WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Penn State men's basketball team (19-5, 9-4) won its seventh-straight game and fourth consecutive Big Ten Conference road contest with an 88-76 win over Purdue (14-11,7-7) on Tuesday, Feb. 11. The nine Big Ten wins tie coach Patrick Chambers' best total as the Nittany Lion head coach, matching the season total from 2017-18.
Penn State's four Big Ten road wins are the most in a single season in program history. The four straight road victories are also a program first.
Senior forwards Mike Watkins and Lamar Stevens combined for 35 points as Watkins collected the 33rd double-double of his Nittany Lion career. In total, five Nittany Lions scored in double figures led by Watkins' 19 points and 11 rebounds. Freshman Seth Lundy turned in a career night, drilling six three-pointers for a career-high 18 points, 12 to get the Nittany Lions off to a fast start.
Mike Watkins scored 19 points to help lead @PennStateMBB to an 88-76 win over Purdue. pic.twitter.com/nG3b7DfXhC
— Penn State On BTN (@PennStateOnBTN) February 12, 2020
Lundy and the Nittany Lions knocked down a season-best 14 three-pointers, 10 in the first half, compared to just a total of four for the Boilermakers. All four of Purdue's treys came in the second half.
"Purdue has been playing great basketball," said Penn State men's basketball coach Patrick Chambers. "(I've been) watching them over the last week or so, they have been really drilling teams, playing really well, shooting well, especially in this arena, this incredible home atmosphere…It's taken me a long time, nine years, to get a win here, that's a long time…We made shots today and I thought our defense was pretty good, when we needed stops, we got some stops. I thought we rebounded the ball as well as we can. I thought our guys were dialed into the game plan and we made some shots and we kept it together in the second half when things were starting to slip and that's the sign of a really good team."
A late surge by Purdue cut the Nittany Lions' lead to eight points, but clutch free throw shooting by John Harrar and Lamar Stevens secured Penn State's 19th win of the season.
Harrar tallied a career-high 13 points with seven points from the charity stripe and four rebounds.
Penn State opened the second half with a 13-0 run, going 6-7 from the field with eight points in the stretch courtesy of Mike Watkins, to open the lead to 55-32. Coming out of the under-12 timeout, Purdue spun off a 11-2 run to cut the Nittany Lion lead to 64-50.
The final 5:42 witnessed 14 Penn State points coming only from the line as PSU went without a field goal in that timeframe. Purdue hit two of its four total 3-pointers in the last 2:23 to pull within 10 points, 79-69. Jahaad Proctor connected on two free throws and Eric Hunter Jr. converted a three-point play to get the Boilermaker deficit down to seven. Hunter Jr. countered two Harrar free throws for an 81-74 score, but Stevens made his final five free throws for the final 88-76.
The Nittany Lions had the hot hand from behind the arc to open the game, going 4-6 from three-point range to take a 12-6 lead into the first media timeout. Lundy drained a pair of 3-pointers in his first three attempts to open the game.
Penn State continued to pour in 3-pointers as the Nittany Lions made 10 first-half treys, the most in a half this season for the Nittany Lions. PSU ended the half making its final four shots to take a 42-30 lead into the intermission. Lundy had a game-high 12 points at the break, off his four 3-pointers.
Watkins gave the Nittany Lions a strong inside presence with seven points and six rebounds. Watkins' sixth rebound moved him into second all-time in Penn State history with 913 career rebounds, passing Mike Lang (912, 1980-83).
The Nittany Lions' victory in West Lafayette was the third in program history in 25 tries and Penn State gave Purdue only its eighth loss against 89 wins over the last six seasons in Mackey Arena.
Sorry to derail your plans but @PennStateMBB is taking over this road trip. pic.twitter.com/OYpfM9QTDg
— Penn State On BTN (@PennStateOnBTN) February 12, 2020
Penn State returns to the Bryce Jordan Center Saturday, Feb. 15 to play host to Northwestern for the TEAM REAM game. For more information about single-game tickets for Penn State's remaining four home games, visit the online ticket information page or call 1-800-NITTANY weekdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
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