UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's basketball team (20-5, 10-4) welcomes Illinois (16-9, 8-6) for a 6:30 p.m. ET game on Tuesday, Feb. 18, in the Bryce Jordan Center. Gates open at 5:30 p.m. This is the only regular-season meeting between the Nittany Lions and the Illini in 2019-20.
Tuesday's game will be an all-access broadcast on FS1 with both Nittany Lion coach Patrick Chambers and Illini coach Brad Underwood mic'd up throughout the game. No commercial breaks will be taken during game action and fans will get an up-close look into the team huddles.
SPONSOR:
Penn State Health
PROMOTIONS:
Student ticket holders can enjoy Taco Tuesday at the BJC with a walking taco buffet, while supplies last.
TICKETS:
Purchase single-game tickets to attend upcoming Penn State home games at the Bryce Jordan Center.
TICKET OFFICE:
The Bryce Jordan Center Athletics Ticket Office opens two hours prior to tipoff on game days.
DIGITAL PROGRAM
WATCH: FS1 All-Access and Fox Sports mobile app
Joe Davis (pxp) & Donny Marshall (analyst)
LISTEN: Penn State Sports Network
Steve Jones (pxp) & Dick Jerardi (analyst)
Affiliates: GoPSUsports.com/affiliates1920
Listen online: GoPSUsports.com/lionvision
SiriusXM | Sirius 138 | XM 196 | Internet 958
LIVE STATS: Illinois at Penn State
SOCIAL: Twitter @PennStateMBB | Facebook | Instagram @PennStateMBB
ROSTER: Penn State | Illinois
SCHEDULE: Penn State | Illinois
STATS: Penn State | Illinois
GAME NOTES: Penn State | Illinois
MEDIA GUIDE: Penn State | Illinois
ILLINOIS
Coach: Brad Underwood (Kansas State, 1986)
at Illinois: 42-48 (Third season)
Career Record: 151-75 (Seventh season)
2019-20 Record: 16-9, 8-6 Big Ten
Top Scorer
#11 Ayo Dosunmo, So., G – 15.8 ppg
Top Rebounder
#21 Kofi Cockburn, Fr., C – 9.0 rpg
Top Assists Leader
#11 Ayo Dosunmo, So., G – 3.3 apg
PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS
Coach: Patrick Chambers (Philadelphia, 1994)
Penn State Record: 147-145 (Ninth season)
Career Record: 189-173 (11th season)
2019-20 Record: 20-5, 10-4 Big Ten
Top Scorer
#11 Lamar Stevens, Sr., F – 17.7 ppg
Top Rebounder
#24 Mike Watkins, Sr., F – 8.0 rpg
Top Assists Leaders
#0 Myreon Jones, So., G – 3.0 apg
#5 Jamari Wheeler, Jr., G – 3.2 apg
STARTING 5
Penn State moved to No. 9 in Monday's Associated Press poll, tying the 1995-96 and 1953-54 teams for the highest ranking in program history.
With a 20th win Saturday, coach Patrick Chambers has guided Penn State to two 20-win seasons and has four 20-win seasons to his credit with two more in his two seasons at Boston Univ.
Penn State earned its 20th victory on Feb. 15, the earliest, by date, in program history. PSU now has six seasons in its Big Ten era (1992-present) and 12 all-time with at least 20 wins.
The Nittany Lions earned their 10th Big Ten Conference victory Saturday, the second-highest Big Ten win total in program history. The 1995-96 team finished with 12 wins and the 2008-09 team had 10, both in seasons with 18 league games.
Honors continue to roll in for senior forward Lamar Stevens during his stellar senior campaign. Stevens, a finalist for the Senior CLASS Award, was included on the midseason list of 30 players considered for the Citizen Naismith Trophy.
SERIES VS. ILLINOIS
Illinois leads the overall series vs. Penn State 28-19, but the Nittany Lions have won the last six, with three wins at home and three on the road. The Illini have an 11-10 edge over the Nittany Lions in University Park.
Series streak: Penn State, W6
Overall series: Illinois leads 28-19
At University Park, Pa.: Illinois leads 11-10
Last game: at University Park, Pa.
Penn State 72, Illinois 56, 3/10/2019
Chambers vs. Illinois: 7-4 (H: 4-1)
HOME SWEET HOME
Penn State has a 13-1 mark in the Bryce Jordan Center in 2019-20, tied with three other Nittany Lion teams for third all-time with 13 home wins in a single season.
1 -- 17 in 2008-09
2. -- 15 in 2017-18
3. -- 13 in 2019-20, 2007-08, 1999-00 & 2010-11
FIVE MORE IN FEBRUARY
In 2018-19, Penn State recorded five wins in the month of February for the first time since the 1997-98 season. The last time the Nittany Lions had three-straight seasons with at least four wins in February was prior to PSU joining the Big Ten in 1991-92 (independent) and 1989-90 and 1990-91 (Atlantic 10).
Penn State has back-to-back five-win Februaries for the first time in its Big Ten era (1992-present).
SINGLE-SEASON B1G WINS
The 1995-96 edition of the Nittany Lions owns the record for most B1G wins in a single season with 12. Coach Patrick Chambers has two of the top three and four of the top seven B1G win totals.
Rank -- Wins (Season, Coach)
1.-- 12 (1995-96, Jerry Dunn)
2.-- 10 (2019-20, Patrick Chambers; 2008-09, Ed DeChellis)
3. -- 9 (2017-18, Patrick Chambers, 2010,
Ed DeChellis, 1994-95, Bruce Parkhill)
7.-- 7 (2018-19, 2015-16, Patrick Chambers, 2000-01, Jerry Dunn)
BY THE NUMBERS
9 -- Penn State is ninth in the most recent AP poll, tied for its highest ranking ever, a No. 9 spot on Feb. 12, 1996, and at No. 9 in the 1953-54 final AP poll (March 22, 1954).
53.8 -- Penn State shot a season-high 53.8 in 3-point field goal percentage with a season-high 14 made on 26 attempts vs. Purdue.
60 -- Wins in the last three years under coach Patrick Chambers, highest total in any three-span since Penn State joined the Big Ten (1992).
92.1 -- Percentage of games won since the start of the 2015-16 season, when Penn State holds an opponent to a field goal percentage of 40.0 or less (record 52-5).
926 -- Career rebounds by senior forward Mike Watkins, which places him second on Penn State's all-time list.
2,103 -- Senior forward Lamar Stevens surpassed the 2,100 career point mark, one of only two active Division I players with at least 2,100 career points and 800 career rebounds.
4,145 -- Career minutes played by senior Lamar Stevens who has started in all 129 of his career games.
LAST TIME OUT: PSU LOGS EIGHTH-STRAIGHT WIN, 20TH OF SEASON
Penn State topped Northwestern 77-61 for its eighth-straight win and 20th of the season Saturday. Four Nittany Lions finished in double figures with Lamar Stevens leading the charge with 23.
The Nittany Lions connected on 11 3-point field goals vs. the Wildcats, their second-straight game with double-figures in treys, and crashed the boards with a +12 margin at 42-30.
Myles Dread had four 3-pointers in his second-consecutive game and finished with a season-best 16 points. Jamari Wheeler also turned in a season best with 11 points, with a career-best three treys.
Trailing by 18 points with 12:13 to play, Northwestern cut the Nittany Lions lead to seven with 5:16 remaining. A clutch triple by Dread on the Nittany Lions' next possession pushed the lead back to 10 with 4:43 to play. Dread's three-pointer sparked a 13-0 run for Penn State as the Nittany Lions secured their 10th Big Ten Conference win.
Penn State's long-range shooting erased an early Wildcats 7-3 lead as Seth Lundy and Stevens knocked down three consecutive treys to tie the game at 9-9. Chambers called timeout at the 3:43 mark to refocus his team.
Up by six, 25-19, with 8:14 left in the half, Penn State made five-straight field goals, all two-pointers, in a 10-0 run over 2:45 and pulled ahead for a 42-28 halftime lead.
Penn State's offensive rebounding prowess led to nine second-chance points and it did not allow a second-chance point for the Wildcats in the first half.
Pete Nance and Boo Buie led the Wildcats with 12 points each while Robbie Beran had seven rebounds.
