CANCUN, Mexico – The Penn State men's basketball team faces Bradley in the championship game of the Cancun Challenge held at the Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya. Tipoff is 8:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Nov. 21, and the contest will be broadcast by CBS Sports Network.
Bradley leads the series 3-2, but the two teams have not met since 1998. The last two meetings were won by the home team and the last neutral site contest between the Braves and Nittany Lions came in the Cable Car Classic in December 1995 with a Penn State 75-72 win.
The Nittany Lions swept through the U.S. Regional games of the Cancun Challenge with wins over North Florida (87-72) and Jacksonville State (76-61). Bradley topped UW-Parkside (74-58) and the common opponent, Jacksonville State 74-65 in the Braves' U.S. games and then beat SMU 75-62.
Wright State and SMU will meet in the third-place game at 6 p.m. Wednesday evening.
WATCH: CBS Sports Network
Thad Anderson (pxp) & Pete Gillen (analyst)
STREAM: https://www.cbssportsnetwork.com/
(subscription required)
LISTEN: Penn State Sports Network
Steve Jones (pxp) & Dick Jerardi (analyst)
GoPSUsports.com/lionvision | Affiliates
LIVE STATS: Penn State vs. Bradley
SOCIAL: Twitter @PennStateMBB & @Coach_Chambers | Facebook | Instagram @PennStateMBB.
ROSTER: Penn State | Bradley
SCHEDULE: Penn State | Bradley
STATS: Penn State | Bradley
GAME NOTES: Penn State
MEDIA GUIDE: Penn State
BRADLEY BRAVES
Coach: Brian Wardle (Marquette, 2001)
Bradley Record: 42-61 (4th season)
Career Record: 137-126 (9th season)
2018-19 Record: 4-1, 0-0 Missouri Valley
2018-19 Leading Scorer
#10 Elijah Childs, So., F - 14.2 ppg
2018-19 Leading Rebounder
#10 Elijah Childs, So., F - 9.6 rpg
2018-19 Assists Leader
#5 Darrell Brown, Jr., G - 3.6 apg
PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS
Coach: Patrick Chambers (Philadelphia, 1994)
Penn State Record: 116-123 (8th season)
Career Record: 158-151 (10th season)
2018-19 Leading Scorer:
#11 Lamar Stevens, Jr., F - 24.3 ppg
2018-19 Leading Rebounder:
#11 Lamar Stevens, Jr., F - 9.0 rpg
2018-19 Assists Leader:
#23 Josh Reaves, Sr., G - 4.3 apg
PENN STATE PROBABLE STARTERS
F -- 11 -- Lamar Stevens – Jr. | 2018-19 ppg: 24.3 | rpg: 9.0
Note: 4th car dbl-dbl @ DePaul with 25 pts/12 reb
F -- 21 -- John Harrar – So. | 2018-19 ppg: 4.0 | rpg: 4.3
Note: Over 50% FG, 3rd on team at 4.3 rpg, 2 steals
G – 2 -- Myles Dread -- Fr. | 2018-19 ppg: 14.0 | rpg: 3.5
Note: 2018-19 Nittany Lion season-best and career-high six steals vs. Wright State
G – 5 -- Jamari Wheeler -- So. | 2018-19 ppg: 4.3 | rpg: 2.5
Note: 12 pts. vs. Wright State, 4-5 FG, 2-3 3-FG
G – 23 -- Josh Reaves -- Sr. | 2018-19 ppg: 14.3 | rpg: 3.7
Note: 3rd career double-double with 12/10 vs. Wright State
SERIES RECORD vs. BRADLEY
Penn State and Bradley have not met in this century, but have met five times previously with the Braves holding a 3-2 record over the Nittany Lions. The last two contests were won by the home team with Bradley topping Penn State 63-54 in Peoria in December 1998 and Penn State winning 75-53 in the Bryce Jordan Center on December 1996.
The last neutral site meeting was in San Jose, California, with Penn State taking two games in the Cable Car Classic with a 75-72 win over Bradley on the final day on Dec. 30, 1995.
STARTING 5
Junior forward Lamar Stevens has four-straight 20-plus point games in 2018-19 with five consecutive overall dating back to the 2018 NIT championship game (2018-19: 22-25-25-25; 2017-18: 28).
Penn State is 12-0 in the 2018-19 and 2017-18 seasons combined when defeating a team by 16 or more points (2018-19: 1-0; 2017-18: 11-0)
Dating back to the start of the 2015-16 season, Penn State is 45-3 when holding an opponent to less than 70 points scored.
Senior guard Josh Reaves currently leads Penn State in FG percentage (63.3), 3-FG percentage (57.1), FT percentage (81.8), and in assists (17) and steals (11).
Stevens, who has started every game since arriving on campus in 2016-17, would make his 77th consecutive start vs. Bradley Wednesday night.
LAST TIME OUT – NITTANY LIONS DOMINATE IN WIN TO ADVANCE
Penn State roared out to a double-digit lead in the first half and never looked back, defeating Wright State 77-59 over in the first game of the Riviera Division bracket in the Cancun Challenge Tuesday night. Junior forward Lamar Stevens posted his fourth-straight 20-point game of the 2018-19 season with 25 points, going 10-15 from the field.
Stevens was one of four Nittany Lions in double figures with senior guard Josh Reaves recording his first double-double of the season and third of his career with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman guard Myles Dread had 13 points, a Penn State 2018-19 season-best six steals and three assists.
Sophomore point guard Jamari went 4-5 from the field, including two key 3-pointers, and had four assists in 35 minutes.
The Nittany Lions came out with precision shooting from the field, going 8-9 by the first timeout and were 61.5 percent (16-26) and 54.2 percent in the second period for a 58.0 percentage for the game. On the defensive side, Penn State held the Raiders to under 40 percent shooting from the field, 39.6 percent for the game.
The dominating performance gave Penn State the advantage in the box score in all but three categories as PSU had more turnovers, 16 -15, more fouls, 22-16, and fewer blocked shots (0-2). The Nittany Lions capitalized on turnovers with 21 points off those miscues.
Wright State cut the deficit to 12 points with 8:24 remaining in the second half, but back-to-back 3-point baskets by Dread and Wheeler put the Nittany Lions back up by 16.
Four Raiders scored in double figures with Bill Wampler netting 17. Love had a double-double with 10 rebounds to share the game-high rebounding honors with Reaves.
