Sold-Out Palestra Features Philly Connections with No. 21 Penn State vs. No. 23 Iowa

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The No. 21 Penn State men's basketball team (11-2, 1-1) returns to Big Ten Conference play vs. No. 23 Iowa (10-3, 1-1) in a neutral site game at the historic Palestra in Philadelphia at 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 4. The Big Ten Network will have the broadcast of the sold-out game.
 
Penn State alumni and fans attending Saturday's game are encouraged to wear white to support the team.
 
Six Nittany Lions on the 2019-20 roster have connections to the Philadelphia area in addition to coach Patrick Chambers, who hails from Delaware County, and is the all-time assists leader at Philly U. for legendary coach Herb Magee. Iowa coach Fran McCaffery is also a Philadelphia-area product and was a three-year letterwinner at Penn.
 
This is the fourth time Penn State will play at The Palestra under the guidance of Chambers with a three-game win streak and 3-1 record overall at the "Cathedral of Basketball."
 
TICKETS:
Saturday's game vs. Iowa at The Palestra is SOLD OUT.

Purchase single-game tickets or a Mobile Flex Plan to attend upcoming Penn State home games at the Bryce Jordan Center.
 
DIGITAL PROGRAM


WATCH: BTN & Fox Sports Go mobile app
Dave Revsine (pxp), Stephen Bardo (analyst) & Olivia Dekker (reporter)
 
LISTEN: Penn State Sports Network
Steve Jones (pxp) & Dick Jerardi (analyst)
Affiliates: GoPSUsports.com/affiliates1920
Listen online: GoPSUsports.com/lionvision
SiriusXM Channels  |  XM  372  |  Internet  372
 
LIVE STATS: Penn State vs. Iowa
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ROSTER: Penn State  |  Iowa
SCHEDULE: Penn State  |  Iowa
STATS: Penn State  |  Iowa
GAME NOTES:  Penn State | Iowa
MEDIA GUIDE:  Penn State | Iowa
 
IOWA
Coach: Fran McCaffery (Penn, 1982)
Record at Iowa: 184-135 (10th season)
Career Record: 435-312 (24th season)
2019-20 Record: 10-3, 1-1 Big Ten
Top Scorers
#55 Luka Garza, Jr., C – 21.6 ppg
Top Rebounder                     
#55 Luka Garza, Jr., C  – 10.0 rpg
Top Assists Leader
#30 Connor McCaffery, R-So., G – 3.7 apg
 
PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS
Coach: Patrick Chambers (Philadelphia, 1994)
Penn State Record: 138-142 (Ninth season)
Career Record: 180-170 (11th season)
2019-20 Record: 11-2, 1-1 Big Ten
Top Scorer                            
#11 Lamar Stevens, Sr., F – 16.4 ppg
Top Rebounder
#24 Mike Watkins, Sr., F – 9.4 rpg
Top Assists Leader
#0 Myreon Jones, So., G – 3.2 apg
 
STARTING 5
Both Penn State coach Patrick Chambers and Iowa coach Fran McCaffery are products of the Philadelphia area and were point guards for local universities. Chambers is the all-time assists leader at Philadelphia Univ. for coach Herb Magee and McCaffery was a three-year letterwinner at Penn.
 
The Nittany Lions are 3-1 under coach Patrick Chambers in games played in The Palestra and have won three straight. PSU is 23-36 overall at The Palestra, winning 12 of its last 19 games there, and is 13-8 in games vs. teams other than Penn.
 
Penn State last played a ranked team as a ranked team on Feb. 3, 1996 when No. 10 Penn State defeated No. 19 Iowa 95-87 in overtime. PSU is 2-2 as a ranked team playing a ranked team.
 
The No. 15 ranking in the NCAA NET is Penn State's highest to date.
 
This is the fourth time in Penn State's' Big Ten era it has reached 11 wins in 13 games (1995-96: 13-0; 2014-15: 12-1; 2008-09: 11-2 & 2019-20: 11-2).
 
SERIES VS. IOWA
Penn State and Iowa have faced each other in The Palestra on one other occasion – the first game of the 1961 Quaker City Classic, a 67-48 Iowa win. The next meeting between the Nittany Lions and the Hawkeyes, more than 30 years later, was as Big Ten foes on Feb. 22, 1993.
 
Series streak: Iowa, W1
Overall series: Iowa leads 30-17
Neutral site: Iowa leads 3-1
last neutral site: BTT 3/12/15, Chicago 67-58 PSU
Last game: at University Park, Pa.
Iowa 89, Penn State 82, 1/16/2019
Chambers vs. Iowa: 5-8
 
"HOME" COMING AT THE PALESTRA
In addition to Delaware County native coach Patrick Chambers, six Nittany Lions on the roster have ties to Philadelphia. Four of the six have competed in games in The Palestra.
 
IZAIAH BROCKINGTON -- ARCHIBISHOP RYAN
Favorite memory of playing in Palestra: HS senior year playoffs
 
JOHN HARRAR -- STRATH HAVEN
Favorite memory of playing in Philadelphia: Playing in a summer camp and competing against kids in college and the pros now
 
SETH LUNDY -- ROMAN CATHOLIC
 
Kyle McCloskey -- Germantown Academy
Favorite memory of playing in Philadelphia:
Playing in Philadelphia Inter-Academic League and winning four-straight championships
 
LAMAR STEVENS  -- ROMAN CATHOLIC
Favorite memories of playing in Palestra:
Winning the 2016 Catholic League championship and then winning vs. Michigan State my freshman year in one the best games I've ever played in in my life
 
MIKE WATKINS -- THE PHELPS SCHOOL
Favorite memory of playing in Palestra:
Playing against Michigan State my first season, being able to play there again is amazing
 
PENN STATE AND THE PALESTRA
The historic Palestra, on the University of Pennsylvania campus in Philadelphia, opened on Jan. 1, 1927. The Palestra has hosted more games, more visiting teams and more NCAA tournaments than any other facility in college basketball. At the time of its construction, it was one of the world's largest arenas.
 
This is the 60th game for Penn State at The Palestra, having played its first game there on Jan. 27, 1927, less than a month after the building's opening.
 
The Nittany Lions have won their last three-straight contests in The Palestra and 12 of the last 19 games played there.
 
Saturday's game will count as a neutral-site game for the teams, originally a home game for the Nittany Lions, who announced the game site in August.
 
The Penn State-Michigan State matchup in 2017 was the first regular-season league game to take place in the City of Brotherly Love.
 
GAMES AT THE PALESTRA UNDER CHAMBERS
12/5/2012 -- vs. La Salle (A) -- L, 57-82
11/16/2013 -- at Penn -- W, 83-71
12/15/2015 -- vs. Drexel (A) -- W, -63-57
1/7/2017 -- vs. Michigan State (H)* -- W, 72-63
1/4/2020 -- vs. #23 Iowa (H)*
 
*Big Ten Conference game
 
CHAMBERS AS A PLAYER AT THE PALESTRA
1/3/1994 -- vs. West Chester -- W, 82-67
 
NOTABLE GAMES IN THE PALESTRA
1953-54: Led by standouts Jack Sherry and Jesse Arnelle, the Nittany Lions upended the Quakers, 72-67, on Dec. 12, 1953 for their first win vs. Pennsylvania since the 1938-39 season. The victory kicked off a memorable season in which PSU reached its first and only Final Four.
 
1961-62: Senior captain Gene Harris scored 46 points, which still stands as the Penn State single-game scoring record, in the second game of the first annual Quaker City Classic.
 
1988-89: The Nittany Lions earned their first 20-win season in more than 20 years in 1988-89, highlighted by a run to the Atlantic 10 Tournament championship game. Led by junior center Ed Fogell, who scored a career-high 28 points, Penn State routed West Virginia 86-64.
 
1990-91: Playing its final season in the Atlantic 10, the Nittany Lions went out with a run to the conference tournament title and their first NCAA Tournament bid in 25 years. No. 3 seed Penn State's quarterfinal and semifinal wins both came at the Palestra
 
2008-09: An early highlight of one of the most memorable Nittany Lion seasons came when Penn State visited the Palestra to play Pennsylvania in November in which the Nittany Lions took home an 85-73 victory. Stanley Pringle and Talor Battle combined for 49 points and were 8-for-15 from 3-point range.
 
2015-16: After trailing in the first half, 32-15, Penn State battled back for a 63-57 comeback win over Drexel. On the strength of Payton Banks' game-high 20 points, the 17-point comeback marked the largest come-from-behind victory during head coach Patrick Chambers' tenure.
 
2016-17: In only the second Big Ten home game played at a neutral site, Penn State fans packed the Palestra on a snowy afternoon and watched the Nittany Lions roll to a 44-32 halftime lead. The squad's Philadelphia natives scored 55 of PSU's 72 points en route to the "homecoming" win and the first victory over the Spartans since 2011.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
2 - Lamar Stevens is one of only two active NCAA student-athletes with at least 1,800 career points and 750 career rebounds.
 
3 - Penn State has scored at least 90 points three times this season and now has seven games with 80 or more points in 2019-20.
 
12 - Mike Watkins made 12-straight baskets, going 4-4 vs. CCSU and connecting on his first eight in the first half vs. Cornell.
 
15 - The Nittany Lions are currently 15th in the NCAA NET rankings, their highest ranking to date.
 
40 - Penn State's class of 2020 earned a top-40 ranking from 247Sports.
 
46 - Individual single-game scoring record of 46 points by Nittany Lion captain Gene Harris, in The Palestra, vs. Holy Cross on Dec. 28, 1961, in the first annual Quaker City Classic.
 
61.7 - Buoyed by a single-game record-tying field goal percentage of 90.0 (9-10) vs. Cornell, Mike Watkins' career field goal percentage improved to 61.7, Penn State's all-time best.
 
LAST TIME OUT: NITTANY LION FRONTCOURT DOMINATES IN 90-59 WIN
Led by senior forwards Lamar Stevens and Mike Watkins, No. 20 Penn State topped Cornell 90-59 on Dec. 29 in the Bryce Jordan Center. Watkins and Stevens combined for 38 points and helped Penn State extend its home winning streak to 13 games.
 
Watkins went 9-10 (90 percent) to tie a program record for field goal percentage en route to a season-best 19 points. He added 10 rebounds for the 31st double-double of his career.
 
Penn State's potent frontcourt established its presence with 44 points in the paint and a 43-28 advantage on the boards. Penn State shot 52.2 for the game and forced 17 Cornell turnovers en route to its 11th win of the season.
 
Four Nittany Lions finished in double-figures led by Watkins and Stevens with 19 points. Sophomore guards Myreon Jones (18) and Izaiah Brockington (11) also finished in double-figures in the victory. Myreon Jones was electric in the second half, scoring 14 of his 18 points and swiping three steals.
 
Watkins was perfect from the field in the first half, scoring 16 points on 8-8 shooting to pace the Nittany Lions. With a 4-4 outing vs. Central Connecticut State, Watkins had a skein of 12 made field goals. Stevens had added 14 points, four assists and three rebounds in the first half.
 
Penn State shot 54.5% in the first half and led Cornell 45-29 at the break. Stevens had 10 points in the first eight minutes of the game.
 
The Nittany Lions closed out the 2019 portion of their second with double-digit wins for the fourth time in the last six seasons. Penn State went undefeated at home vs. nonconference opponents for the second-straight year.
 
Big Red junior forward Jimmy Boeheim led Cornell with 17 points and shared the team rebounding lead with six rebounds.