TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Penn State men's basketball team completes its stretch of three games away from home on Friday, Dec. 21 with a 9 p.m. game against host Alabama in Coleman Coliseum. The SEC Network will broadcast the game with an online stream available on watchespn.com (provider login may be required).
Penn State and Alabama have played only four times with the Crimson Tide holding a 3-1 edge in the series. Friday's game is the first meeting since a 1982 triple-overtime thriller at Rec Hall on December 11, 1982. Alabama came out with the win, 75-67.
This is the first time Nittany Lion coach Patrick Chambers will face Alabama as a head coach. Penn State went 1-1 against SEC competition in 2017-18 with a loss to No. 16 Texas A&M in the finals of the Legends Classic and a win over Mississippi State in the NIT semifinals en route to the championship.
WATCH: SEC Network
Courtney Lyle (pxp) & Dane Bradshaw (analyst)
Stream & Channel Finder: secsports.com/watch or watchespn.com
LISTEN: Penn State Sports Network
Steve Jones (pxp) & Dick Jerardi (analyst)
Affiliates:GoPSUsports.com/MBBAffiliates1819
Online: GoPSUsports.com/lionvision
Satellite Radio: XM 383 | Internet 974
LIVE STATS: Penn State at Alabama
SOCIAL: Twitter @PennStateMBB & @Coach_Chambers | Facebook | Instagram @PennStateMBB.
ROSTER: Penn State | Alabama
SCHEDULE: Penn State | Alabama
STATS: Penn State | Alabama
GAME NOTES: Penn State | Alabama | Big Ten
MEDIA GUIDE: Penn State | Alabama
ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE
Coach: Avery Johnson (Southern, 1988)
Alabama Record: 64-49 (Fourth season)
Career Record: Same
2018-19 Record: 7-3, 0-0 Southeastern
2018-19 Leading Scorer
#2 Kira Lewis Jr, Fr., G - 13.7 ppg
2018-19 Leading Rebounder
#00 Donta Hall, Sr., F – 7.3 rpg
2018-19 Assists Leader
#2 Kira Lewis Jr, Fr., G - 2.5 apg
Penn State Nittany Lions
Coach: Patrick Chambers (Philadelphia, 1994)
Penn State Record: 119-127 (8th season)
Career Record: 161-155 (10th season)
2018-19 Leading Scorer:
#11 Lamar Stevens, Jr., F - 19.7 ppg
2018-19 Leading Rebounder:
#11 Lamar Stevens, Jr., F - 8.7 rpg
2018-19 Assists Leader:
#23 Josh Reaves, Sr., G - 3.4 apg
PENN STATE STARTERS (LAST GAME)
F -- 11 -- Lamar Stevens – Jr. | 2018-19 ppg: 19.7 | rpg: 8.7
Note: Scored 21 of his game-best 25 points vs. Duquesne in second half for his 5th double-double of the year
F -- 24 – Mike Watkins – R-Jr. | 2018-19 ppg: 6.5 | rpg: 7.0
Note: 11 of his 12 rebounds vs. Duquesne came in second half. Posted third-straight game with either double figures in points or rebounds
G – 5 – Jamari Wheeler -- So. | 2018-19 ppg: 3.9 | rpg: 3.6
Note: Game against Duquesne was his 50th as a Nittany Lions. Scored 8 points and added two assists and two steals
G – 13 – Rasir Bolton -- Fr. | 2018-19 ppg: 14.8 | rpg: 2.6
Note: Recorded ninth double-figure points game vs. Duquesne. Went 6-6 from free throw line, including four to secure the win
G – 23 -- Josh Reaves -- Sr. | 2018-19 ppg: 10.4 | rpg: 5.9
Note: B1G steals leader in 2016-17 & 2017-18; Tops in Big Ten in steals and steals per game and ranks fifth nationally in spg (2.91). 202 career
SERIES RECORD vs. ALABAMA
Penn State and Alabama have met only four times on the hardwood with the Crimson Tide holding a 3-1 series lead. The Nittany Lions won the first meeting in the Gator Bowl Tournament in Jacksonville, Fla., in December 1965 and the Crimson Tide won the last three games, taking place in 1980, 1981 and 1982.
The last meeting was a 75-67 triple-overtime loss at Rec Hall with Nittany Lion Mike Lang recording a 17-point/12-rebound double-double.
Series streak: Alabama, W3
Last game: UA 75, PSU 67, 3OT, 12/11/82
Overall series: Alabama leads 3-1
at Alabama (Tuscaloosa): Alabama leads 1-0
Chambers vs. Alabama: First meeting
STARTING 5
Penn State's 2018-19 nonconference strength of schedule is currently ranked eighth (0.6217) nationally. PSU is the only Big Ten school represented in the top 10.
The Nittany Lions faced two Southeastern Conference teams in 2017-18, going 1-1 with a loss to No. 16 Texas A&M in the finals of the Legends Classic and a win over Mississippi State in the NIT semifinals en route to the championship.
Dating back to the start of the 2015-16 season, Penn State is 37-3 (92.5%) in games when it holds opponent to a FG percentage of 40 or less.
Senior guard Josh Reaves became the fourth Nittany Lion and 21st Big Ten player with 200 career steals. He is ranked fifth among all active NCAA Division I players with a current 202 total.
Junior forward and Julius Erving Award candidate Lamar Stevens has scored in double figures in every game in 2018-19 and has posted six games with 20+ points this season.
PENN STATE COMPLETES COMEBACK AT DUQUESNE
With 5.2 seconds left in the game, freshman guard Rasir Bolton hit four straight free throws as a result of two technical fouls on the Duquesne bench and junior forward Lamar Stevens added two more to give Penn State a 73-67 win at PPG Arena.
Stevens scored 21 of his 25 points in the second half and finished the night with his fifth double-double of the season with 10 rebounds on his stat line.
With the game tied at 67, Stevens drove the lane to the basket and was fouled. The game played out at the free throw line where the Nittany Lions went 6-6 for the final margin.
The game saw 15 lead changes as a Myles Dread 3-pointer with 3:29 left gave the Nittany Lions a 65-63 lead. Stevens scored the final basket for Penn State with 1:53 left in the game followed by a sequence of misses by both teams before Penn State's final points were scored at the free throw line.
Penn State held Duquesne to only four second-half baskets and stifled the Dukes on the floor, holding them to two long scoreless droughts and 35.6 percent shooting for the game.
Bolton had 16 points on the night and Dread finished with 12. Redshirt junior Mike Watkins had 11 of his 12 rebounds in the second half and added three points and an assist. Senior guard Josh Reaves recorded four steals and became only the fourth Nittany Lion with more than 200 career steals, now at 202.
Duquesne hit six of its last eight baskets and used a 6-0 run in the final minute to take a 39-32 lead into the locker room. Both teams had a sloppy first half, combining for 22 turnovers.
Eric Williams Jr. had 21 points to lead the Dukes while he and Marcus Weathers each had seven rebounds.
BY THE NUMBERS
3 – Millions of dollars raised (net) by Coaches vs. Cancer-Penn State since the organization was launched in 1995.
4 – The Nittany Lions limited Duquesne to only four field goals in the second half of Wednesday's 73-67 victory, an opponent low reached now four times in the Chambers era at Penn State (2H-3x, 1H-1x).
8.6 – Penn State leads the Big Ten in steals per game for all games and tops the chart for conference contests with back-to-back 12-steal games at Maryland and vs. Indiana.
21 – Senior guard Josh Reaves became the fourth Nittany Lion and 21st Big Ten Conference player to achieve 200 career steals (202).
84 – Number of 3-point field goals with freshmen Rasir Bolton (26) and Myles Dread (21) with the top two individual totals. The record-setting 2017-18 team had 71 after 11 games.
92.5 – Dating back to the start of 2015-16, Penn State's winning percentage (37-3 record) in games when holding an opponent to a field goal percentage of less than 40.
$22,095 – Net funds raised for the American Red Cross Hurricane Relief Fund by Penn State and West Virginia from exhibition game ticket sales and donations from fans.
