Penn State Basketball

Penn State men’s basketball closes out nonconference play with blowout win

Penn State's Josh Reaves, pictured playing against Rutgers last season, turned in another strong effort with 12 points, seven assists and five steals in his team’s win over Coppin State on Saturday.
Penn State's Josh Reaves, pictured playing against Rutgers last season, turned in another strong effort with 12 points, seven assists and five steals in his team’s win over Coppin State on Saturday. Abby Drey adrey@centredaily.com file

The Penn State men’s basketball team rolled past winless Coppin State 88-43 on Saturday at the Bryce Jordan Center.

The Nittany Lions (11-4) opened the game on a 9-0 run, took a 20-point lead into halftime and went on a 22-0 run in the second half of their blowout victory. The outcome marked the seventh time this season Penn State netted 80 points or better.

Tony Carr scored a game-high 21 points and Josh Reaves added 12, while Mike Watkins and Lamar Stevens each finished with 11 for the Nittany Lions, who led by as many as 47 in their final nonconference game.

Cedric Council led Coppin State (0-15) with 11 points.

Player of the game

Penn State guard Josh Reaves: Reaves followed up his near-triple-double against Rider (10 points, 13 rebounds, eight assists) with another all-around effort against Coppin State. Reaves finished with 12 points, seven assists, four rebounds and five steals in Saturday’s blowout win. Going into Saturday, Reaves was tied for 15th in the country with 2.46 steals for game — an average he improved to 2.64 with his five-steal performance against Coppin State.

Efficient performance

Carr was only on the floor for 18 minutes, but still managed to score his 21 points, finishing 7 for 9 from the field and 4 for 5 from the foul line. Carr went into Saturday’s game averaging 32.3 minutes per game, followed by Stevens (30.7 minutes), Shep Garner (30.4) and Reaves (29.6).

Garner and Reaves played 27 and 26 minutes, respectively, in the blowout, while Stevens was on the court for 19 minutes.

Up next

Penn State at Maryland, 7 p.m. Tuesday: The Nittany Lions return to Big Ten play with a 1-1 conference record after beating Iowa and falling to Wisconsin in early December. The Terrapins (12-3, 1-1) announced Thursday that sophomore Justin Jackson is out for the rest of the season with a torn labrum in his right shoulder. Jackson, a 6-foot-7 forward, was averaging 9.8 points and a team-high 8.1 rebounds this year.

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