UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's basketball team travels to Madison, Wis., for its third-straight Saturday road game, a 1 p.m. ET contest vs. No. 19 Wisconsin. The Big Ten Network will have the broadcast of Saturday's game with online streaming available through BTN2Go.com and the Fox Sports Go mobile app.
The 2018-19 season marks the first time the two teams will play twice in the regular season since the 2014-15 campaign. Wisconsin holds a 19-2 advantage in games played in Madison. Penn State's last win vs. the Badgers came at a neutral site, in the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis, Indiana, in March 2011.
With his game-best 24 points against No. 17 Maryland, junior forward Lamar Stevens moved to No. 7 on Penn State's all-time scoring list with 1,580 points. He leads the Nittany Lions in scoring and rebounding with averages of 19.9 points and 7.9 rebounds per game, respectively. The North Wales, Pennsylvania, native ranks second in the league in scoring and seventh in rebounding, one of only three Big Ten players ranked in both those categories.
Jamari Wheeler's contributions on the court are not all documented in the box scores, but the sophomore guard has started 12 straight games and in February had a 2:1 assist-to-turnover ratio while picking up 17 steals. He is tied for fourth in the Big Ten with 40 steals this season and is second behind teammate Josh Reaves in conference play with 30 steals coming in Big Ten action.
With six blocked shots in two games last week, including a season-best five at Illinois, redshirt junior Mike Watkins moved to the No. 2 spot on Penn State's career list. He is poised to become only the 13th Nittany Lion to reach the 700 career rebound mark with two more boards.
WATCH: BTN
TALENT: Mike Monaco (pxp) & Jon Crispin (analyst)
STREAM/APP: FoxSportsGo
LISTEN: Penn State Sports Network
Steve Jones (pxp) & Dick Jerardi (analyst)
Affiliates:GoPSUsports.com/MBBAffiliates1819
Online: GoPSUsports.com/lionvision
XM 382 | Internet 973
SOCIAL: Twitter @PennStateMBB & @Coach_Chambers | Facebook | Instagram @PennStateMBB.
ROSTER: Penn State | Wisconsin
SCHEDULE: Penn State | Wisconsin
STATS: Penn State | Wisconsin
GAME NOTES: Penn State | Wisconsin
MEDIA GUIDE: Penn State | Wisconsin
WISCONSIN
Coach: Greg Gard (Wisconsin-Platteville, 1995)
Wisconsin Record: 76-45 (4th season)
Career Record: 76-45 (4th season)
2018-19 Record: 19-9, 11-6 Big Ten
2018-19 Leading Scorer
#22 Ethan Happ, Sr., F – 17.9 ppg
2018-19 Leading Rebounder
#22 Ethan Happ, Sr., F – 10.3 rpg
2018-19 Assists Leader
#22 Ethan Happ, Sr., F – 4.6 apg
PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS
Coach: Patrick Chambers (Philadelphia, 1994)
Penn State Record: 125-137 (8th season)
Career Record: 167-165 (10th season)
2018-19 Leading Scorer:
#11 Lamar Stevens, Jr., F – 19.9 ppg
2018-19 Leading Rebounder:
#11 Lamar Stevens, Jr., F – 7.9 rpg
2018-19 Assists Leader:
#23 Josh Reaves, Sr., G – 3.2 apg
PENN STATE STARTERS (LAST GAME)
F -- 11 -- Lamar Stevens – Jr. | 2018-19 ppg: 19.9 | rpg: 7.9
Note: Has scored 20 or more points in eight of the last 10 games; 22.9 points per game and 8.3 rebounds per game in seven February games
F -- 21 – John Harrar – So. | 2018-19 ppg: 3.4 | rpg: 3.6
Note: Tied career-best 9 points vs. Maryland; Team-best field goal percentage of 58.8% and 62.5% in month of February
G – 2 – Myles Dread -- Fr. | 2018-19 ppg: 8.9 | rpg: 2.7
Note: Team-best 64 3-pt. field goals; Tied B1G career-best 17-point total vs Maryland (4 FG, 3 3-FG, 6 FT)
G – 5 – Jamari Wheeler -- So. | 2018-19 ppg: 3.4 | rpg: 3.0
Note: Twelve consecutive starts and 21 overall; Posted back-to-back games with B1G best 9 points (at Illinois and vs. Maryland) and tied career-high 7 assists vs. Terps
G – 23 -- Josh Reaves -- Sr. | 2018-19 ppg: 10.0 | rpg: 4.5
Note: No. 2 on Penn State's all-time steals list with 240; One of only 21 Nittany Lions with 1,000 career points and 500 rebounds
SERIES vs. WISCONSIN
Wisconsin has won the last 11 games in the series and leads the overall series 37-10. The most recent Penn State win took place on a neutral site at the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis, Indiana, on March 11, 2011 (36-33).
This is the first time since 2014-15 the two teams have played twice in the regular season.
All meetings are listed on page 4 of the game notes. The full list of games in the series is on page 182 of the media guide.
Series streak: Wisconsin, W11
Last game: Wisconsin 71, Penn State 52
at University Park, Pa., 1/6/19
Overall series: Wisconsin leads 37-10
at Madison: Wisconsin leads 19-2
Chambers vs. Wisconsin: 0-11
STARTING 5
Both kenpom.com and CBS Sports have the the Nittany Lions' strength of schedule ranked as the third-toughest in the nation. CBS Sports has the nonconference SOS at No. 18.
Coach Patrick Chambers has 14 wins over ranked teams, most of any Nittany Lion basketball coach. The Nittany Lions' three wins over ranked foes in back-to-back seasons is a program first.
Mike Watkins took sole possession of the No. 2 spot on Penn State's career blocked shots list with 193. The redshirt junior is two rebounds away from becoming only the 13th Nittany Lion to reach 700 career rebounds.
Forward Lamar Stevens moved to the No. 7 spot on the Nittany Lion all-time scoring list with 1,580 points. He has scored 20 points or more in eight of his last 10 games and led the team in at least two statistical categories in 10-straight games and 18 times in this season.
Jamari Wheeler recorded individual back-to-back Big Ten scoring bests with nine points against Illinois and Nebraska and tied his career best in assists with seven vs. No. 17 Maryland.
PENN STATE TOPS NO. 17 MARYLAND, 78-61
Penn State never trailed in the 78-61 win over No. 17 Maryland at the Bryce Jordan Center as Lamar Stevens led all scorers with 24 points. The victory was the third this season for the Nittany Lions over a ranked team and they have won three-straight games and five of their last seven.
"We're getting better," said Penn State men's basketball coach Patrick Chambers. "We played really good basketball out there today. I thought we played with energy and enthusiasm."
Penn State grabbed a double-digit lead in the first 5:02 of the game as freshman guard Myles Dread had two of his four 3-pointers and jumpers by Stevens and Rasir Bolton set the tone for the game.
Maryland went 2-9 from the field at the start as the Terrapins tied the game at 3-3 at the 18:34 mark, but went without points for the next four minutes. A jumper by Aaron Wiggins at 11:18 cut the lead to seven, but seven-straight points by Dread and a layup by Mike Watkins pushed the score to 27-11 with 7:31 to play.
Baskets by six different Nittany Lions from that point until halftime put Penn State up 42-20 at the break with 12 points coming off eight Terp turnovers.
A 3-pointer and dunk by Stevens early in the second half put the Nittany Lions up by 25. Maryland changed its lineup and the two teams traded baskets fairly evenly over the next eight minutes. An 8-2 run by Maryland over two minutes dropped the deficit to 16, at 68-52, but John Harrar responded with back-to-back layups to finish Penn State's scoring from the field.
Jamari Wheeler tied his career best with seven assists and has a 2.47 to 1 assist-to-turnover radio in his last 12 starts. Freshman guard Myreon Jones had 10 points on the night going 4-5 from the field with two triples. Sophomore forward John Harrar tied career bests for points and steals with nine and three, respectively.
Anthony Cowan Jr. scored 12 of his Maryland team-high 15 points in the second half. Wiggins finished with 11 points while Bruno Fernando and Jalen Smith each had nine. Fernando collected a game-high eight 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.
20 – Penn State allowed Maryland only 20 points in the first half Wednesday night, the lowest total by an opponent in any half this season.
133 – Total steals in Big Ten games in 2018-19, one shy of Penn State's league record of 134 set in 1995-96.
193 – With six blocked shots last week, a season-best five at Illinois and one vs. Maryland, Mike Watkins took over the No. 2 spot on Penn State's career list with 193.
240 – Career steals by senior guard Josh Reaves, who moved to No. 2 on Penn State's career list with four vs. Maryland. He ranks eighth on the Big Ten career list.
698 – Mike Watkins is two rebounds from career number 700. The redshirt junior would become only the 13th Nittany Lion to achieve this total.
