob Wischusen (pxp), Fran Fraschilla (analyst) and Kris Budden (reporter)
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.
DIGITAL PROGRAM: NIT Digital Program
UTAH UTES
RECORD: 23-11, 11-7 PAC 12
Coach: Larry Krystkowiak (7th Year at Utah)
2017-18 Leading Scorers
#1 Justin Bibbins, Sr., G - 14.8 ppg
2017-18 Leading Rebounder:
#21 Tyler Rawson, Sr., F - 6.9 rpg
2017-18 Assists Leader:
#1 Justin Bibbins, Sr., G - 4.7 apg
PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS
RECORD: 25-13, 9-9 Big Ten
Coach: Patrick Chambers (7th year at Penn State)
2017-18 Leading Scorer:
#10 Tony Carr, So., G - 19.7 ppg
2017-18 Leading Active Rebounder:
#11 Lamar Stevens, So. F - 6.1 rpg
2017-18 Assists Leader:
#10 Tony Carr, So., G - 4.8 apg
OPENING TIP
The Nittany Lions are participating in their 11th National Invitation Tournament and are 26-9 overall with a 1-1 record in final games. Penn State's last appearance in the finals was in 2009 when Penn State defeated Baylor 69-63 at Madison Square Garden for the championship.
SERIES RECORD VS. UTAH
Thursday night's meeting will be only the second in history for Penn State vs. Utah in men's basketball, with both meetings taking place in Madison Square Garden. The Nittany Lions won the December 28, 1971, meeting 80-69 in the ECAC Holiday Festival.
This is the first ever meeting between Penn State and a Pac-12 institution in an NIT contest. Penn State has played only six teams located west of the Mississippi River in NIT games: Baylor, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico and San Francisco.
Streak: Penn State, W1
Overall series: Penn State leads 1-0
at neutral sites: Penn State leads 1-0
QUICK HITS
• With 25 wins, the Nittany Lions have matched the total of the 1989-90 team, second to only the 27 wins in the 2008-09 season.
• Penn State has now won nine-straight NIT games with four so far in 2018 and five wins en route to the 2009 NIT championship.
• When the ball tips on Thursday night for the NIT championship, the 2017-18 edition of the Nittany Lion basketball team will be playing in a school record 39th game.
• Forward Lamar Stevens is five points away from 1,000 for his career. The North Wales, Pa., native would become only the second Nittany Lion men's basketball sophomore to achieve that milestone with Tony Carr reaching his 1,000th point at Nebraska (2/25). Stevens would become the 35th Nittany Lion with 1,000 or more points.
• If Stevens' reaches the 1,000 career point mark Thursday night, it will mark the first time since the 2000-01 season that Penn State would have three 1,000-point scorers on the court at the same time.
2000-01 Nittany Lions, Career Points
Joe Crispin 1,986
Titus Ivory 1,369
Gyasi Cline-Heard 1,058
2017-18 Nittany Lions Career Points
Shep Garner 1,621
Tony Carr 1,146
Lamar Stevens 995
• Shep "Madison Square" Garner has a way of rising to the occasion at the "World's Most Famous Arena." In six games at The Garden in his career, he averages 19.8 points a game and is connecting at a 53.7 clip. Sophomore guard Tony Carr has the second-best points-per-MSG game at 19.2. The Nittany Lions' MSG and NYC stats are on pages 33-36.
• Garner, who now owns both the Penn State and single-season record for 3-point field goals made is one shy of tying the Big Ten single-season record, currently held by Michigan State's Shawn Respert (119, 1994-95).
• Garner has played in all 74 wins in his Nittany Lion career, the most victories in any four-year span since Penn State joined the Big Ten in 1992-93.
• Carr, honored as USBWA All-District and NABC District 7 first team, broke Talor Battle's sophomore scoring record (2009, 635 points) and has 710 to date. The total ranks second on Penn State's top 10 for single-season scoring. Jesse Arnelle holds the record with 731 points in the 1954-55 season.
• Graduate student Julian Moore added his name to the Penn State record book with his 140th career game played, tops among all Nittany Lions and 16th among all active NCAA Division I players.
• Following all games completed March 27, Penn State is one of only five 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 and Villanova.
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 and Hall of Fame Coach Herb Magee's all-time assists leader at Philadelphia University, Chambers led Penn State to its first 20-win season since 2008-09 and 10th in the program's history. This 2017-18 squad reached 21 wins faster than any other Nittany Lion team.
With the victory at Marquette, Chambers has 25 wins in 2017-18, most in a single season in his career. He is now 154-150 over nine years with seven seasons at Penn State and two 21-14 seasons at Boston University. He has a 7-3 record in postseason games.
BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CITY
The Nittany Lions have visited New York City twice this year, first when they played in Brooklyn's Barclays Center at the end of November, splitting a pair of games in the Legends Classic. Penn State topped Pittsburgh 85-54 (11/20) and lost to then-16th-ranked Texas A&M 98-87 (11/21).
Earlier this month, Penn State went 2-1 in the 2018 Big Ten Tournament at Madison Square Garden. The Nittany Lions are now 4-2 overall in "The Big Apple" in 2017-18.
The Nittany Lions are 6-4 under coach Patrick Chambers in New York City with a 2-2 mark at the Barclays Center and 4-2 record at Madison Square Garden.
MADISON SQUARE GARDEN
Penn State men's basketball has played at Madison Square Garden 25 times, including 21 times at the current building.
The Nittany Lions are 14-7 in MSG IV with their most recent game, a win over Mississippi State in the NIT semifinals March 27 in "The Mecca."
Patrick Chambers brings a 5-2 record to MSG and 4-2 mark as the Nittany Lions' head coach.
His first win at MSG came on January 15, 2011, when his Boston University Terriers defeated Albany 63-44. On January 30, 2016, Penn State faced Michigan in the B1G Super Saturday event at MSG, falling 79-72 in the inaugural event. On December 18 of that year, the Nittany Lions would top St. John's 92-76.
LESS THAN 60, TIMES 15
Two NIT opponents, Temple and now Mississippi State, were held to 60 points or less by Penn State, giving Nittany Lions 15 victories when that statistic holds true.
When keeping its opponents below 70 points, Penn State is 30-1 over the last two seasons.
The Illini made the 60-and-under-list with 52 points and scored 16 in the second half, the lowest in either half by a Nittany Lion opponent this season.
Penn State allowed the Scarlet Knights only 43 points, tying the low scoring total by an opponent this season. Coppin State also had 43 points (12/30/17). Iowa scored 58 points, its lowest point total in the Big Ten this year.
Three times this season, most recently against Illinois (2/11) and No. 8 Ohio State (2/15), Penn State kept back-to-back opponents from scoring more than 60 points.
Three teams, Coppin State (43), Rutgers (43) and Oral Roberts (48), were below 50 points.
SH3P
With five 3-point field goals at Marquette, Shep Garner broke Penn State's single-season record for 3-point field goals made. In his next game, vs. Mississippi State in the NIT semifinals, he broke the NIT record for threes in a game with six and added, obviously, to his single-season record total. His 118 in 2017-18 tops the list and his second entry, from his junior year in 2016-17, is at No. 11.
CARR, STEVENS CLIMBING IN SEASON SCORING
Tony Carr broke Penn State's sophomore scoring record with 710 points so far this season, moving past the 635 points by Talor Battle (2009). As the Nittany Lions continue postseason play, both Carr and Stevens are climbing up Penn State's single-season scoring chart.
Carr currently ranks second with Stevens now 10th after his 30-point effort at Marquette and 17 points vs. Mississippi State.