Penn State men’s basketball cruises past Oral Roberts

Behind a career day from Jamari Wheeler, the Penn State men’s basketball team made quick work of Oral Roberts 86-48 on Friday at the Bryce Jordan Center.

Wheeler finished with a career-high 14 points — which also tied Nazeer Bostick’s team-high 14 points — along with a team-best seven rebounds and a team-best five steals. It was a strong team effort, just three days removed from a rough loss to Texas A&M.

“I was looking forward to see my team compete today after A&M and a tough practice yesterday; I wanted to see how we responded,” coach Patrick Chambers said in a news release. “I think they did a really good job. Leadership was there; discipline was there. I’m really proud of our team to come out and compete like they did.”

With the win, the Nittany Lions improve to 6-1. Oral Roberts is now 1-5.

Turning point

First nine minutes: In the first 9:09 of the game, Penn State opened on a 23-5 run — to effectively put the game away less than 10 minutes in. Oral Roberts never cut the lead to single digits.

Tony Carr nailed back-to-back 3s on PSU’s first two possessions, and the Nittany Lions essentially cruised afterward.

Player of the game

Penn State G Jamari Wheeler: Bostick might’ve also reached a career high with 14 points, but Wheeler was all over the court. During the Nittany Lions’ critical run in the opening half, here’s a look at four straight possessions: Wheeler layup; Wheeler steal then Wheeler layup; another Wheeler steal then another Wheeler layup; Wheeler assist. The guard was also 6 of 8 from the field.

Next up

Penn State at N.C. State, 7:15 p.m. Wednesday: The Nittany Lions will next travel to Raleigh, N.C., for the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. The game is set to be televised on ESPNU. The Wolfpack are 5-2.

This story was originally published November 24, 2017 at 8:51 PM with the headline "Penn State men’s basketball cruises past Oral Roberts."