‘My head is still spinning.’ What a win at the Palestra means for Penn State men’s basketball

Lamar Stevens made a layup with 41 seconds left in Penn State’s Saturday afternoon 89-86 win over Iowa and trotted down the court. The bucket gave the Nittany Lions a 83-79 lead and increased their chances of winning exponentially.

Stevens continued down the floor before pointing vociferously to the floor and let his feelings known to the crowd at the Palestra.

“This is my city,” he yelled. “This is my city!”

Saturday afternoon, he was right. Philadelphia was Penn State’s city.

Its most historic basketball venue played host to the Big Ten matchup between the Nittany Lions and the Hawkeyes in a home game for Penn State.

Penn State head coach Pat Chambers, whose hometown is 30 minutes from the Palestra, gave plenty of credit to Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery, who grew up in Philadelphia, for allowing the game to happen.

“I want to thank (Fran) and Iowa,” Chambers said, “for allowing us to move a home game to the Palestra. This wouldn’t have happened if they wouldn’t have given us the OK. ... We created amazing memories for our team.”

The game marked a homecoming for three Penn Staters who list Philadelphia as their hometown. Stevens, Mike Watkins and Izaiah Brockington all had the chance to play in front of their personal home crowds Saturday. Stevens said the atmosphere was unlike any other.

“The environment and just how loud the crowd gets (were great),” he said. “And it’s mainly only Penn State in the gym cheering only for us.”

It wasn’t the first time Brockington and Stevens played at the Palestra. Both took part in the Philadelphia Catholic League semifinals in 2016 for their respective high schools. Stevens and Roman Catholic won their semifinal, and ultimately the final on the court. Brockington lost his semifinal matchup when he was in high school.

The redshirt sophomore guard said it was nice to leave the court for a win this time.

“I definitely really wanted to win in front of my family and friends,” Brockington said. “To go out on a good note (at the Palestra) was great.”

The gym was packed for those high school games, but Brockington said it pales in comparison to the atmosphere in Saturday’s game.

“I feel like it exceeded my expectations because coming in here in high school, we had about half the gym cheering for you,” Brockington said. “But coming in and just seeing the whiteout and having all of our fans there supporting us every step of the way like that definitely gave us a big advantage.”

The game wasn’t a perfect experience by any means. It was 81 degrees on the court, making it difficult for players to stay on the floor for long stretches. Chambers said that there was a slight advantage for Penn State because of the heat.

“(Iowa guard) C.J. (Fredrick) got banged up,” he said. “(Ryan Kriener) got banged up for a second there. I felt like our depth really helped us. It was nowhere near 81 (degrees). It was 120.”

Fans were brought in to cool the floor and the court was frequently dried off with towels to keep it from becoming a slippery mess. Early in the game, Watkins and Iowa center Luka Garza slipped and fell in the same spot, forcing a stoppage to dry the court and an increase in the measures taken to keep it dry.

Even with the heat and the damp court, Chambers said playing in the Palestra was still an incredible experience.

“I thought that was just incredible,” he said. “Just incredible. The fans were just awesome. ... My head is still spinning. That game was wild. ... It’s just an amazing place to watch a game, to play a game and to coach a game. I feel like our guys understand that. The lighting’s not the best, it’s 150 degrees and there’s an aura, or can I say smell, to an old school gym. ... It’s something special playing here.”

The win in the historic gym earns the obvious advantage in the standings now, but could serve an even greater impact for the Nittany Lions down the road.

“The impact of this win, we’re not going to see it right away,” Chambers said. “But I think you’re going to see it in recruiting. And I think you’re going to see it as far as people coming out to the (Bryce Jordan Center) ... The impact there I think is really going to help. ... We had some recruits here today and I think they saw a hell of a basketball game. We’re doing a nice job in Philly already, so this can only help.”

This story was originally published January 5, 2020 at 4:34 PM.