UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's basketball team plays host to No. 17/20 Maryland on Wednesday, Feb. 27. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. as the Nittany Lions face the Terps for the second time in 2018-19. The game will be broadcast on BTN and available online at FoxSportsGo.com and on the Fox Sports Go mobile app.
The Nittany Lions face their 10th ranked opponent this season as Maryland moved up to No. 17 in the Associated Press poll earlier this week. Six of the last seven meetings between these two programs have been decided by six points or less. The Terps won 66-59 in the Big Ten Conference opener Dec. 1, 2018, in College Park.
The month of February has been a milestone month for the Nittany Lions as senior guard Josh Reaves added his name to three Penn State lists – for his 1,000th career point vs. Nebraska and getting his 300th career assist and 500th career rebound at Illinois.
Redshirt junior Mike Watkins is now second on the university's all-time blocks list with 192 after a season-best five at Illinois. Watkins needs three rebounds to become only the 13th Nittany Lion to amass 700 rebounds.
Penn State's leading scorer and rebounder Lamar Stevens moved into Penn State's top 10 list in scoring, now with 1,556 points, after totaling a game-high 25 in the win at Illinois. He is climbing up Nittany Lions' single-season charts as well with 571 made field goals (7th) and 356 free throws (9th).
The first 1,000 fans to enter the BJC will receive free "Beat the Terrapins" buttons and Penn State students can enjoy free food pregame at the "Climb Diner" while supplies last.
At halftime of the game Wednesday night, Penn State student-athletes who achieved a grade point average of 3.0 or greater during the fall 2018 semester will be honored on the court. Over 500 student-athletes reached this benchmark.
WATCH: BTN
TALENT: Brandon Gaudin (pxp) & Shon Morris (analyst)
STREAM/APP: FoxSportsGo
LISTEN: Penn State Sports Network
Steve Jones (pxp) & Dick Jerardi (analyst)
Affiliates:GoPSUsports.com/MBBAffiliates1819
Online: GoPSUsports.com/lionvision
Sirius 99 | 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 Terrapins" buttons for the first 1,000 fans
Free imitation Krabbie fries for Penn State students pregame (while supplies last)
LIVE STATS: Maryland at Penn State
SOCIAL: Twitter @PennStateMBB & @Coach_Chambers | Facebook | Instagram @PennStateMBB.
ROSTER: Penn State | Maryland
SCHEDULE: Penn State | Maryland
STATS: Penn State | Maryland
GAME NOTES: Penn State | Maryland
MEDIA GUIDE: Penn State | Maryland
DIGITAL PROGRAM: Maryland at Penn State
MARYLAND
Coach: Mark Turgeon (Kansas, 1987)
Maryland Record: 178-88 (8th season)
Career Record: 428-247 (21st season)
2018-19 Record: 21-7, 12-5 Big Ten
2018-19 Leading Scorer
#1 Anthony Cowan, Jr., G – 16.0 ppg
2018-19 Leading Rebounder
#23 Bruno Fernando, So., F – 10.6 rpg
2018-19 Assists Leader
#1 Anthony Cowan, Jr., G – 4.6 apg
PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS
Coach: Patrick Chambers (Philadelphia, 1994)
Penn State Record: 124-137 (8th season)
Career Record: 166-165 (10th season)
2018-19 Leading Scorer:
#11 Lamar Stevens, Jr., F - 19.7 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: 19.7 | rpg: 8.0
Note: Entered Penn State's top 10 for scoring, now with 1,556 career points, only second Nittany Lion junior to reach 1,500 points.
F -- 24 – Mike Watkins – R-Jr. | 2018-19 ppg: 7.9 | rpg: 7.8
Note: With five blocks, became Penn State's No. 2 all-time blocked shots leader; three rebounds from career 700.
G – 2 – Myles Dread -- Fr. | 2018-19 ppg: 8.7 | rpg: 2.7
Note: Team-best 61 3-pt. field goals (3rd-highest total by Nittany Lion freshman); first Penn State freshman to lead in 3-point field goals since Danny Morrissey in 2004-05
G – 5 – Jamari Wheeler -- So. | 2018-19 ppg: 3.4 | rpg: 3.0
Note: 20 starts overall including last 11 straight; has 2.5 to 1 assist to turnover ratio in last 11 starts with 22 steals
G – 23 -- Josh Reaves -- Sr. | 2018-19 ppg: 10.1 | rpg: 4.5
Note: One of 21 Nittany Lions with 1,000 career points and 500 career rebounds
SERIES vs. MARYLAND
Wednesday's game between these two teams is the latest regular-season contest (Feb 27.) in series history. Penn State and Maryland met in both teams' 2018-19 B1G opener on Dec. 1, the earliest regular-season game since the Terps joined the Big Ten for the 2014-15 season.
Penn State owns a current two-game win streak in games played at the Bryce Jordan Center.
All meetings are listed on page 4 of these notes.
Series streak: Maryland, W1
Last game: Maryland 66, Penn State 59, 12/1/18 at College Park
Overall series: Maryland leads 13-10
at University Park: Penn State leads 8-2
Chambers vs. Maryland: 2-5
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 TAKE B1G ROAD WIN AT ILLINOIS
Lamar Stevens led four Nittany Lions in double-figures with 25 points as Penn State took a Big Ten win at Illinois 83-76 Saturday. Mike Watkins had his 26th career double-double with 10 points,a game-best 12 rebounds and season-best five blocks in the contest.
The Nittany Lions withstood a 13-3 Illinois run down the stretch in the second half and Watkins' critical blocks on two-straight Illini possessions preserved a five-point Penn State lead. Illinois continued to battle Trent Frazier hit a trey from the right corner to bring Illinois as close as it had been since the 7:30 mark of the first half, now down by four, 70-66.
Illinois sent Penn State to the foul line 16 times in the final 82 seconds, but the Illini only connected on three of their eight field goal attempts in that span.
Penn State led for 34:23 and was up by as many as 15 points in the second half, but the Illini chipped away at the deficit, using an 8-0 run over 90 seconds to cut the Nittany Lions' lead to seven, 61-54. A steal and score by the Illinois' Ayo Dosunmu brought it to five.
Sophomore guard Jamari Wheeler drove the lane to give Penn State a little more breathing room just under the eight-minute mark, but Doysunmu had another layup before Wheeler went to the line for two more free throws for a 64-58 score.
The Nittany Lions were just under the 50 percent mark for field goal percentage for the game, but held Illinois to a 39.4 field goal percentage, which included a 35.5 mark in the first period.
Penn State led by seven at the break, 39-32, and came out of halftime on a 7-2 run to take a 46-34 lead with 17:42 to play.
Both teams were pretty even in points in the paint (36 PSU to 32 UI) and points off turnovers with a 16-14 advantage to Penn State. The game had 50 combined fouls and 28 turnovers with 12 of the Nittany Lions' total 17 coming in the second half.
The Illini also had four players in double figures, led by Ayo Dosunmu who had all 18 of his points in the second half. Andres Feliz had 17 and Giorgi Bezhanishvili recorded a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Trent Frazier finished with 11.
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.
7 – Number of Nittany Lions who have reached the 1,000 career scoring milestone under coach Patrick Chambers with senior Josh Reaves the most recent addition to the list.
Including Reaves and Stevens, the seven have scored, to date, a combined 10,004 points.
13 – With the win over No. 6 Michigan, Coach Chambers now has 13 wins over ranked teams, most by a Nittany Lion basketball coach.
99 – Consecutive starts by forward Lamar Stevens (99), the second-longest active streak in the nation and longest by a junior.
236 – Career steals by senior guard Josh Reaves, who currently ranks third on Penn State's career list, and eighth on the Big Ten Conference career list.
697 – Mike Watkins is three rebounds from career number 700. The redshirt junior would become only the 13th Nittany Lion to achieve this total.
1,556 – Lamar Stevens moved into Penn State's all-time top 10 scoring list with his 25 points at Illinois for 1,556 for his career.
