UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's basketball team had six players score in double figures to open the 2019-20 season with an 84-46 win over Maryland Eastern Shore on Tuesday at the Bryce Jordan Center. Senior forward Lamar Stevens led the Nittany Lions with 17 points on 50-percent shooting from the field and senior forward Mike Watkins posted his 27th career double-double with 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting and a game-high 11 rebounds.
Penn State (1-0) extended a 37-17 halftime lead with a 22-5 run over the first seven minutes of the second half. That stretch included with eight field goals on nine attempts from the field. PSU shot 59.3 percent for the half and finished the night at 50 percent (29-59). Defensively, the Nittany Lions held the Hawks to only 33.3 percent shooting for the game and forced 19 turnovers.
"I'm always going to look and take some positives away," said Penn State men's basketball coach Patrick Chambers. "I thought we started off the game really strong. I thought we had some good energy from the starters and they played really well together. I think that we did that in the first four minutes, they were out there together. I think the second half in the first four minutes, I thought we did some really good things offensively and defensively."
The Nittany Lions' stout defense, relentless rebounding and strong shooting continued throughout the second half. Penn State forced 19 turnovers and made eight of its 12 three pointers in the second stanza to cruise to the win. For the game, Penn State had a 42-32 rebounding advantange.
Watkins was dominant on both ends of the floor in the victory, scoring six points, grabbing seven rebounds, blocking three shots, and nabbing a steal in the first 20 minutes of action. Watkins registered his 200th block of his career in the first half and added six more for seven on the night, his highest blocked shot total since December 2017 vs. Wisconsin. He was not called for any personal fouls
The Nittany Lions opened the game on a 9-0 run and kept the pressure on offensively to lead the Hawks 20-12 midway through the first half. Stevens and redshirt sophomore Izaiah Brockington combined for 11 points over a three-minute span to help Penn State open up the game and take a 33-14 lead.
AJ Cheeseman had a team-best nine points for the Hawks and Gabriel Gyamfi and Glen Anderson each had four rebounds.
Penn State returns to action on Saturday, Nov. 9 against Wagner at 4 p.m. ET. The first 500 students in attendance will receive Mike Watkins' jersey t-shirts.
Keep up to date with the latest information from Coach Chambers and the Nittany Lions on Twitter by following @Coach_Chambers and @PennStateMBB, on Facebook and Instagram at @PennStateMBB.
GAME NOTES
Full post-game notes here:
https://gopsusports.com/news/2019/11/5/mens-basketball-post-game-notes-penn-state-vs-maryland-eastern-shore.aspx
- -Penn State's 38-point victory is the largest margin of victory in a season opener in the Patrick Chambers era.
- Penn State scored 80 or more points in its season-opening game for the fourth-straight year.
- Senior forward Mike Watkins recorded his 200th career blocked shot in the first half and added six more for the game for seven total, most for him since 12/4/2017 vs. Wisconsin.
- Watkins' double-double gives him 27 for his career and now sole ownership of the No. 2 spot on Penn State's list. His 12 rebounds move him to eighth all-time on Penn State's career chart with 737.