Coach Patrick Chambers Media Availability Feb. 5
Junior forward Lamar Stevens Media Availability Feb. 5
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's basketball team plays its second road game of the week with a Thursday, Feb. 7 contest at Ohio State. The game at Value City Arena is set for a 7 p.m. tipoff and will be available on ESPN and its multiple platforms.
For Penn State, this is the second of two games on the road and second-straight and final "single-play" opponent for the 2018-19 season. The Nittany Lions and Buckeyes met three times last season with Penn State sweeping the regular-season series and winning in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament in Madison Square Garden.
The last 10 meetings in the series are split evenly with each team winning five games. Ohio State won five straight matchups after Penn State took both regular-season games in 2013-14. The Nittany Lions were one of only two teams to win at Value City Arena in 2017-18 as Clemson was the other, winning the Big Ten/ACC Challenge game.
Forward Lamar Stevens led Penn State in three stat categories in the 59-52 win at Northwestern Monday night with a share of the game-high point total with 18, seven rebounds and career-best tying six assists. The junior from North Wales, Pa., leads both the Nittany Lions and the Big Ten Conference in minutes played with an average of 36.4 per game.
Now with 185 career blocks, redshirt junior Mike Watkins needs just six to move into a tie for the No. 2 spot on Penn State's all-time list. He is also nearing the 700-rebounds milestone with 668. Only 11 other Nittany Lions have reached that mark.
Sophomore guard Jamari Wheeler had his best night scoring in a Big Ten game at Northwestern with seven points and added two steals. In his last five starts, he has recorded a 4:1 assist to turnover ratio.
WATCH: ESPN
TALENT:
Jason Benetti (pxp) and Robbie Hummel (analyst)
LISTEN: Penn State Sports Network
Steve Jones (pxp) & Dick Jerardi (analyst)
Affiliates:GoPSUsports.com/MBBAffiliates1819
Online: GoPSUsports.com/lionvision
XM 381 | Internet 972
LIVE STATS: Penn State at Ohio State
SOCIAL: Twitter @PennStateMBB & @Coach_Chambers | Facebook | Instagram @PennStateMBB.
ROSTER: Penn State | Ohio State
SCHEDULE: Penn State | Ohio State
STATS: Penn State | Ohio State
GAME NOTES: Penn State | Ohio State
MEDIA GUIDE: Penn State | Ohio State
OHIO STATE
Coach: Chris Holtmann (Taylor, 1994)
Ohio State Record: 38-15 (2nd season)
Career Record: 152-100 (8th season)
2018-19 Record: 12-9, 3-7 Big Ten
2018-19 Leading Scorer
#34 Kaleb Wesson, So., F – 15.3 ppg
2018-19 Leading Rebounder
#34 Kaleb Wesson, So., F – 6.7 rpg
2018-19 Assists Leader
#3 C.J. Jackson, Sr., G – 3.7 ppg
PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS
Coach: Patrick Chambers (Philadelphia, 1994)
Coach: Patrick Chambers (Philadelphia, 1994)
Penn State Record: 121-135 (8th season)
Career Record: 163-163 (10th season)
2018-19 Leading Scorer:
#11 Lamar Stevens, Jr., F - 18.9 ppg
2018-19 Leading Rebounder:
#24 Mike Watkins, R-Jr., F - 8.4 rpg
2018-19 Assists Leader:
#23 Josh Reaves, Sr., G - 3.4 apg
PENN STATE STARTERS (LAST GAME)
F -- 11 -- Lamar Stevens – Jr. | 2018-19 ppg: 18.9 | rpg: 7.7
Note: Led Penn State in three categories, scoring, rebounding and assists while tying his career-best total with 6 assists at Northwestern; 1 of 4 in Big Ten included in top 10 in scoring (T-3) and rebounding (#9)
F -- 24 – Mike Watkins – R-Jr. | 2018-19 ppg: 8.5 | rpg: 8.4
Note: Has 185 career blocks and needs just six to tie for No. 2 on Penn State career list; Ranks in top 20 in 5 NCAA career stat categories
G – 2 – Myles Dread -- Fr. | 2018-19 ppg: 8.7 | rpg: 3.0
Note: Team-best 49 3-pt. field goals; Ranks seventh on B1G list for treys, tops among freshmen
G – 5 – Jamari Wheeler -- So. | 2018-19 ppg: 3.0 | rpg: 2.8
Note: Has started last 6 games and 15 overall; possesses 4:1 assist to turnover ratio in last five starts
G – 23 -- Josh Reaves -- Sr. | 2018-19 ppg: 9.7 | rpg: 4.6
Note: Added four steals at Northwestern to his career total (226) for No. 3 on PSU career steals list and No. 9 on Big Ten career list; closing in on 500 career rebounds (483), 300 assists (291) and 1,000 points (954)
SERIES vs. OHIO STATE
Penn State won all three meetings between the two teams in 2018-19, the second-longest active series win streak against a Big Ten opponent in the coach Patrick Chambers era.
Four of the last five contests between PSU and OSU have been decided by five points with Ohio State winning the first two (3/10/16 & 2/28/17) and Penn State winning the last two (1/25/18 & 3/2/18).
Meetings from last 10 seasons are on page 4.
Full series list is on page 175 of the media guide.
Series streak: Penn State, W3
Last game: at New York, N.Y. (BTT-MSG)
Penn State 69, Ohio State 68, 3/2/18 (semifinals)
Overall series: Ohio State leads 37-18
at Columbus, Ohio: Ohio State leads 19-6
Chambers vs. Ohio State: 5-7
STARTING 5
Both the Penn State and Ohio State coaching staffs will wear bright green ties Thursday night to raise awareness for the Coaching for Literacy initiative. More than 50 NCAA men's basketball programs nationwide are involved in this effort to ensure our nation's children can read.
According to kenpom.com, the Nittany Lions play the fifth-toughest schedule in the nation.
Thirteen of Penn State's games this season, including eight of the 11 Big Ten contests, and 31 of the last 61 games dating back to the 2017-18 season, have been decided by single digits.
The Nittany Lions have kept 18 of their 22 opponents below their scoring averages (entering the game) with point totals for 10 teams at 10.0 or more points below their scoring averages.
Junior forward and Julius Erving Award candidate Lamar Stevens has led the team in at least two statistical categories in the last four-straight games and seven times this season. He was the Nittany Lion leader in three categories in the win at Northwestern (points, rebounds and assists).
NITTANY LIONS GET B1G WIN ON THE ROAD, 59-52
Lamar Stevens scored five of his 11 second-half points along with three rebounds and two critical blocks in the final five minutes as the Nittany Lions defeated Northwestern 59-52. Stevens had a share of the game-high scoring honors with 18 points and added seven rebounds and a career-best tying six assists to his stat line.
Both the Nittany Lions and Wildcats led by as many as eight points with Northwestern using an 8-0 scoring run early for a 10-2 lead. Penn State grabbed an eight-point lead at 45-37 in the second half and did not allow Northwestern any closer than two points.
Penn State never trailed in the second half, but back-to-back field goals by Dererk Pardon tied the game at 34 just 2:40 in. Josh Reaves and Jamari Wheeler responded by sweeping through the lane, each converting a layup to put Penn State up 39-34. Vic Law nailed a three to trim Penn State's lead to 39-37 and followed a Pardon dunk with a trey to cut Penn State's lead to three again, 45-42.
Stevens gave the Nittany Lions six points and Wheeler drove the lane for a basket following five points from the Wildcats that threatened Penn State's lead. Northwestern suffered through a three-minute scoring drought until Pardon's basket at 3:14 for a 53-49 score.
Just inside the two-minute mark, Stevens had a critical block to keep Penn State's lead at five. Both Stevens and Reaves had steals in the final 32 seconds of the game.
Bolton had 10 of his 14 points in the first half and finished the night with a career-best six rebounds. Bolton and Stevens combined to make five of the Nittany Lions' last six free throws.
The Nittany Lions took a 32-20 lead into the locker room. After starting the game 1-5 from the field, they shot 55 percent (11-20) for the rest of the first period.
For Northwestern, Pardon had 18 on the night to share game-high scoring honors and Law had a double-double with 10 points and a game-best 10 rebounds.
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.
4:1 – In his last five starts, sophomore guard Jamari Wheeler has an assist-to-turnover radio of four to one.
6 – With 185 career blocks, Mike Watkins needs six more to tie John Amaechi (191) for the No. 2 spot on Penn State's career chart.
75 – Junior forward Lamar Stevens has posted double digits in scoring in 75 of his 94 career games. In the last five games, he is averaging 19.6 points per game.
291– Josh Reaves is nine assists from career 300 and is on the cusp of 500 career rebounds (483) and 1,000 career points (954).
3,009 – Lamar Stevens has started all 94 games in his Nittany Lion career and has played 3,009 career minutes. His 36:24 minutes-per-game average this season currently ranks at the top of the Big Ten.
