Penn State Downs Wagner, 91-64

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's basketball team (2-0) downed the Wagner Seahawks, 91-64, Saturday at the Bryce Jordan Center for its second-straight double-digit margin victory. Five Nittany Lions scored in double figures in the win led by Myreon Jones' season-high 14 points.

Senior forward Lamar Stevens added 13 points and had six rebounds in 24 minutes of action. Freshman forward Seth Lundy and sophomore guard Izaiah Brockington had 12 each with all 12 of Lundy's and 10 of Brockington's points coming in the second half. Jamari Wheeler scored 10 points and tied his career best with two 3-point field goals.

Mike Watkins paced Penn State with eight boards and Lundy grabbed seven.

"First of all, I want to give credit to Wagner," said Penn State men's basketball coach Patrick Chambers. "They're a little banged up, they only had seven or eight healthy bodies, but they competed and they played hard…We didn't start off great, but I'll tell you what, that second half, I thought we came out flying around."
 
The two teams traded baskets in the first half with both teams shooting 38 percent and even on 3-point field goals at four each. The 37-30 Nittany Lion lead at the half was courtesy one extra field goal and five free throws. Stevens had 11 points and four of his six total rebounds at the break.
 
Penn State went on a quick 12-1 run out of the half to go up 49-31 with baskets coming from four different Nittany Lions. The second half saw a 54-point total for PSU, including seven 3-pointers, and a 54.8 field goal percentage.
 
Defensively, the Nittany Lions forced 18 turnovers and had nine steals with a game-high three by Wheeler.
 
"I think we have the opportunity or, I think we have the makings of an elite defensive team," Chambers said. "We got to tighten up some things which we will do this week before Thursday."
 
Penn State took advantage of Wagner's thin personnel situation late in the game as three Seahawks fouled out and two others had four. The Nittany Lions added 20 points to the total from the free throw line.
 
Three Seahawks finished the game in double figures as graduate guard Curtis Cobb led all scorers with 19 points and junior guard Alex Morales had 18. Junior guard Elijah Ford scored 12, 10 coming in the second half.

The Nittany Lions hit the road for the first time in the 2019-20 campaign on Thursday, Nov. 14, when they travel to Georgetown for their Gavitt Tipoff Game. First tip is set for 6:30 p.m. and the game will broadcast live on FS1.
 
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/2019/11/9/mens-basketball-postgame-notes-vs-wagner-nov-9-2019.aspx
 
-Saturday's win over Wagner gives the Nittany Lions their third-straight 2-0 start.
-Penn State had 11 3-pointers vs. Wagner for back-to-back games with double digits in that category for only the second time since 2011.
- This is the third time in the last four seasons the Nittany Lions have scored 80 plus points in their first two games.
- With eight rebounds, Mike Watkins (744) is one rebound shy of tying John Amaechi (745) for seventh on Penn State's all-time career rebound list.