UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's basketball team (12-4, 2-3) travels to Minneapolis Wednesday, Jan. 15 for the first of two regular-season meetings vs. Minnesota (9-7, 3-3). The Golden Gophers and Nittany Lions tangle at 9:00 p.m. ET at Williams Arena. The game will be broadcast by the Big Ten Network.
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Cory Provus (pxp) & Shon Morris (analyst)
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Steve Jones (pxp) & Dick Jerardi (analyst)
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MINNESOTA
Coach: Richard Pitino (Providence, 2005)
Record at Minnesota: 119-99 (Seventh season)
Career Record: 137-113 (Eighth season)
2019-20 Record: 9-7, 3-3 Big Ten
Top Scorer
#25 Daniel Oturu, So., C – 19.9 ppg
Rebounder
#25 Daniel Oturu, So., C – 11.9 rpg
Top Assists Leader
#5 Marcus Carr, R-So., G – 7.2 apg
PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS
Coach: Patrick Chambers (Philadelphia, 1994)
Penn State Record: 139-144 (Ninth season)
Career Record: 181-172 (11th season)
2019-20 Record: 12-4, 2-3 Big Ten
Top Scorer
#11 Lamar Stevens, Sr., F – 16.3 ppg
Top Rebounder
#24 Mike Watkins, Sr., F – 8.5 rpg
Top Assists Leader
#0 Myreon Jones, So., G – 2.9 apg
STARTING 5
Penn State's home/away January schedule continues with Wednesday's game at Minnesota. The Nittany Lions play their first back-to-back Big Ten home games in 2020 on Sat., Feb. 15 and Tues., Feb. 18.
The Nittany Lions are ranked 10th in the nation with an average of 6.1 blocked shots per game. Senior forward Mike Watkins has more than half (52) of Penn State's 97 team total.
Watkins, who leads the Big Ten and is ranked fifth nationally in total blocks (52) and blocks per game (3.25) currently ranks as the NCAA Division I active career leader with 251 blocked shots.
Penn State has 141 steals so far, 26 more than any team in the Big Ten. Four Nittany Lions are ranked in the conference's individual top 10: Jamari Wheeler (1-27), Lamar Stevens (t-6-21) and Izaiah Brockington and Myreon Jones (t-10-20).
Senior forward Lamar Stevens has scored 983 points in 61 career regular-season Big Ten games and needs 17 to reach the 1,000 B1G point mark.
SERIES VS. MINNESOTA
The Nittany Lions and Golden Gophers played twice last year with Minnesota winning both by a combined six points: a 65-64 Williams Arena win (1/19/19) and a 77-72 overtime win in the Big Ten Tournament. Four of the last five contests have required OT or were one-possession games.
Penn State and Minnesota play twice in the regular season for the first time since 2016-17.
Series streak: Minnesota, W4
Overall series: Minnesota leads 36-14
at Minneapolis: Minnesota leads 20-3
Last game: at Chicago, Ill., Big Ten Tournament
Minnesota 77, Penn State 72 OT, 3/14/2019
Chambers vs. Minnesota: 4-9
DOUBLE DIGITS BY DECEMBER...
Penn State reached a double-digit win total by December 31st for the fourth time in the last six years and the Nittany Lions reached 12 wins in 14 games for the fourth time in Penn State's 28 seasons in the Big Ten era:
Season -- Record after 14 games
1995-96 -- 13-1
2019-20 -- 12-2
2014-15 --12-2
2008-09 -- 12-2
FIRST IN JANUARY...
With its 89-86 win over Iowa at The Palestra, Penn State won its first league game of the new year for the eighth time in 28 Big Ten seasons and second time in the coach Patrick Chambers era.
BY THE NUMBERS
8 -- The Nittany Lions have scored 80 points or more in eight games this season and are 8-0 in those contests.
10 -- Penn State has 10 wins when it outrebounds its opponent (9-0) or has equal rebounds (1-0).
15.06 -- The Nittany Lions lead the Big Ten in turnovers forced per game at 15.06. Wisconsin was only the second opponent this season with less than 10 turnovers.
61.2 -- Including a single-game record-tying field goal percentage of 90.0 (9-10) vs. Cornell and a recent 7-8 outing vs. Rutgers, Mike Watkins' career field goal percentage is 61.2, Penn State's all-time best.
120 -- Lamar Stevens has started in every game for Penn State in his career, 120 consecutive games, the second-longest current streak in the nation.
983 -- Career Big Ten points scored by Lamar Stevens in 61 league games for a 16.1 ppg average.
1,638 -- Senior forwards Mike Watkins (861) and Lamar Stevens (777) have combined for 1,638 rebounds.
LIONS CAN'T OVERCOME HALFTIME DEFICIT IN LOSS TO BADGERS
Penn State matched Wisconsin point-for-point in the second half, but couldn't overcome a slow start offensively. Penn State fell to Wisconsin, 58-49, in the Bryce Jordan Center as the Badgers' snapped the Nittany Lions' 13-game home win streak.
Lamar Stevens and Izaiah Brockington had 19 and 15 points, respectively, with both contributing double figures in the second half. Stevens posted his 15th career double-double with 13 rebounds.
Wisconsin went up by as many as 12 points in the second half, 39-27, before Stevens, Myreon Jones and Brockington responded points to fuel a 10-2 run.
The Nittany Lions cut the Badgers' lead to four, 41-37, midway through the second half, but Wisconsin added four points to go up by eight. The Badgers didn't let the Nittany Lions any closer than six with the teams trading baskets for the next five minutes.
Wisconsin had an answer on the offensive side for every Nittany Lion score and held Penn State scoreless for the last two minutes. Izaiah Brockington scored 10 of his 15 points in the second half and eight points in the final 7:46.
The slow start offensively began from the tip with both teams going 0-6 from the field through the 15:47 mark. Micah Potter scored 10-straight points over the next four minutes for the Badgers before Stevens put PSU on the board with a basket and a foul shot.
The Badgers shot 45.5 percent in the second half and 40 percent overall. Wisconsin had a 20-11 advantage on the boards in the second half after Penn State had a 22-20 edge at the break.
Off the bench, Potter scored a game-high 24 points with 18 coming in the first half, and tied Stevens for a share of the game-high rebounding lead.
