UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's basketball team opens its Big Ten Conference season with a trip to No. 24 Maryland Saturday, Dec. 1. Tipoff in the Xfinity Center is set for 5 p.m., changed from its original 1 p.m. time by the Big Ten Conference in November, and the game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.
Two early December league games, installed into team schedules for 2017-18, return this season. The Nittany Lions won their first Big Ten Conference opener under coach Patrick Chambers last year with a 77-73 win at Iowa, the first road league-opening win since 2010-11 and first win in Iowa City since 2001.
Maryland leads the overall series 13-10 with a 4-2 advantage in Big Ten Conference games. The home team has won each of the last four contests.
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Maryland Terrapins
Coach: Mark Turgeon (Kansas, 1987)
Maryland Record: 163-81 (8th season)
Career Record: 413-240 (12th season)
2018-19 Record: 6-0, 0-0 Big Ten
2018-19 Leading Scorer
#1 Anthony Cowan Jr., Jr., G – 16.8 ppg
2018-19 Leading Rebounder
#4 Bruno Fernando, So., F – 9.3 rpg
2018-19 Assists Leader
#1 Anthony Cowan Jr., Jr., G – 4.7 apg
PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS
Coach: Patrick Chambers (Philadelphia, 1994)
Penn State Record: 117-124 (8th season)
Career Record: 159-152 (10th season)
2018-19 Leading Scorer:
#11 Lamar Stevens, Jr., F – 23.0 ppg
2018-19 Leading Rebounder:
#11 Lamar Stevens, Jr., F – 8.7 rpg
2018-19 Assists Leader:
#23 Josh Reaves, Sr., G – 3.8 apg
PENN STATE PROBABLE STARTERS
F -- 11 -- Lamar Stevens – Jr. | 2018-19 ppg: 23.0 | rpg: 8.7
Note: B1G No. 2 scorer, NCAA No. 20, No. 23 Penn State career scoring list (1,161)
F -- 21 -- John Harrar – So. | 2018-19 ppg: 4.2 | rpg: 4.8
Note: Top FG% on team at 55.6, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, career-best 3 steals vs. VT
G – 2 -- Myles Dread -- Fr. | 2018-19 ppg: 9.8 | rpg: 3.7
Note: 6 starts, 31.3 minutes per game, 2nd on team in steals with nine
G – 5 -- Jamari Wheeler -- So. | 2018-19 ppg: 4.0 | rpg: 3.5
Note: 7 points, 3-6 FG, 1 3-FG, 4 rebounds, 2 assists vs. VT
G – 23 -- Josh Reaves -- Sr. | 2018-19 ppg: 10.8 | rpg: 5.5
Note: No. 5 on PSU career steals list with 184, No. 1 in Big Ten with 14
SERIES RECORD vs. MARYLAND
Series streak: Penn State, W1
Overall series: Maryland leads 13-10
at College Park: Maryland leads 7-1
Big Ten games: Maryland leads 4-2
Penn State and Maryland have met 23 times with the Terps holding a 13-10* overall series lead. PSU's victories came exactly one year apart on Feb. 7, 2017 (70-64) and Feb. 7, 2018 (74-70).
The home team has won each of the last four meetings.
*The 1938 contest is listed as a Penn State win, but accounts differ in whether or not the meeting was a game or exhibition.
STARTING 5
All six of the Big Ten Conference meetings between Penn State and Maryland have been decided by six points or less.
The Nittany Lions play nine Saturday games in 2018-19, with their first weekend game Dec. 1 at Maryland. Six of the Saturday games are conference road games or at a neutral site (NC State).
Penn State ranks 46th in the NCAA statistics for scoring defense, allowing only 64.2 points per game, and 25th in 3-pt. field goal defense (27.3%).
The win over No. 13/12 Virginia Tech in the BJC Tuesday night marked Penn State's first home win over a ranked nonconference opponent since Dec. 1, 1998 (No. 10 Temple). Eleventh-ranked Pitt was the last ranked nonconference opponent to visit the BJC back in Dec. 2004.
NCAA.com tabbed the Nittany Lions as recipients of its "best dressed" award for the 2018 ACC/Big Ten Challenge as Penn State paid homage to the institution's original colors with new black and pink Nike uniforms.
THE DMV
Two Nittany Lions on the roster have connections to the DMV, senior guard Josh Reaves, from Fairfax, Virginia, and freshman guard Myles Dread, who moved to the area in middle school, and then attended Gonzaga College High School in Washington D.C. Freshman guard Rasir Bolton hails from Petersburg, Virginia, near Richmond.
LAST TIME OUT – PENN STATE IN PINK PREVAILS OVER NO. 13 VIRGINIA TECH
Penn State defeated No. 13 Virginia Tech 63-62 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 Jones' total points came in the second half of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge victory.
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 Rasir Bolton put the Nittany Lions up 61-58 and 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 shots and free throws and a turnover by Virginia Tech all in the last 10 seconds added to the drama-filled affair.
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.
Penn State trailed 37-35 at halftime with eight ties and five lead changes through the period. Both teams had runs with the Hokies taking the lead back with a minute left before the break.
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.
Mike Watkins played for first time since a February 21, 2018 injury sidelined him for 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.
BY THE NUMBERS
3 - Millions of dollars raised (net) by Coaches vs. Cancer-Penn State since the organization was launched in 1995.
9 - In the Patrick Chambers era, nine of the Nittany Lions' 12 wins over ranked opponents, including the win over No. 13/12 Virginia Tech, have occurred at home in the Bryce Jordan Center.
46 - Penn State ranks 46th in the NCAA Div. 1 statistics for scoring defense, allowing opponents only 64.2 points per game.
46 - Dating back to the start of the 2015-16 season, Penn State has 46 wins vs. only 4 losses when it holds an opponent to less than 70 points.
52 - In the last eight years, the lowest point total in a win was 52 in a home victory over No. 24 Minnesota during the 2016-17 season.
117 - Number of wins by coach Patrick Chambers, in his eighth year at Penn State, tied with Jerry Dunn (8 years) for sixth on the Nittany Lions' list.
318 - Penn State's "experience" ranking, based on eligibility, according to kenpom.com, with the Nittany Lions' roster average of 1.15 years. (353 NCAA Div. 1 teams ranked)
