What does Penn State men’s basketball need to advance to the NIT semifinals?

Penn State guard Shep Garner and his teammates are embracing the chance to play in late March.

After beating Temple and knocking off top-seeded Notre Dame in the first and second rounds of the NIT, the No. 4-seed Nittany Lions are one win away from earning a trip to Madison Square Garden for the tournament’s semifinals. Penn State (23-13) will continue its postseason run at No. 2-seed Marquette (21-13) at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

“Shep said it the other night. He just said, ‘Look man, we’re basketball players. We love to play. We get to put the jersey on again,’” Penn State coach Patrick Chambers said Monday. “A lot of teams are home. Some teams have been home for a couple weeks, and we get to still play, so we’re excited about that opportunity.”

Penn State will face a Marquette team coming off a 101-92 win over Oregon in its second-round game. The Golden Eagles, who finished 12 for 26 from beyond the arc against Oregon, are ranked third in the county in 3-point shooting percentage (41.7 percent) and sixth in the nation with 11 3-pointers per game. Marquette’s Andrew Rowsey (41 percent), Markus Howard (40.7 percent) and Sam Hauser (49.2 percent) all shoot better than 40 percent from beyond the arc.

Rowsey averages 20.2 points per game, Howard leads the team with 20.4 and Hauser averages 14.1.

“It’s almost like Marquette’s a video game,” Chambers said. “They make 3s at an alarming rate. You really got to be able to guard them. They’re really good basketball players. To be able to score 100 points is pretty insane, too.”

The Nittany Lions held Notre Dame — which was averaging 8.5 3-pointers — to 4 for 22 from beyond the arc in their win Saturday.

They’ll need to limit Marquette’s shooters Tuesday to advance to New York.

“They want to win,” Chambers said. “They want to compete. They want to keep this thing going.”

Bostick is ‘game-time decision,’ Watkins out for NIT

After Nazeer Bostick was suspended for Saturday’s game, Chambers said Bostick will be a “game-time decision” for Tuesday’s game at Marquette.

“He’s going to fly,” Chambers said. “He’s going to fly to Marquette with us, for sure.”

Bostick was suspended after being charged with possession of marijuana. Bostick is averaging 4.9 points in 17.4 minutes per game this season for the Nittany Lions.

Chambers also said forward Mike Watkins is out for the NIT due to the knee injury he suffered against Michigan on Feb. 21.

Going into the first round of the NIT, the coach said Watkins was “probably” out for the tournament, leaving open the possibility of Watkins returning if the Nittany Lions made a run.

“We want to take our time,” Chambers said. “I don’t want to put him in jeopardy. It’s just the right thing to do for his future, our future and his career.”

This story was originally published March 19, 2018 at 3:51 PM with the headline "What does Penn State men’s basketball need to advance to the NIT semifinals?."