UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's basketball team heads to Rutgers for its final regular-season road game on Wednesday, March 6. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. and the Big Ten Network will have the broadcast of with online streaming available through BTN2Go.com and the Fox Sports Go mobile app.
The two teams have each won two of the last three games played at its opponents' arena. This is Penn State's first trip to Rutgers since January of 2017 as the Nittany Lions and Scarlet Knights played at the BJC in their only meeting of 2017-18. Penn State leads the overall series 41-32 and is 4-3 in Big Ten meetings.
Junior forward Lamar Stevens, with a 20.0 points per game average, is second on the Big Ten in scoring and one of only three players ranked in the top 10 for scoring and rebounding. He is the Nittany Lions' leading rebounder at 7.9 per game. He has led Penn State in at least two statistical categories for 11-straight games and 20 times this season.
Penn State shot above 40 percent from the floor in six of its last eight games and registered a field goal percentage of 45.3 percent in it seven February games. The Nittany Lions had their Big Ten best percentages in back-to-back games vs. Nebraska (55.6) and Illinois (49.1) with three-straight games above 45 percent to complete the month.
WATCH: BTN
TALENT: Brandon Gaudin (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 383 | Internet 974
SOCIAL: Twitter @PennStateMBB & @Coach_Chambers | Facebook | Instagram @PennStateMBB.
ROSTER: Penn State | Rutgers
SCHEDULE: Penn State | Rutgers
STATS: Penn State | Rutgers
GAME NOTES: Penn State | Rutgers
MEDIA GUIDE: Penn State | Rutgers
RUTGERS
Coach: Steve Pikiell (Connecticut, 1990)
Rutgers Record: 44-51 (3rd season)
Career Record: 236-207 (14th season)
2018-19 Record: 14-14, 7-11 Big Ten
2018-19 Leading Scorer
#5 Eugene Omoruyi, Jr., F – 13.2 ppg
2018-19 Leading Rebounder
#5 Eugene Omoruyi, Jr., F – 7.4 rpg
2018-19 Assists Leader
#0 Geo Baker, So., G – 4.3 apg
PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS
Coach: Patrick Chambers (Philadelphia, 1994)
Penn State Record: 125-138 (8th season)
Career Record: 167-166 (10th season)
2018-19 Leading Scorer:
#11 Lamar Stevens, Jr., F – 20.0 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: 20.0 | rpg: 7.9
Note: Has scored 20-plus points in nine of his last 11 games; 27 away points from entering Penn State's career scoring top give, currently with 1,602 points.
F -- 21 – John Harrar – So. | 2018-19 ppg: 3.3 | rpg: 3.6
Note: Scored a B1G career best 9 points vs No. 17 Marlyand; Owns Penn State-best field goal percentage in B1G games (57.1&) & in games played in February (62.5%)
G – 2 – Myles Dread -- Fr. | 2018-19 ppg: 8.8 | rpg: 2.7
Note: Has connected on team-best 65 3-point field goals in 2018-19; Tied his B1G career best with 17 points vs No. 17 Maryland (4 FG, 3 3-FG, 6 FT)
G – 5 – Jamari Wheeler -- So. | 2018-19 ppg: 3.4 | rpg: 3.1
Note: Has started last 13 games and 22 overall; Recorded 2.4:1 assist-to-turnover radio in those 13 starts with 46 assists and 23 steals
G – 23 -- Josh Reaves -- Sr. | 2018-19 ppg: 10.1 | rpg: 4.7
Note: Two-time B1G steals champion currently leads B1G with 71 steals; ranks #2 on Penn State's career steals list with 241
SERIES vs. RUTGERS
Of the current Big Ten opponents, Penn State and Rutgers have the most previous meetings with 73. Penn State leads the overall series 41-32 and is 4-3 in Big Ten play vs. the Scarlet Knights.
Each team has won two of the last three games at its opponents home arena.
Meetings from the last 10 seasons of competition are on page 4 of the game notes.The full series list is on pages 177-78 of media guide.
Series streak: Rutgers, W1
Last game: Rutgers 64, Penn State 60
at University Park, Pa., 1/26/19
Overall series: Penn State leads 41-32
at Piscataway: Rutgers leads 22-15
Chambers vs. Rutgers: 4-3
STARTING 5
Kenpom.com has calculated Penn State's strength of schedule as the second-toughest in the nation. CBS Sports has held steady with its ranking of the the Nittany Lions' strength of schedule at No. 3 and the nonconference SOS at No. 18.
Penn State has scored 1,225 points in the 18 Big Ten games so far this season. That total is sixth on the list of highest B1G point totals. Five of the top 10 have occurred in the coach Patrick Chambers era.
Two-time steals stat champion Josh Reaves leads the Big Ten with 71 steals in 2018-19. No other B1G player has led the league in steals in three consecutive years.
Averaging 20.0 points per game as the No. 2 scorer in the B1G, junior forward Lamar Stevens recorded his 17th 20-plus game of 2018-19 and 32nd of his career at No. 19 Wisconsin.
Redshirt junior Mike Watkins collected his 700th career rebound at No. 19 Wisconsin, becoming only the 13th Nittany Lion in program history to achieve that milestone.
NO. 19 WISCONSIN HOLDS OFF PENN STATE
Penn State cut into No. 19 Wisconsin's lead to make it a one-point game, 57-56, with 85 seconds left on the clock, but the Badgers held off the Nittany Lions to win 61-57 at the Kohl Center Saturday.
Badger Brevin Pritzl broke a 53-53 tie with a layup with 3:59 left in the game to give Wisconsin a two-point lead, 55-53. A minute later, he added the first of five Wisconsin free throws that helped keep Penn State from getting any closer in the final minutes.
Stevens hit the second of his two free throw attempts to put the Nittany Lions down only two, 59-57, with 43 seconds left. The Nittany Lions had a chance with 15.5 seconds remaining in the game, but a turnover and immediate foul put Wisconsin at the line, getting the second free throw for a 60-57 Badger lead.
On a play eventually ruled a Penn State turnover, the ball was awarded to Wisconsin with 1.9 seconds left in the game.
Lamar Stevens had game-best totals in the scoring and rebounding columns with 22 and 10, respectively, as well as three blocks. Josh Reaves had 14 points and nine rebounds.
Reaves' 3-pointer at 17:39 gave the Nittany Lions an eight-point lead, but the Badgers went to the paint for their next eight points to erase the Nittany Lions' lead and knot the game at 38. Ties at 41 and 43 gave way to a 46-43 Wisconsin lead on a Pritzl 3-pointer.
Another Prtizl triple and then three free throws by Brad Davison put the Badgers up by five with 9:11 left to play. Back-to-back baskets by Rasir Bolton and his subsequent free throw tied the game at 52. The game was tied again at 53 after the two teams traded missed shots and free throws.
The Badgers' final field goal of the game, a layup by Pritzl at 3:59, gave Wisconsin a 55-53 lead as it held off Penn State for the win.
The Nittany Lions had seven-point leads at 21-14 and 23-16 in the first 13 minutes of the period, same as the halftime margin at 33-26.
Pritzl went 5-5 and connected on four 3-pointers for the game. Ethan Happ scored his first points with 5:52 left in the first half and totaled 14 points. Kobe King had four timely baskets for nine points and D'Mitrik Trice, Khalil Iverson and Brad Davison had six each.
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.
13 – Redshirt junior Mike Watkins became only the 13th Nittany Lion to achieve the 700 career rebounds milestone. Only the second sophomore to amass 500 career rebounds, he shares that honor with Penn State great Jesse Arnelle.
17 – Number of 20-plus point scoring games in 2018-19, to date, by junior forward Lamar Stevens, tying Tony Carr (2017-18) and D.J. Newbill (2014-15) for the most in a single season in the Chambers era (2011-present).
71 – League-leading steals in 2018-19 by senior guard Josh Reaves. Reaves led the B1G in total steals in both 2016-17 and 2017-18.
135 – Penn State record team steals total set in 18 Big Ten games in 2018-19, breaking the old mark of 133 set in 1995-96 (also 18 games).
579 – Total season points so far in 2018-19 by Lamar Stevens, good for 11th on Penn State's single-season scoring list. His 604 total in 2017-18
ranks eighth.
