UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. –The Penn State men's basketball team welcomes No. 23 Iowa to the Bryce Jordan Center on Wednesday, Jan. 16 for a 7 p.m. game on the Big Ten Network. The game is also available on BTN2Go.com.
Two Philadelphia-area natives will face each other in the coaching boxes as both Nittany Lion head coach Patrick Chambers and Hawkeyes head coach Fran McCaffery hail from the City of Brotherly Love.
The Nittany Lions have won three of the last four contests vs. the Hawkeyes and four of the last six meetings, including the last two games played at the Bryce Jordan Center.
On Sunday vs. Michigan State, senior guard Josh Reaves tacked a career-best nine assists to his team-leading total, now at 60 for the season. On the defensive end, Reaves needs just four steals to tie Titus Ivory (218) for the No. 3 spot on the Penn state career steals list and for a share of the No. 9 spot on the Big Ten career chart in that category.
Redshirt junior Mike Watkins has averaged 10.3 points and 9.0 rebounds per game in his previous three Big Ten starts. Junior forward Lamar Stevens is fifth in the league in scoring with his 18.6 points per game and sixth in rebounding at 8.0 boards per game.
TICKETS: GoPSUSsports.com, call 1-800-NITTANY or visit the Penn State Athletics Ticket Office at the Bryce Jordan Center beginning three hours before tipoff on gameday.
PROMOTIONS: Free "Beat the Hawkeyes" buttons for the first 1,000 fans
WATCH: BTN
TALENT:
Kevin Kugler (pxp) & Shon Morris (analyst)
STREAM: BTN2Go.com (provider info required)
LISTEN: Penn State Sports Network
Steve Jones (pxp) & Dick Jerardi (analyst)
Affiliates:GoPSUsports.com/MBBAffiliates1819
Online: GoPSUsports.com/lionvision
Sirius 133 | XM 195 | Internet 957
LIVE STATS: Iowa at Penn State
SOCIAL: Twitter @PennStateMBB & @Coach_Chambers | Facebook | Instagram @PennStateMBB.
ROSTER: Penn State | Iowa
SCHEDULE: Penn State | Iowa
STATS: Penn State | Iowa
GAME NOTES: Penn State | Iowa
MEDIA GUIDE: Penn State | Iowa
IOWA HAWKEYES
Coach: Fran McCaffery (Iowa, 1979)
Iowa Record: 165-123 (9th season)
Career Record: 416-300 (23rd season)
2018-19 Record: 14-3, 3-3 Big Ten
2018-19 Leading Scorer
#25 Tyler Cook, Jr., F – 17.1 ppg
2018-19 Leading Rebounder
#25 Tyler Cook, Jr., F – 8.3 rpg
2018-19 Assists Leader
#3 Jordan Bohannon, Jr., G – 3.1 apg
PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS
Coach: Patrick Chambers (Philadelphia, 1994)
Penn State Record: 120-131 (8th season)
Career Record: 162-159 (10th season)
2018-19 Leading Scorer:
#11 Lamar Stevens, Jr., F - 18.6 ppg
2018-19 Leading Rebounder:
#24 Mike Watkins, R-Jr., F - 8.1 rpg
2018-19 Assists Leader:
#23 Josh Reaves, Sr., G - 3.5 apg
PENN STATE STARTERS (LAST GAME)
F -- 11 -- Lamar Stevens – Jr. | 2018-19 ppg: 18.6 | rpg: 8.0
Note: No. 4 scoring average in the Big Ten; 71 career double-figure scoring games; 23rd career 20-plus point game (20) vs. MSU
F -- 24 – Mike Watkins – R-Jr. | 2018-19 ppg: 8.2| rpg: 8.1
Note: Recorded 23rd career double-double at Nebraska; 67.7 FG%, 10.6 ppg & 9.4 rpg in last 5 games
G – 2 – Myles Dread -- Fr. | 2018-19 ppg: 8.5 | rpg: 3.1
Note: Leads team w/36 3-point field goals; most starts among freshmen with 13
G – 5 – Jamari Wheeler -- So. | 2018-19 ppg: 2.8 | rpg: 3.0
Note: Second on team with 19 steals, set freshman steals record with 52 in 2018-19
G – 23 -- Josh Reaves -- Sr. | 2018-19 ppg: 10.1 | rpg: 5.3
Note: Two-time Big Ten steals leader currently leading league in total steals and steals per game; Had career-best nine assists vs. Michigan State
SERIES RECORD vs. IOWA
Penn State has won the last two-straight games vs. Iowa and the last two meetings in the Bryce Jordan Center. The current streak of two wins is the longest – by either team – since the Nittany Lions broke the Hawkeyes' four-game stretch with a victory in the 2015 Big Ten Tournament.
Meetings from the last 10 seasons are on page 4 of the game notes. The full series list is on page 170 of media guide.
Series streak: Penn State, W2
Last game: at University Park, Pa.
Penn State 82, Iowa 58, 2/3/18
Overall series: Iowa leads 29-17
at University Park: Penn State leads 12-9
Chambers vs. Iowa: 5-7
STARTING 5
Penn State has won three of the last four and four of the last six games vs. Iowa, including the last two meetings in the Bryce Jordan Center.
The Nittany Lions' overall strength of schedule ranks sixth with a No. 29 ranking for the nonconference strength of schedule, according to CBS Sports.
Senior guard Josh Reaves needs only five more steals to take sole possession of the No. 3 spot on that Penn State career list and No. 9 spot on the Big Ten career list.
In his last five games, redshirt junior Mike Watkins is averaging 10.6 points and 9.4 rebounds per game with an increase in minutes per game to 24.4
Junior forward and Julius Erving Award candidate Lamar Stevens has scored in double figures in every game this season, has six double-doubles and eight games with 20 or more points in 2018-19. He has started all 89 games in his career.
NO. 6 MICHIGAN STATE TOPS PENN STATE
No. 6 Michigan State shot nearly 49 percent from the field and crashed the boards for a plus 13-rebound margin en route to a 71-56 win Sunday afternoon. Led by Lamar Stevens with a game-high 20 points, four Nittany Lions scored in double figures, but couldn't overcome poor shooting in the first half.
The Spartans strong first half in field goal percentage paired with their prowess on the glass kept them in control. Mike Watkins had nine points on 4-6 shooting from the field in the first 20 minutes and he four rebounds at the break.
Stevens scored 16 of his 20 points and Josh Reaves had nine of his 11 in the second period as the Nittany Lions outscsored Michigan State 32-31. For Stevens, it was his 23rd career game with 20 or more points and 24th-straight game with double-figure points. Reaves distributed the ball exceptionally well with a career-best nine assists and he finished the night with a season-best five steals.
The Nittany Lions' shooting improved in the second half to 42.9 percent and was 10-19 from inside the arc (52.6 percent). Stevens, who went to the bench with two fouls in the first half, connected on six of his 12 attempts in the final 20 minutes, including a 3-pointer, and was 3-3 from the free throw line. He added six rebounds.
Stevens hit a jumper to tie the game at 10 at 15:59 in the first half, but MSU ran off 10-straight points in a 4:30 stretch to pull to 20-10. The Spartans shot 51.9 percent in the first half to take a 40-24 lead.
Penn State scored 18 points off 17 Michigan State miscues, tied for the highest turnover total the Spartans had in Big Ten play this season. The Nittany Lions had seven of their eight steals in the second half.
Spartan forward Nick Ward led MSU with 16 points and 11 rebounds and Matt McQuaid hit four 3-pointers toward his 15 points. Cassius Winston had 11 points and six assists. Kenny Goins combined with Ward for 21 of the Spartans' 41 rebounds with his 10 boards.
BY THE NUMBERS
2.85 – Team GPA for fall 2018 semester, highest single-semester GPA by the Nittany Lions in the Chambers era.
3 – Millions of dollars raised (net) by Coaches vs. Cancer-Penn State since the organization was launched in 1995.
5 – Number of steals Josh Reaves needs to take sole possession of the No. 3 spot on Penn State's career steals list and No. 9 on the Big Ten career steals list. The senior guard has 214, good for fifth on the NCAA active career list.
6 – Penn State's overall strength of schedule ranks sixth, with a No. 29 ranking for its nonconference strength of schedule.
71 – In 89 career games, Lamar Stevens has scored at least 10 points in 71 and at least 20 points in 23.
622 – Mike Watkins currently ranks 16th on Penn State's career rebounds chart with 622 total. Talor Battle is at No. 15 with 625..
$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.
