Men's Basketball Upsets No. 13/12 Virginia Tech, 63-62

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's basketball team (4-2) defeated No. 13 Virginia Tech 63-62 Tuesday night in the Bryce Jordan Center as freshman Myreon Jones scored a career-best 18 points. Jones was 6-6 from the floor and 5-5 from beyond the arc in the first 14 of his 18 minutes on the floor. Thirteen of the Birmingham, Alabama, native's total points came in the second half of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge victory.
 
"I was really proud of the way we responded in that second half," said Penn State men's basketball coach Patrick Chambers. "We gave up 37 (in the first half)…to only give up, to one of the high scoring teams, only 25 points. It's Penn State basketball. We were defending. We were rebounding. We were all over the floor."
 
The 62-point total by Virginia Tech (5-1) was 20 points less than the team's average through its first five wins and for Penn State, the win was the first over a top-25 ranked nonconference opponent at the BJC in 20 years, the last when the Nittany Lions beat No. 10 Temple on Dec. 1, 1998.
 
Chambers and the Nittany Lions have won nine of their last 12 games against ranked opponents in the BJC.
 
With 3:47 left to play, a 3-point field goal by freshman Rasir Bolton put the Nittany Lions up 61-58 and senior guard Josh Reaves flew through the lane for the game-winning layup with just over three minutes left in the game.
 
Neither team would convert a basket in the final 3:13, but two made free throws by Virginia Tech's Justin Robinson pulled the Hokies back within one, 63-62, with 84 seconds remaining. Missed three pointers by both teams, missed free throws by Penn State and a turnover by Virginia Tech all in the last 10 seconds added to the drama-filled affair.
 
Junior forward Lamar Stevens pulled down a team-best eight rebounds and had 14 points with three assists and a blocked shot in 38 minutes on the floor while freshman Rasir Bolton finished with 11 points.
 
Stevens also showed leadership in the huddle, maintaining a calm demeanor at critical junctures of the game.
 
"I just reminded them (my teammates) that we were going to win this game," said Stevens, a candidate for the Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award. "We'd been doing everything it takes to put ourselves in a position to win and everyone stepped up. I was just encouraging them – telling them to keep playing hard, one more stop, one more rebound -- and they did that."
 
Penn State trailed 37-35 at halftime with eight ties and five lead changes through the first period. Virginia Tech used an 11-3 run to take a 21-13 lead at the 10:40 mark before the Nittany Lions countered with a 13-2 run over the next five minutes to go up 26-23. A layup by Nickeil Alexander-Walker followed by back-to-back threes by Robinson put the Hokies back on top with a minute left in the first period.
 
Virginia Tech started the game with five 3-pointers, three from Ty Outlaw who had four treys by the half and a 62.5 shooting percentage from the field and 67% rate from behind the arc. Those numbers cooled off to 50 and 61.5 percent, respectively at the break.
 
Mike Watkins played for first time since February 21, 2018 when he was injured early in the game vs. Michigan and would miss the rest of the 2017-18 season. Watkins had seven rebounds, three steals and two blocks off the bench.
 
Four Hokies scored in double figures with Robinson with a game-high 19 points and Kerry Blackshear, Jr., had a game-best nine rebounds in the loss. Outlaw finished with 16 while Blackshear had 14 and Alexander-Walker had 13 points, seven in the second half.
 
The Nittany Lions open their Big Ten Conference season on the road at Maryland at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 1 in the Xfinity Center. They return home for a 7 p.m. Tuesday night tilt vs. Indiana.
 
For information or to purchase Penn State men's single-game tickets for the Big Ten Conference home opener or other upcoming home games, visit: GoPSUsports.com/mbbsinglegametix or call 1-800-NITTANY, weekdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
 
Keep up to date with the latest information from Coach Chambers and the Nittany Lions on Twitter by following @Coach_Chambers and @PennStateMBB, on Facebook and Instagram at @PennStateMBB.