Penn State men’s basketball reaches 20 regular-season wins for first time in more than 10 years
Penn State basketball stayed hot Saturday afternoon in a 77-61 victory over the Northwestern Wildcats at the Bryce Jordan Center. With the win, the Nittany Lions reached 20 wins in the regular season for the first time since 2008-09 and are 20-5 overall with a 10-4 record in the Big Ten.
The Nittany Lions trailed 11-9 in the early going of the game but took control halfway through the first half and never looked back. The Nittany Lions scored 42 points in the first half to earn a 42-28 lead.
Their burst in offensive production came thanks to their shooting from beyond the arc, where they made 7-of-21 attempts in the game’s first 20 minutes.
The second half involved less shooting than the first from deep, but the Nittany Lions still managed to make 4-of-10 from beyond the arc to stay efficient.
They finished the game with 11 made 3-pointers on 31 attempts on their way to the win.
Senior forward Lamar Stevens finished the game with 23 points to lead all scorers. Sophomore guard Myles Dread made 4-of-11 from 3-point range on his way to 16 points.
The Nittany Lions and Wildcats will meet one more time this season, when Penn State will travel to Evanston to take on Northwestern in both teams’ regular season finale on March 7.
Player of the game
Lamar Stevens: Stevens was once again the star of the show for the Nittany Lions. His 23 points led the game and he added seven boards in another stellar effort. The senior forward has picked up his scoring of late with sophomore guard Myreon Jones out with an illness for the past three games. Jones is the team’s second-leading scorer with 14.1 points per game. Stevens has picked up the slack in those games and it’s allowed the team to go 3-0. His scoring effort marked the 40th time in his college career that he’s reached 20 points in a game.
Turning point
Pat Chambers takes a timeout 3:43 into the game: Penn State came out sluggish to start the game, forcing head coach Pat Chambers to call a timeout with 16:17 left in the first half. Chambers was visibly upset after Northwestern scored an easy bucket on a wide-open layup for guard Patrick Spencer and had an 11-9 lead.
The Penn State head coach lit a fire under his team and the Nittany Lions took control from there. They outscored the Wildcats 33-17 through the rest of the half to establish a 42-28 halftime lead. The timeout changed the Nittany Lions’ demeanor and set them on course to an easy victory.
Stat of the Game
Penn State makes 11-of-31 from 3-point range: Penn State was gunning from deep early and often in Saturday afternoon’s game, and for good reason. The Nittany Lions were getting open looks and taking them without hesitation. Their 3-point shooting led to 21 of their 42 first-half points and helped open a big lead. Penn State head coach Pat Chambers has frequently mentioned his willingness to let his players shoot when they’re open and it’s paying dividends. The Nittany Lions have taken 57 3-pointers in their last two games and have made 25 to fuel their offense.
Quotables
Northwestern head coach Chris Collins on Penn State enjoying success:
“It looks like they’re enjoying it ... I’ve always been a huge fan of what Pat has done with this program, even through struggles. They were a team that played hard every single night. You knew when you played these guys you had to bring it or you were going to be in trouble. So when you get a group of guys that really clicks and is winning and having fun and playing great basketball, you’ve got to definitely enjoy the moments ... They’’ve got a really good thing going this year and they’ve got a good group of guys. You can tell they’re all in.”
Penn State head coach Pat Chambers on importance of Myles Dread:
“Having him in there, we’re bigger, we’re stronger. There’s a lot of communication out there because he knows exactly what we do. Our defense has gotten even better ... The fact that we were able to tell him we were going to bring him off the bench ... I give him a lot of credit for what he’s doing. He didn’t sulk, he didn’t complain, he just kept doing his job.”
Up next
Illinois: Penn State stay in University Park for its next game. The Nittany Lions will take on the Illinois Fighting Illini in a battle for positioning in the Big Ten. The Illini entered Saturday with a 16-8 overall record and an 8-5 record in the Big Ten. They entered the day ranked No. 29 overall in KenPom’s rankings.
The schedule doesn’t get any easier for Northwestern after Saturday’s game. The Wildcats will travel to Maryland Tuesday to take on the Terrapins, who entered the weekend 20-4 overall and 10-3 in the Big Ten, good for first in the conference.
This story was originally published February 15, 2020 at 3:25 PM.
