LAST TIME OUT
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Seniors Mike Watkins and Lamar Stevens combined for 38 points to help lead Penn State to a 90-59 non-conference win against Cornell Dec. 29.
Watkins went 9-for-10 to tie a program record for field goal percentage en route to a season-best 19 points, as well as pulling down 10 rebounds for his 31st career double-double. Stevens added 19 points, four assists and three rebounds.
As a team, Penn State's frontcourt scored 44 points in the paint and had a 43-28 advantage on the boards.
HEAD COACH PATRICK CHAMBERS
- Head Coach Patrick Chambers is in his ninth season leading the Nittany Lions and now has 138 wins at Penn State, fifth on the program’s all-time list.
- Chambers' players have earned 29 Big Ten Conference honors, the most under any Penn State coach.
- Chambers has 15 wins over Associated Press-ranked opponents, most of any Nittany Lion basketball coach.
- The Philadelphia native previously spent two seasons as head coach at Boston University, guiding the Terriers to their first NCAA Tournament berth in nine years in 2010-11.
- Chambers was also associate head coach of a Villanova team that reached the 2009 Final Four.
2019-20 SCHEDULE
OPPONENT NOTES: IOWA
- 2019-20 Record: 10-3 Overall, 1-1 Big Ten
- Junior center Luka Garza leads the Big Ten, and ranks 12th in the nation, with 21.6 points per game. He is also third in league play with 10.0 rebounds per outing. In addition, sophomore guard Joe Wieskamp is scoring 12.8 points per game.
- Now in his 10th season in Iowa City, head coach Fran McCaffery (a Philadelphia native) has guided the Hawkeyes to four NCAA Tournaments and three NIT appearances, including the 2013 NIT championship game.
- Series Record: Iowa leads 30-17
PLAYER TO WATCH: MIKE WATKINS
Senior Forward
- Became just the third player in program history to achieve 1,000-plus points and 800-plus rebounds earlier this season. He is also the 37th Nittany Lion to reach 1,000 career points.
- Watkins leads the Nittany Lions with 9.4 rebounds per game, while also averaging 11.2 points per outing. In addition, he leads the Big Ten with 46 blocked shots and 3.5 blocked shots per game.
- He is the NCAA Division I career active leader in blocked shots with 245. Owns Penn State career field goal percentage record at 61.7 percent, which ranks tied for 10th among NCAA active career leaders.
THE PALESTRA
One of the most storied sporting venues in the country, The Palestra is located just five minutes from Center City Philadelphia.
Opened in 1927, The Palestra is now the oldest major college arena still in use and has hosted more games and more NCAA Tournament games than any other facility.
Penn State first played at the Palestra on Jan. 27, 1927, less than a month after the building's opening, and has a 23-36 record in the venue. The Nittany Lions have won 12 of their last 19 games in the Palestra, including a 72-63 victory over Michigan State in 2017.
Credits:
Mark Selders, Craig Houtz