lamar-stevens

(Photo Credit: Penn State Athletics)

For just the first conference road game and the third road game of the season, Indiana travels to State College, PA to face off against the Nittany Lions.

The Hoosiers now will need to focus their attention purely on winning their second Big Ten test in State College. So far this season, Indiana is winless on the road with their only two losses at Arkansas and at Duke.

Although the Hoosiers bested Northwestern in a defensive battle, they may be facing a stingier team on Tuesday.

Back with the team, two all-Big Ten Defensive players Josh Reaves and Mike Watkins are expected to be of service to PSU on Tuesday evening. No team scored more than 72 points against coach Pat Chambers’ team. The Nittany Lions are currently ranked 8th in Kenpom for adjusted defense. Incredibly, that’s only good for third in the Big Ten as Michigan and Wisconsin were both ranked higher at the time of writing.

At 4-3 on the season, Pat Chambers will need to get his ball club back in order to continue their hopes at a postseason run. The good and bad news about Penn State has been their ability to keep games close. In their two non-conferences losses (DePaul and Bradley), they lost by only a single possession. In their match up against Virginia Tech, they won by just one point. They can keep up with the stronger teams, but also play down to weaker competition.

The front court has been fairly concerning for the Penn State staff with Mike Watkins only recently being available and 7’0″ senior Satchel Pierce ruled ineligible due to academics for at least the first semester.

On the Indiana side, having familiar faces such as Zach McRoberts, Devonte Green, De’Ron Davis, and Al Durhamhas been very beneficial for the team. With at least a pair of games under their belts from their latest injury bugs, they began to show signs of comfort against Northwestern. Indiana needs them to play at their potential that we witnessed last season.

The trio of Zach, Devonte, and Al had a combined 6 turnovers in their game against Duke. In the match up against Northwestern, they collectively only gave up the ball twice.

Archie Miller has two short days to game plan for Pat Chambers’ ball club and hope to finally break the victory seal on the road.

Meet the Nittany Lions

Key Departures

  • Tony Carr – 6’5″ / 204 lbs / Guard – Philadelphia, PA. After scoring nearly 20 points per game and averaging nearly 5 rebounds per game, the Philadelphia native declared for the NBA draft and got selected by the New Orleans Pelicans in the second round. After a rough summer league performance, the rights to Carr eventually got transferred to Fiat Torino (Italy).
  • Shep Garner – 6’2″ / 196 lbs / Guard – Chester, PA. The graduated senior contributed 11.4 points per game last season as the veteran presence for Penn State.

Projected Starters

  • Lamar Stevens – 6’8” / 230 lbs / Forward / Junior – North Wales, PA. The center piece of this year’s Nittany Lions now that Tony Carr is gone. He is currently averaging 22.4 points per game and he has attempted over 18 field goals per game. Stevens can finish in all sorts of ways: baseline, mid-range, fades, post, etc.
  • Josh Reaves – 6’5” / 214 lbs / Guard/ Senior – Fairvax, VA. The lone senior in the starting line up has been controlling the flow of the offense; however, he has also averaged 4.0 turnovers per game. Extremely quick off of the first dribble and can finish at the rim. Tall guard that can really cause trouble for unsuspecting opponents and has a team high 18 steals on the season.
  • Myles Dread – 6’4″ / 215 lbs / Guard / Freshman – Detroit, MI. Three-star prospect that has taken the most three point shots on the team at 43. He has only converted 30.2% of them on the season.
  • John Harrar – 6’9” / 243 lbs / Forward / Sophomore – Wallingford, PA. Lamar Stevens front court partner in the starting line up that has done a good job of filling in while Mike Watkins has been unavailable. Expect Juwan Morgan and De’Ron Davis to take advantage of this match up.
  • Jamari Wheeler – 6’1″ / 170 lbs / Guard / Sophomore – Live Oak, FL. True point guard for Penn State that has put on over 20 pounds since high school.

The Rotation

  • Mike Watkins – 6’9” / 254 lbs / Forward / Redshirt Junior – Philadelphia, PA. Watkins, who was suspended due to legal concerns in the beginning of the season, is now starting to become worked back in the rotation. The sizable defensive force for the Nittany Lions has already totaled 4 blocks and 5 steals in his two games back.
  • Rasir Bolton – 6’2″ / 180 lbs / Guard / Freshman – Petersburg, VA. Although Rasir comes off the bench, he is the third leading scorer for Penn State with 11.1 points per game. A realiable offensive force that coach Chambers can bring into the game.
  • Myreon Jones – 6’3″ / 170 lbs / Guard / Freshman – Birmingham, AL. Three-star recruit averaging 4.6 points per game in 13.1 minutes per game of action.
  • Trent Buttrick – 6’8” / 234 lbs / Forward / Sophomore – Bloomsburg, PA. Crafty big that has no issues putting the ball on the floor or shooting the three.
  • Deivis Zemgulis – 6’6″ / 220 lbs / Forward / Senior – Kaunas, Lithuania.
  • Danill Kasatkin – 6’7″ / 215 lbs / Guard / Freshman – Vichuga, Russia. Point guard out of Russia that has played for the Russian U-16 and U-18 national teams.
  • Kyle McCloskey (W) – 6’5″ / 210 lbs / Guard / Freshman – Lower Gwynedd, PA. Walk-on Kyle McCloskey actually played for Villanova football prior to transferring to Penn State. Four years of eligibility remaining.
  • Taylor Nussbaum (W) – 6’2″ / 175 lbs / Guard / Sophomore – South Salem, NY.
  • Grant Hazle (W) – 6’6″ / 194 lbs / Forward / Junior – Kingwood, TX.
  • Satchel Pierce – 7’0″ / 225 lbs / Forward / Senior – Barberton, OH. The senior big man is currently ruled academically ineligible and he has not seen action this season. He will be reevaluated after the semester break.
  • Izaiah Brockington – 6’4″ / 195 lbs / Guard / Sophomore – Philadelphia, PA. The transfer from St. Bonaventure announced his commitment to Penn State earlier this year and is ineligible this season per transfer rules.

Expectations for the Nittany Lions

Penn State is coming off of a tremendous 2017-2018 season, culminating in winning the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) title. The Nittany Lions won 26 games, which was the school’s second-highest win-total ever and was the first 20-win season since 2008- 2009. To put it in perspective, last season was so successful that the squad broke 21 team records.