UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State men's basketball team opens the 2018-19 season vs. North Florida on Friday, Nov. 9 in the Bryce Jordan Center. Tipoff vs. the Ospreys is 7:30 p.m. Pregame activities include the unveiling of the 2018 National Invitation Tournament championship banner.
Friday's game is the first of two home games in the U.S. Regional of the Cancun Challenge with the second game in the regional bracket vs. Jacksonville State set for Monday, Nov. 12.
This is the first meeting between North Florida and Penn State.
TICKETS: GoPSUSsports.com, call 1-800-NITTANY or visit the Penn State Athletics Ticket Office at the Bryce Jordan Center.
Student single-game tickets are $5.
PROMOTIONS: First 2,000 students receive "Climb as One" T-shirts
WATCH: BTN+/BTN2Go.com (subscription required)
LISTEN: Penn State Sports Network
Steve Jones (pxp) & Dick Jerardi (analyst)
GoPSUsports.com/lionvision | Affiliates
Satellite: XM 390 | Internet 976
LIVE STATS: UNF at Penn State
SOCIAL: Twitter @PennStateMBB & @Coach_Chambers | Facebook | Instagram @PennStateMBB.
ROSTER: Penn State | North Florida
SCHEDULE: Penn State | North Florida
GAME NOTES: Penn State | North Florida
MEDIA GUIDE: Penn State | North Florida
DIGITAL PROGRAM: North Florida at Penn State
NORTH FLORIDA OSPREYS
Coach: Matthew Driscoll (Slippery Rock, 1992)
UNF Record: 147-151 (10th season)
Career Record: 147-151 (10th season)
2018-19 Record: 0-1, 0-0 Atlantic Sun
Leading Scorer vs. Dayton
#0 Noah Horchler, Jr., F - 19 pts.
Leading Rebounder vs. Dayton:
#0 Noah Horchler, Jr., F - 12 rebs.
Assists Leader vs. Dayton
#10 Ivan Gandia-Rosa, Jr., G - 5 assists
PENN STATE
Coach: Patrick Chambers (Philadelphia, 1994)
Penn State Record: 113-122 (7 years)
Career Record: 155-150 (9 years)
2017-18 Leading Scorer:
Tony Carr, G - 19.7 ppg
2017-18 Leading Rebounder:
#24 Mike Watkins, R-Jr., F - 8.9 rpg
2017-18 Assists Leader:
Tony Carr, G - 4.8 apg
PENN STATE PROBABLE STARTERS
F -- 11 -- Lamar Stevens – Jr. | 2017-18 ppg: 15.5 | rpg: 5.0
Note: Dbl-dbl in exh win at WVU with 20 pts/11 reb, Erving Award candidate
F -- 21 -- John Harrar – So. | 2017-18 ppg: 1.6 | rpg: 2.1
Note: 8 pts, 6 rebs (5 off), 1 blk in 18 min
G – 2 -- Myles Dread -- Fr. | Note: 23 pts in WVU exh on 19th birthday, 7-12 FG, 5-10 3FG
G – 5 -- Jamari Wheeler -- So. | 2017-18 ppg: 2.0 | rpg: 1.8
Note: 7 pts, 5 assts, 3 stls, 3-FG at WVU, set freshman record in 2017-18 with 52 steals
G – 23 -- Josh Reaves -- Sr. | 2017-18 ppg: 10.6 | rpg: 5.1
Note: Game-winning tip-in in WVU exh win, 3 assts, 2 stls, 1 blk
BANNER YEAR
Penn State will unveil its 2018 National Invitation Tournament championship banner during pregame festivities on opening night Friday, Nov. 9 vs. North Florida.
FOR OPENERS
The Nittany Lions will open the 2018-19 season at home in the Bryce Jordan Center for the 14th-straight year.
Penn State has won its last 12 of its last 13 season openers and six of seven under Patrick Chambers. The Lions are 90-31 overall in season openers and 80-11 in home season openers.
Against Campbell on Nov. 10, 2017, Nittany Lion fans witnessed the most points scored in a season opener, 86, since 2000-01 when PSU defeated Loyola, (Md.) 87-58.
CLIMBING WITH US
Penn State fans confirmed their passion for the basketball program's climb, averaging nearly 11,500 in attendance over the final five home games of the 2017-18 season. Courtside seats have sold out for the upcoming campaign with additional interest in those premier seat locations.
The total for student season tickets sold for the 2018-19 campaign is the highest in the Coach Chambers' era with anticipation for the exciting gameday experience and new 20-league game format, which will bring 10 conference contests to the BJC.
HOME SWEET HOME
With a 78.9 win percentage (15-4) in the Bryce Jordan Center in 2017-18, Penn State took over the program's No. 4 spot for home season win percentages. The 15 wins in the BJC were the second-highest in a single season (17, 2008-09).
NEW TO THE NITTANY LIONS
The first two opponents on the 2018-19 slate, North Florida and Jacksonville State, part of the U.S. Regional of the Cancun Challenge, are first-time foes for the Nittany Lions.
Penn State's trip to Cancun will be the first time the Nittany Lions will play in Mexico and its first in-season international trip since a trip to Puerto Rico early in the 2012-13 season.
U.S. Regional (University Park, Pa.)
Nov. 9 – UNF vs. Penn State
Nov. 12 – Jacksonville St. vs. Penn State
Riviera Division Bracket
CBS Sports Network
Nov. 20 – Wright State vs. Penn State
Nov. 21 – Bradley/SMU vs. Penn State
SERIES RECORD vs. NORTH FLORIDA
This is the first-ever meeting between Penn State and North Florida. The Nittany Lions own a 1-0 record against teams from the Atlantic Sun (1-0 vs. Jacksonville, 75-73 win on 12/26/1974 in Jacksonville as part of the Gator Bowl Tournament).
STATE OF EXCELLENCE
As part of Penn State Athletics' week of celebration of student-athlete achievement, STATE of Excellence will honor the 2018 National Invitation Tournament champions on the field at Beaver Stadium during Saturday's football game.
NEW FACES
Six newcomers join the Nittany Lions for the 2018-19 season with with four freshmen signees: guards Rasir Bolton, Myles Dread, Myreon Jones and Daniil Kasatkin and two transfers in guards Izaiah Brockington (St. Bonaventure) and Kyle McCloskey (Villanova-FB). McCloskey will have four years to play basketball and Brockington will have three years of eligibility remaining.
EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK
In 2018-19, for the second-straight season, Penn State will play at least one scheduled basketball game on every day of the week, The Nittany Lions' two Friday games are the season opener Nov. 9 and on the road at Alabama Friday, Dec. 21.
Penn State was 6-1 on Fridays during the 2017-18 season, including three wins in November.
LAST TIME OUT – EXHIBITION WIN AT No. 13 WEST VIRGINIA
Josh Reaves tipped in the winning basket with one second left on the clock after West Virginia tied the game at 82, and West Virginia's final inbound pass did not reach its mark as Penn State took the hard-fought 84-82 win.
Lamar Stevens posted a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds as the Nittany Lions topped 13th-ranked West Virginia in the charity exhibition game Nov. 3 in Morgantown, W.Va. Penn State led for more than 38 minutes, but the Mountaineers chipped away at the lead.
Freshman Rasir Bolton, who finished the afternoon with 15 points, scored six in a stretch of 47 seconds to give Penn State a five-point lead with just 1:39 to go before WVU's Chase Harler knocked down a 3-pointer and Esa Ahmad converted a layup for the tie at 82.
Celebrating his birthday with a team-leading 23 points, freshman Myles Dread scored seven of Penn State's eight points midway through the second half to help stave off a Mountaineer attack and keep the lead.
Penn State's 13 3-point baskets saw seven different individuals recording at least one, compared to WVU's team total of eight. The Nittany Lions climbed to a 10-0 lead to open the game and led by as many as 14 points in the first half.
West Virginia's Ahmad led all scorers with 25 points off 8-15 shooting from the field and eight free throws. Ahmad and Sagaba Konate each had seven rebounds to share the high mark for WVU.
BY THE NUMBERS
5 – The Nittany Lions currently have the second-longest active win streak in the nation behind only Villanova (11).
7 – ESPN.com recently released its list of major collegiate coaches who excel at developing talent with Nittany Lion coach Patrick Chambers ranked in the No. 7 spot. The rankings were compiled from player improvement data from 2010-11 through 2017-18.
15 – Penn State won 15 home games in 2017-18, the second-highest single-season total in history. With a 78.9 win percentage (15-4) in the Bryce Jordan Center in 2017-18, Penn State took over the program's No. 4 spot for home season win percentages.
26 – The Nittany Lions' 26-win total in 2017-18 marked their first 20-win season since 2008-09 and the second-highest win total all-time.
52 – Thirty-one individual and 21 team records, as well as a 23-year-old Big Ten individual record, were broken during the 2017-18 campaign.
80 – Penn State is 80-11 in home season openers and 90-31 overall in season openers. Penn State has won its last 12 of its last 13 season openers and six of seven under Patrick Chambers.
113 – Nittany Lion head coach Patrick Chambers has 113 wins in his seven years at the helm of the program, closing in on the Penn State win totals of Ed DeChellis (114, 8 years) and Jerry Dunn (117, 8 years).
