UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's basketball team takes its first road trip of the 2018-19 season with a 9 p.m. ET contest at DePaul Thursday, Nov. 15 in WinTrust Arena. The game, part of the 2018 Gavitt Tipoff Games, will be broadcast by FS1.
This is the second time the two schools will meet in the Gavitt Tipoff Games, the first was on Nov. 17, 2015 in the inaugural year of the series. The Nittany Lions won 68-62 in the Bryce Jordan Center in their lone win in the seven total meetings.
The last time Penn State played DePaul in Chicago was in 1984.
WATCH: FS1
Alex Faust (pxp) & Doug Gottlieb (analyst)
STREAM: foxsportsgo.com (subscription required)
LISTEN: Penn State Sports Network
Steve Jones (pxp) & Dick Jerardi (analyst)
GoPSUsports.com/lionvision | Affiliates
Satellite: XM 382 | Internet 969
LIVE STATS: Penn State at DePaul
SOCIAL: Twitter @PennStateMBB & @Coach_Chambers | Facebook | Instagram @PennStateMBB.
ROSTER: Penn State | DePaul
SCHEDULE: Penn State | DePaul
GAME NOTES: Penn State | DePaul
MEDIA GUIDE: Penn State
DEPAUL BLUE DEMONS
Coach: Dave Leitao (Northeastern, 1983)
DePaul Record: 87-99 (7th season)
Career Record: 172-194 (13th season)
2018-19 Record: 2-0, 0-0 Big East
2018-19 Leading Scorer
#31 Max Strus, Sr., - 25.0 ppg
2018-19 Leading Rebounder
#2 Jaylen Butz, So., F - 8.0 rpg
2018-19 Assists Leader
#11 Eli Cain, Sr., G - 7.0 apg
PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS
Coach: Patrick Chambers (Philadelphia, 1994)
Penn State Record: 115-122 (8th season)
Career Record: 157-150 (10th season)
2018-19 Leading Scorer:
#11 Lamar Stevens, Jr., F - 23.5 ppg
2018-19 Leading Rebounder:
#11 Lamar Stevens, Jr., F - 9.5 rpg
2018-19 Assists Leader:
#13 Rasir Bolton, Fr., G - 7 assists
PENN STATE PROBABLE STARTERS
F -- 11 -- Lamar Stevens – Jr. | 2018-19 ppg: 23.5 | rpg: 9.5
Team high in 5 stats (pts-reb-ast-bs-stls) vs JSU
F -- 21 -- John Harrar – So. | 2018-19 ppg: 6.5 | rpg: 5.0
Note: 9-1 record in lineup, 7 pts, 5 rebs in 12 min in 2H vs. UNF
G – 2 -- Myles Dread -- Fr. | 2018-19 ppg: 12.0 | rpg: 3.5
Note: Averaging 34.0 min, 17 pts in debut vs. UNF, most by a PSU freshman in the Big Ten era
G – 5 -- Jamari Wheeler -- So. | 2018-19 ppg: 1.5 | rpg: 2.5
Note: freshman record 52 steals in 2017-18, 3 pts, 3 reb, 3 assists vs. UNF
G – 23 -- Josh Reaves -- Sr. | 2018-19 ppg: 15.0 | rpg: 2.0
Note: Tied for 6th on PS career steals list (176)
SERIES RECORD vs. DEPAUL
DePaul holds a 6-1 lead in the series with the last meeting between the two schools taking place on Nov. 17, 2015 in the inaugural year of the Gavitt Tipoff Games series.
THE LAST TIME PENN STATE VISITED DEPAUL, IN 1984…
The last time Penn State visited DePaul in 1984...
No. 1 song
"When Doves Cry" by Prince
Top grossing movie
"Ghostbusters"
Top toy
Transformers
Top fashions
Parachute pants & net shirts
Cost of a Super Bowl ad
$368,000
Most popular TV show
"Dynasty"
Miscellaneous
• Penn State's Craig Collins was the NCAA leader in free throw percentage at 95.9 percent (94 FT-98 FTA, 1984-85 season)
• Alex Trebek begins first year on Jeopardy
• A gallon of gas was $1.10
• First Air Jordans produced
• BandAid recorded "Do They Know It's Christmas"
• First "minivan" introduced
• U.S. Bell system is broken up
• Space Shuttle Discovery makes first flight
• Clara Peller said "Where's the beef?" and Arnold Schwarzenegger said "I'll be back."
• LeBron James was not yet born (12/30/1984)
STARTING 5
Penn State starts 2-0 for the second-straight year and fourth time in five seasons.
Prior to Rasir Bolton's 25 points vs. Jacksonville State Monday, the last time a Penn State freshman scored 25 points in a game was Lamar Stevens vs. Maryland (25, 2/7/2017).
Junior forward Lamar Stevens will make his 75th consecutive start at DePaul.
With 10 3-point field goals vs. JSU, the Nittany Lions now have 61 games with at least nine 3-point field goals made in the Chambers era.
Penn State won the bench-scoring battle, outscoring Jacksonville State 30-8 including Bolton's 25-point performance. It was the most since the Nittany Lions' 41 bench points vs. Oral Roberts on Nov. 24, 2017.
GAVITT GAMES, THE SEQUEL
The Nittany Lions will participate in their second Gavitt Tipoff Games series on Thursday, Nov. 15 at DePaul. Penn State and DePaul were paired in the inaugural Gavitt Tipoff Games in 2015.
The unique series between the two conferences was named to honor the late Dave Gavitt, the founder of the Big East Conference and basketball visionary. Gavitt had a profound and lasting influence on the sport of basketball on the collegiate, professional and Olympic levels and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.
LAST TIME OUT – NITTANY LIONS GUT OUT 76-61 WIN
The Penn State men's basketball team gutted out a 76-61 win over Jacksonville State in the second game of the U.S. Regional of the Cancun Challenge in the Bryce Jordan Center. Junior forward Lamar Stevens and freshman guard Rasir Bolton each had 25 points in the victory and Stevens had nine rebounds with his second-straight 20-plus point game.
The Nittany Lions pulled away in the second half after a "rock fight" in the first period as both teams struggled to find an offensive rhythm. The Gamecocks came back to the court for the second half and made their first four shots to tie the game at 39 and then hung around down by only one, 42-41.
Stevens would score Penn State's next nine-points over 5:30 before the final six minutes witnessed three different Nittany Lions help in extending the lead. Sophomore forward John Harrar started the push with a layup, freshman Myreon Jones added two free throws and Bolton and Reaves combined for 13 points for the final margin.
In the first half, Stevens scored eight of the Nittany Lions' first 10 points and had 14 points by the break. He played all 40 minutes and led or tied Penn State's team high in points (25), rebounds (9), assists (3), steals (2) and blocks (1).
Josh Reaves finished the night with 11 points and had two steals to move him into a tie with Tom Daly for sixth on the Nittany Lions' career steals list with 176.
Jacksonville State had a team-best 17 points from Detrick Mostella and Jason Burnell had 14 points and a game-best 12 rebounds.
The Gamecocks, despite having a hot hand early in the second half, were 0-8 in a stretch, and finished the game with a 39.7 field goal percentage.
BY THE NUMBERS
7 - The Nittany Lions' seven-game win streak is currently the longest in the nation.
16 - Senior guard Josh Reaves ranks 16th on the NCAA active career list for steals with 176 and is tied for sixth on the PSU career list.
25 - Rasir Bolton scored 25 points vs. Jacksonville State. The last time a freshman scored 25 points in a game was Lamar Stevens vs. Maryland (Feb. 7, 2017).
44 - Dating back to the start of the 2015-16 season, Penn State has 44 wins vs. only 3 losses when it holds an opponent to less than 70 points.
74 - Junior forward Lamar Stevens has started every single game (74) for Penn State since arriving on campus.
87 - Penn State's 87 points vs. UNF were the most in a season opener in the coach Patrick Chambers era and most since 2000-01 (87).
115 - Coach Patrick Chambers has 115 victories at Penn State and is closing in on the win total of Jerry Dunn (117, 8 years).