UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's basketball team welcomes Rutgers to the Bryce Jordan Center for a 4:30 p.m. game on Saturday, Jan. 26 at the Bryce Jordan Center. This game is the annual THON game with all proceeds from student single-game tickets benefiting THON. The game will be broadcast by the Big Ten Network.
The first 2,000 Penn State students in attendance will receive a free, colorful "Dance With Us" T-shirt and "Beat the Scarlet Knights" buttons will be given to the first 1,000 fans to enter the BJC.
Saturday's game is the first of two meetings with Rutgers in 2018-19. The second game, at Piscataway, is scheduled for Wednesday, March 6. In the only meeting of the 2017-18 season, Penn State came away with a 60-43 win in the 2018 THON game in the BJC at the end of January 2018. Penn State leads the overall series 41-31 and is 4-2 in Big Ten games vs. the Scarlet Knights.
On the road at Minnesota last Saturday, junior forward Lamar Stevens scored a game-high 27 points to lead the Nittany Lions and posted his 24th career game with 20 or more points. He is currently fourth in the Big Ten Conference in scoring and seventh in rebounding at 7.8 boards per game. Redshirt junior Mike Watkins is averaging nearly a double-double in his last five games with 9.6 points and 10.2 rebounds per game while connecting at a 63.3 clip from the floor.
In the last three games, senior guard Reaves is averaging 6.7 assists per game and is climbing both the Penn State steals and assists charts. The senior from Fairfax, Virginia, is now second on the all-time steals list with 221 and No. 8 on the Big Ten career list.
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. All student single-game tickets sold for Saturday's game directly benefit THON.
PROMOTIONS: Free "Dance With Us T-shirts for first 2,000 students, Free "Beat the Scarlet Knights" buttons for the first 1,000 fans; Firecrackers Jump Rope Team halftime performance
WATCH: BTN
TALENT:
Brandon Gaudin (pxp) & Shon Morris (analyst)
LISTEN: Penn State Sports Network
Steve Jones (pxp) & Dick Jerardi (analyst)
Affiliates:GoPSUsports.com/MBBAffiliates1819
Online: GoPSUsports.com/lionvision
DIGITAL PROGRAM: Rutgers at Penn State
LIVE STATS: Rutgers at Penn State
SOCIAL: Twitter @PennStateMBB & @Coach_Chambers | Facebook | Instagram @PennStateMBB.
ROSTER: Penn State | Rutgers
SCHEDULE: Penn State | Rutgers
STATS: Penn State | Rutgers
GAME NOTES: Penn State | Rutgers
MEDIA GUIDE: Penn State | Rutgers
RUTGERS
Coach: Steve Pikiell (Connecticut, 1990)
Rutgers Record: 39-46 (3rd season)
Career Record: 231-202 (14th season)
2018-19 Record: 9-9, 2-6 Big Ten
2018-19 Leading Scorer
#5 Eugene Omoruyi, Jr., F – 14.1 ppg
2018-19 Leading Rebounder
#5 Eugene Omoruyi, Jr., F – 7.4 rpg
2018-19 Assists Leader
#00 Geo Baker, So., G – 4.0 apg
PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS
Coach: Patrick Chambers (Philadelphia, 1994)
Penn State Record: 120-133 (8th season)
Career Record: 162-161 (10th season)
2018-19 Leading Scorer:
#11 Lamar Stevens, Jr., F - 18.5 ppg
2018-19 Leading Rebounder:
#24 Mike Watkins, R-Jr., F - 8.4 rpg
2018-19 Assists Leader:
#23 Josh Reaves, Sr., G - 3.7 apg
PENN STATE STARTERS (LAST GAME)
F -- 11 -- Lamar Stevens – Jr. | 2018-19 ppg: 18.5 | rpg: 7.8
Note: 17 pts in 1H at Minnesota; 24th career 20-plus point game (27) at Minnesota
F -- 24 – Mike Watkins – R-Jr. | 2018-19 ppg: 8.5 | rpg: 8.4
Note: Recorded 24th career double-double vs. Iowa; 63.3 FG%, 9.6 ppg & 10.2 rpg in last 5 games
G – 2 – Myles Dread -- Fr. | 2018-19 ppg: 8.7 | rpg: 3.1
Note: Team-best 42 3-point field goals, 14 pts vs Iowa (4 3FG), 15 starts (most of freshmen)
G – 5 – Jamari Wheeler -- So. | 2018-19 ppg: 2.8 | rpg: 2.9
Note: 12 starts in 2018-19, second on team with 20 steals
G – 23 -- Josh Reaves -- Sr. | 2018-19 ppg: 10.3 | rpg: 4.6
Note: 4.6 assists per game, 3.0 steals per game over last 5 games, No. 3 on Penn State and No. 8 on Big Ten career steals list with 221
SERIES RECORD vs. RUTGERS
Of the current Big Ten opponents, Penn State and Rutgers have the most previous meetings with 72 and the Nittany Lions leading the overall series 41-31 and 4-2 in Big Ten play.
Each team has won three games at home and three games on the road since 2014-15. The Nittany Lions and Scarlet Knights played only once in 2017-18.
Meetings from the last 10 seasons of competition are on page 4.The full series list is on page 178 of media guide.
Series streak: Penn State, W1
Last game: at University Park, Pa.
Penn State 60, Rutgers 43, 1/27/18
Overall series: Penn State leads 41-31
at University Park: Penn State leads 26-9
STARTING 5
The entire amount from the sale of single-game student tickets for Saturday's game will be donated to THON, the largest student-run philanthropy in the world, and its mission to conquer childhood cancer.
Penn State's overall strength of schedule ranks third according to kenpom.com and fourth as calculated by CBS Sports with a No. 16 rating for the nonconference strength of schedule.
Three Nittany Lions lead Big Ten individual statistics categories: Josh Reaves (steals, 51), Rasir Bolton (FT%, 89.7) and Lamar Stevens (minutes played per game, 35.8)
Josh Reaves took sole possesion of the No. 3 spot on Penn State's career steals list with 221 and ranks eighth on the Big Ten career chart.
Junior forward and Julius Erving Award candidate Lamar Stevens moved up to the No. 12 spot on Penn State's career scoring list (1,375) and has scored in double figures in all but one game this season, has six double-doubles and nine games with 20 or more points in 2018-19.
NITTANY LIONS FALL IN FINAL SECONDS TO MINNESOTA, 65-64
Lamar Stevens scored a game-high 27 points, but the Nittany Lions' final field goal attempt wouldn't fall in the final seconds in a 65-64 loss at Minnesota. The Golden Gophers broke the fifth tie of the game, at 64-64, with a free throw by Dupree McBrayer with 2.7 seconds left to play.
Mike Watkins had 10 points and nine rebounds as the only other Nittany Lion in double figures. Minnesota's Jordan Murphy had 19 points and a game-high 21 rebounds.
The Nittany Lions shot just over 50 percent from the free throw line in the second half and Minnesota capitalized with 16 points off PSU's 12 turnovers. Both teams had only four turnovers each in the second period, but the Minnesota converted those miscues for six points and had a 9-2 advantage in second-chance scoring opportunities in that period.
Both teams struggled in their shooting from the field for critical minutes in the second half. Minnesota went without a basket for nearly seven minutes, but had five points from the free throw line after taking a three-point lead, 56-63, with 7:34 left in the game.
A layup by Stevens and 3-pointer from freshman guard Myles Dread brought Penn State within two, 61-59. Stevens' free throws with 3:29 left in the game tied it up at 61 and he would score with 11.1 seconds left and add the "and one" to knot the game at 64.
Penn State had its best first-half shooting percentage in Big Ten play at 55.6 percent and led at the break 38-30. The Nittany Lions had a 20-10 lead after a Stevens 3-pointer from the top of the arc. Stevens closed the half for Penn State with 17, connecting for a triple.
Jordan Murphy led four Golden Gophers in double figures with 19 points and had game-highs in rebounds with 21 rebounds and assists with six.
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.
3 – Penn State's overall strength of schedule ranks third, according to kenpom.com, and fourth as calculated by CBS Sports. The nonconference strength of schedule is ranked 16th.
17 – Both Josh Reaves (12/1/18 at Maryland) and Lamar Stevens (11/19/19 at Minnesota) have scored a first-half team-best 17 points in conference games this season.
89.7 – Freshman guard Rasir Bolton leads the Big Ten in free throw percentage at 89.7 (52-58) and is ranked 18th in the country. He owns a 94.1 percentage in Big Ten games (16-17).
642 – With nine rebounds at Minnesota, Mike Watkins has 642 in his career, a total that ranks 16th on the Penn State all-time list. Brandon Taylor (2012-16) ranks just ahead of Watkins at 15th with 646.
