UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's basketball team returns home to tangle with Nebraska on Tuesday, Feb. 19. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. between the Nittany Lions and the Huskers in their second meeting of the 2018-19 season after Nebraska took a 70-64 win in Lincoln on Jan. 10. The game will be broadcast on FS1and available online at FoxSportsGo.com and on the Fox Sports Go mobile app.
Junior forward Lamar Stevens leads the Nittany Lions in both scoring and rebounding and is one of only four Big Ten players to rank in the top 10 in the league on both those categories. He is second overall in scoring at 19.2 points per game, just ahead of Nebraska's James Palmer Jr. in third (18.8) and tied for sixth in rebounding at 8.0 per contest.
Stevens eclipsed the 1,500 career points mark at Purdue, becoming only the second junior to reach that milestone and 11th Nittany Lion overall. He needs 40 points to move into PSU's all-time scoring top 10.
Josh Reaves is on the cusp of several career milestones as he stands just 10 points from career 1,000 and 10 rebounds from his career 500th. He needs just six more assists to reach the 300 career mark and four more steals for a tie for the No. 2 spot on the Nittany Lions' all-time steals list. Reaves currently leads the Big Ten with 65 steals this season, 24 more than the next player on the conference chart.
As a team, Penn State notched a B1G best this season with 13 steals against Purdue, most by a Nittany Lion squad in a conference game since the record 16 vs. Northwestern in January 2001.
WATCH: FS1
TALENT: Lisa Byington (pxp) & Nick Bahe (analyst)
STREAM/APP: FoxSportsGo
LISTEN: Penn State Sports Network
Steve Jones (pxp) & Dick Jerardi (analyst)
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Online: GoPSUsports.com/lionvision
Sirius 98 | XM 196 | Internet 958
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 Cornhuskers" buttons for the first 1,000 fans
Free corndogs for Penn State students pregame (while supplies last)
Free schedule posters available at Portal 10
LIVE STATS: Nebraska at Penn State
SOCIAL: Twitter @PennStateMBB & @Coach_Chambers | Facebook | Instagram @PennStateMBB.
ROSTER: Penn State | Nebraska
SCHEDULE: Penn State | Nebraska
STATS: Penn State | Nebraska
GAME NOTES: Penn State | Nebraska
MEDIA GUIDE: Penn State | Nebraska
DIGITAL PROGRAM: Nebraska at Penn State
NEBRASKA
Coach: Tim Miles (University of Mary, 1989)
Nebraska Record: 112-108 (7th season)
Career Record: 395-328 (24th season)
2018-19 Record: 15-11, 5-10 Big Ten
2018-19 Leading Scorer
#0 James Palmer Jr., Sr., G – 18.8 ppg
2018-19 Leading Rebounder
#15 Isaiah Roby, Jr., F – 7.2 rpg
2018-19 Assists Leader
#0 James Palmer Jr., Sr., G – 3.2 apg
PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS
Coach: Patrick Chambers (Philadelphia, 1994)
Penn State Record: 122-137 (8th season)
Career Record: 164-165 (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 - 3.1 apg
PENN STATE STARTERS (LAST GAME)
F -- 11 -- Lamar Stevens – Jr. | 2018-19 ppg: 19.2 | rpg: 8.0
Note: Reached 1,500 career points with 18 vs. Purdue, now with 1,502, only the second junior to reach this milestone; 1 of 4 B1G players to rank in the top 10 scoring (2) and rebounding (T-6)
F -- 21 – John Harrar – So. | 2018-19 ppg: 3.2 | rpg: 3.7
Note: Shooting 63.6 percent from the floor in last 5 games, 57.7 percent in B1G action and 53.6 percent overall
G – 2 – Myles Dread -- Fr. | 2018-19 ppg: 8.9 | rpg: 2.8
Note: Team-best 57 3-pt. field goals; recorded back-to-back double-figure scoring games and had a B1G career-high 17 points vs. No. 6 Michigan
G – 5 – Jamari Wheeler -- So. | 2018-19 ppg: 3.0 | rpg: 3.0
Note: Nine consecutive starts and 18 overall; has 33 assists and 25 steals with a 2.5 to 1 assist to turnover ratio in B1G games.
G – 23 -- Josh Reaves -- Sr. | 2018-19 ppg: 10.0 | rpg: 4.4
Note: Needs four steals to move to No. 2 on the Penn State career steals list; closing in on 1,000 career points (990), 500 career rebounds (490) and 300 assists (294).
SERIES vs. NEBRASKA
The last nine contests in this series have been won by the home team, with the Jan. 10 game at Lincoln earlier this season following that same trend.
Nebraska has won the last two meetings, but neither team has won more than two games in a row in the series.
All 18 meetings are listed on page 4 of the game notes.
Series streak: Nebraska, W2
Last game: at Nebraska 70, PSU 64, 1/10/19
Overall series: Tied at 9-9
at University Park: Penn State leads 6-1
Chambers vs. Nebraska: 7-8
STARTING 5
According to kenpom.com, the Nittany Lions' strength of schedule is currently ranked as the second-toughest in the nation. CBS Sports has the overall SOS calculated at No. 3 and nonconference SOS at No. 18.
Nittany Lion basketball coach Patrick Chambers' 13 wins over ranked teams are the most among Penn State men's basketball coaches.
Penn State had Big Ten season-best 13 steals at Purdue on Feb. 16, most in a B1G game since 16 vs. Northwestern on Jan. 13, 2001. The top four single-game steals totals in 2018-19 have all come against B1G teams: Maryland (12), Indiana (12), Ohio State (12) and Purdue (13-2/16/19).
Josh Reaves and Jamari Wheeler are 1-2 in the steals rankings for conference-only games with Reaves with 40 and Wheeler with 25. Reaves is the B1G leader in all-game totals with 65
Junior forward Lamar Stevens has scored 20 points or more in five of the last seven games and has led the team in at least two statistical categories in seven-straight games and 14 times this season.
NITTANY LIONS FALL AT NO. 12 PURDUE
Three Nittany Lions scored in double figures with Lamar Stevens scoring 12 of his team-best 18 points in the second half, but No. 12 Purdue won 76-64 behind 21 points from Carsen Edwards. Stevens moved to 1,502 career points with his total, one of just 11 Nittany Lions with 1,500 or more career points.
The game featured a combined 44 personal fouls and 39 turnovers. The Nittany Lions were only able to score 17 points off 23 turnovers by Purdue, a season high for the Boilermakers.
Rasir Bolton and Myles Dread finished with 17 and 10 points, respectively.
The Boilermakers built a double-digit lead in the second half after a 33-30 lead at the break, but Penn State battled back to cut it to a 61-56 score with 4:28 left to play.
Reaves picked up his third personal foul less than two minutes into the second period and Purdue missed its first shot of the half, but connected on its next four to fuel a Boilermaker scoring spree.
A layup by Reaves and then back-to-back steals by freshman Myreon Jones, the first for his own basket and second for Stevens, gave Penn State six points in just over a minute to pull to 50-40.
Three-straight treys by Purdue extended its lead to 61-44, but the Boilermakers would go without scoring for six minutes. Stevens and Reaves both scored baskets with a handful of free throws before Reaves' third steal of the game brought PSU within five, 61-56.
Penn State had a season-best 13 steals and had the advantage in points in the paint (32-22) and second-chance points (19-11). Purdue went 7-10 from beyond the arc in the second half to finish the game with nine total.
The Boilermakers came out from the under-12 media timeout with an 11-4 run to tie the game at 19 and then took a four-point lead, 23-19 with 6:04 left in the half. A nearly three-minute stretch without a Purdue field goal allowed a quick 5-0 by Penn State to put PSU up 24-23. After another tie at 28, Purdue closed the half with a trey and two free throws and Jamari Wheeler added two free throws for the 33-30 halftime score.
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 – Josh Reaves is 10 points from the 1,000-career points mark. In addition to his scoring milestone, he needs only eight more assists for 300 career and 10 rebounds
to reach the 500 career mark.
13 – With the win over No. 6 Michigan, Coach Chambers now has 13 wins over ranked teams, most by a Nittany Lion basketball coach.
65 – Josh Reaves leads the Big Ten with 65 steals this season, 24 more than the next player on the league list. That total is currently 11th on PSU's single-season chart.
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.
1,502 – Forward Lamar Stephens' current career point total, becoming only the second junior to reach the 1,500 career points mark and 11th Nittany Lion to achieve that milestone.
