POSTGAME NOTES
Penn State vs North Florida
11/9/2018
Bryce Jordan Center (State College, PA.)
Attendance: 9,060
Penn State Scoring Leader: Lamar Stevens (22)
Penn State Rebounding Leader: Lamar Stevens (10)
Penn State Assist Leader: Rasir Bolton (6)
Miscellaneous Notes
- The reigning NIT champion Penn State Nittany Lions won the first-ever meeting between North Florida and Penn State. The Nittany Lions are now 2-0 against teams from the Atlantic Sun Conference.
- This win was the 114th victory in Coach Patrick Chambers seven-year tenure with Penn State which ties him with Ed DeChellis for 7th-most wins in Penn State history.
- With this win, the Nittany Lions improve to 81-11 in home season openers with a 7-1 record under Coach Patrick Chambers in such games.
- The 87-point total marks the most points scored in a season opener in the Coach Chambers' era, breaking the previous mark of 86 points set in the 2016-17 opener against Campbell.
- Penn State starting lineup: Myles Dread, Jamari Wheeler, Lamar Stevens, John Harrar, Josh Reaves.
Penn State Team Notes
- Dating back to the 2016-17, the Nittany Lions have won their last six games which is currently the second-highest active win streak behind only Villanova who has won eleven straight games.
- Three consecutive steals by Josh Reaves sparked an 8-0 Nittany Lion run midway through the first half. Penn State never looked back as they held their lead for the remaining 30:46 of the game.
- Penn State played with a lead for the majority of the game, 33:07 total, with the largest lead of 18 points.
- Penn State got to the foul line early, as UNF put Penn State in the bonus with 10:22 left in the first half and again with 10:26 left in the second half. The Nittany Lions drew 29 total fouls and shot 35 total free throws. Their 25 points from the charity stripe accounted for 29% of their total offense.
- Four players (Lamar Stevens, Josh Reaves, Myles Dread, and Rasir Bolton) scored in the double-digits. For Myles Dread and Rasir Bolton, this marks the first time multiple Penn State freshman scored double-digits in a season opener since 2016 when Tony Carr, Lamar Stevens, and Mike Watkins (Red Shirt) achieved the same feat.
- Strong perimeter defense led by Senior Josh Reaves forced North Florida into just 19% on 5-27 shooting from 3PT territory.
Nittany Lions Individual Notes
- Lamar Stevens, the Most Outstanding Player of the 2018 NIT, recorded his third career double-double with 22 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Stevens scored 18 of his 22 points in the first half and shot a perfect 8-8 from the free throw line.
- For Stevens, it was his 16th career game of 20 or more points scored.
- With his 22 points, Lamar Stevens passed James Barnes on the Penn State career scoring list and he is now 29th with 1,045.
- The two-time Big Ten steals leader Josh Reaves recorded four steals, a block, four assists, three rebounds, along with 19 points scored.
- Freshman guard Myles Dread was in the starting lineup for his PSU debut, playing 31 minutes. He contributed 17 points on 6-10 shooting including 4-8 from 3PT range.
- Fellow freshman guard Rasir Bolton had an efficient night scoring 13 points on 3-5 shooting from the floor, in addition to shooting 5-6 from the free throw line. He led the team with six assists in his debut effort.
- Sophomore forward Trent Buttrick swatted a career-high 3 blocks and had a steal, two rebounds, and four points.