UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's basketball team plays its third game on the road this month when it travels to No. 12 Purdue for a 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 16 contest at Mackey Arena. The game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network and available online at FoxSportsGo.com and on the Fox Sports Go mobile app.
Extra time was needed to decide the winner in the last meeting between the Nittany Lions and Boilermakers with Purdue getting the 99-90 overtime win at the Bryce Jordan Center on Jan. 31. Penn State battled back from a 17-point deficit and took a brief lead before Purdue's Carsen Edwards tied the game at 85.
Five Nittany Lions scored in double figures with junior forward Lamar Stevens leading the way with 24. Redshirt junior Mike Watkins had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds for the top boards total by either team.
The last four outcomes in the series were single-digit wins by Purdue. Last year's contest at Mackey Arena was the only regular-season meeting between the two teams, which went down to the wire with a 76-73 final.
A Big Ten Tournament semifinals meeting in Madison Square Garden ended at 78-70 in favor of the Boilermakers, but former Nittany Lion Shep Garner poured in 33 points in the effort and set the Penn State career record for Big Ten Tournament scoring.
Edwards and Stevens are ranked 1-2 in scoring with Edwards at 24.6 and Stevens 19.2 in the Big Ten. The rankings reversed for minutes played per game with Stevens topping that list at 36.5 minutes per game.
Edwards is behind league leader Josh Reaves' and his 62 steals in 2018-19 while freshman Myles Dread is third behind Edwards (44 for 3.4 pg) and Ryan Cline (41 for 3.2 pg) for 3-point field goals per game in conference games with his 31 (2.4 per game).
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ROSTER: Penn State | Purdue
SCHEDULE: Penn State | Purdue
STATS: Penn State | Purdue
GAME NOTES: Penn State | Purdue | Big Ten
MEDIA GUIDE: Penn State | Purdue
PURDUE
Coach: Matt Painter (Purdue, 1994)
Purdue Record: 312-156 (14th season)
Career Record: 337-161 (15th season)
2018-19 Record: 17-7, 7-3 Big Ten
2018-19 Leading Scorer
#3 Carsen Edwards, Jr., G – 24.6 ppg
2018-19 Leading Rebounder
#20 Nojel Eastern, So., G – 5.5 rpg
2018-19 Assists Leader
#3 Carsen Edwards, Jr., G – 3.5 ppg
PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS
Coach: Patrick Chambers (Philadelphia, 1994)
Penn State Record: 122-136 (8th season)
Career Record: 164-164 (10th season)
2018-19 Leading Scorer:
#11 Lamar Stevens, Jr., F – 19.2 ppg
2018-19 Leading Rebounder:
#11 Lamar Stevens, Jr., F – 8.0 rpg
2018-19 Assists Leader:
#23 Josh Reaves, Sr., G - 3.3 apg
PENN STATE STARTERS (LAST GAME)
F -- 11 -- Lamar Stevens – Jr. | 2018-19 ppg: 19.2 | rpg: 8.0
Note: Had 10th career double-double in win over No. 6 Michigan; 1 of 4 B1G top 10 scoring (#2) / rebounding (T-6)
F -- 21 – John Harrar – So. | 2018-19 ppg: 3.2 | rpg: 3.6
Note: Started vs. Purdue Jan. 31; matched career best with 7 points vs. Purdue
G – 2 – Myles Dread -- Fr. | 2018-19 ppg: 8.8 | rpg: 2.8
Note: Team-best 55 3-pt. field goals; in a tie for sixth on B1G list for treys, third on list with 31 in conference games and tops among B1G freshmen
G – 5 – Jamari Wheeler -- So. | 2018-19 ppg: 3.0 | rpg: 2.9
Note: Has started last 8 games and 17 overall; 23 assists, 18 steals and 2.9:1 assist-to-turnover ratio in last eight starts.
G – 23 -- Josh Reaves -- Sr. | 2018-19 ppg: 10.1 | rpg: 4.5
Note: #3 PSU & #8 Big Ten career steals list (232), owns three of Penn State's top-15 single-season steals totals. Nearing milestones for points (983), rebounds (489) and assists (292)
SERIES vs. PURDUE
The last four meetings between Penn State and Purdue have all been decided by single digits with an average scoring margin of six points.
Date -- PSU-PU Score – PU rank -- Location
Jan. 31, 2019 -- 90-99ot – 17 – University Park, Pa.
March 3, 2018 -- 70-78 – 8 -- MSG, New York, N.Y. / Big Ten Tournament
Feb. 18, 2018 -- 73-76 -- 6 -- Mackey Arena, West Lafayette, Ind.
Feb. 21, 2017 -- 70-74ot – 14 -- BJC, University Park, Pa.
Meetings from the last 10 seasons are on page 4 of the game notes. The full series list is on page 177 of media guide.
Series streak: Purdue, W8
Last game: at University Park, Pa.
Purdue 99, Penn State 90, OT, 1/31/19
Overall series: Purdue leads 38-12
at West Lafayette, Ind.: Purdue leads 21-2
Chambers vs. Purdue: 2-12
STARTING 5
Seven of coach Patrick Chambers' 13 wins over ranked teams have occurred in February.
According to kenpom.com, the Nittany Lions' strength of schedule is currently ranked as the fourth-toughest in the nation. CBS Sports has the overall SOS calculated at No. 4 and nonconference SOS at No. 18.
The Nittany Lions have kept 19 of their 24 opponents below their scoring averages (entering the game) with point totals for 11 teams at 10.0 or more points below their scoring averages.
Freshman Myles Dread leads Penn State with 55 3-point field goals, most by a freshman since Shep Garner's 59 in the 2014-15 season. The last time a rookie led the Nittany Lions in treys was Danny Morrissey in 2004-05.
Junior forward Lamar Stevens has scored 20 points or more in five of the last six games and has led the team in at least two statistical categories in six-straight games and 14 times this season. He was the Nittany Lion leader in three categories in the wins over Michigan and Northwestern.
PENN STATE KNOCKS OFF NO. 6 MICHIGAN IN BJC, 75-69
Freshman Myles Dread's 3-point basket with 7:12 minutes left in the game and a Mike Watkins' putback extended Penn State's lead to nine and helped the Nittany Lions to an eventual win over No. 6 Michigan, 75-69. Junior forward Lamar Stevens led three Nittany Lions in double figures with his 10th career double-double with a game-best 26 points and 12 rebounds.
Stevens was just as impressive on the defensive end and had two blocks and two rebounds in two possessions to keep the Wolverines at bay. In the first half, Stevens recorded his 600th career rebound and tied his career-best with the 12 boards in the game.
Dread finished the night with a Big Ten career-best 17 points and five 3-point field goals. Classmate Rasir Bolton had 13 points. Sophomore guard Jamari Wheeler had three steals to go along with four assists and four points.
Penn State's last field goal came with 3:19 left in the game with the Nittany Lions up by 10, 64-54. Michigan sent Penn State to the line 15 times in three minutes and scored 15 going 5-5 with two 3-pointers to pull within four, 73-69, with 18 seconds left. Two additional free throws by Stevens gave Penn State it's final total.
The victory by Penn State snapped Michigan's eight-game win streak in the series. The last Nittany Lion win over the Wolverines came in 2013.
The Wolverines made a run over four minutes early in the second half, cutting their deficit to five points, 52-47 with five points from Isaiah Livers, a three-point play by Jon Teske and a basket by Jordan Poole. A layup by Charles Matthews and free throw a minute later made it a 55-51. Dread's triple from the left corner pushed Penn State's lead back to seven points and Watkins' putback gave the Nittany Lions a nine-point advantage, 60-51.
Over the next three minutes, Michigan had a 3-pointer and Penn State had a jumper from Stevens. The Nittany Lions' 10-point lead, 64-54, would be whittled to four as the Wolverines countered fouls and free throws with 15 points in three minutes. Stevens made six of his final free throws for the win.
The Nittany Lions held the lead over Michigan for nearly 37 minutes after trailing 5-2 and 5-4, last at the 17:36 mark. Penn State took a 7-5 lead about a minute later and would never trail again.
Michigan shot 51 percent from the field for the game to Penn State's 46.2, but the Nittany Lions crashed on the boards with a 35-25 advantage on the glass. Both teams had 12 turnovers for the game after Penn State had only three in the first half.
Bolton converted a layup as time expired in the first half for a 40-27 lead over the Wolverines. Technical fouls assessed on the Michigan bench sent Wolverine head coach John Beilein to the locker room and at the start of the second half, Penn State went to the free throw line with four attempts with Bolton connecting on three. The 16-point lead at 43-27 was the Nittany Lions' largest of the night.
Wolverine senior Charles Matthews had 24 points with 8-11 shooting from the floor, including three 3-pointers. Isaiah Livers had seven rebounds for Michigan's game best, all on the defensive side.
The 75 points are the most Michigan has given up in a Big Ten Conference game this season and the most allowed since its game vs. South Carolina on Dec. 8, 2018. For the Nittany Lions, it was the highest point total against Michigan since the Feb. 27, 2013 upset (84) in the Bryce Jordan Center.
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.
10 – Ten of Patrick Chambers' 13 wins over ranked teams have occurred in the BJC. PSU has recorded two ranked victories at home in each of the last four seasons.
17 – Josh Reaves is 17 points from the 1,000-career points mark. In addition to his scoring milestone, he needs only eight more assists for 300 career and 11 rebounds to reach the 500 career mark.
75 – Most points surrendered by No. 6 Michigan in a Big Ten Conference game in 2018-19 and only third time the Wolverines have allowed 75 or more points in a league game since Feb. 12, 2017.
96– Lamar Stevens has 96 consecutive starts headed into Saturday's game at Purdue, second-longest streak in the nation and longest by a junior.
676 – Mike Watkins added seven rebounds to his career total in the win over No. 6 Michigan. He needs 24 more to become only the 12th Nittany Lion to collect 700 rebounds.
