Penn State Tops Indiana 64-49 for Third-Straight Win

By Kenny Varner Jr.
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Updated: January 30, 2020

Courtesy of GoPSU Athletics
Stevens Moves to Third on Penn State’s All-Time Scoring List in 64-49 Win Over Indiana

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Penn State men’s basketball team (15-5, 5-4) won its third-straight game in a 64-49 win over Indiana (15-6, 5-5) on Wednesday, Jan. 29. Senior Lamar Stevens picked up a pair of career milestones in Penn State’s win over Indiana, grabbing his 800^th career rebound and moving into third place all-time on the Penn State career scoring list. Stevens led the Nittany Lions with 17 points and now has 1,994 career points.

“We had some time off between the last game and I think you saw that in the second half,” said Penn State men’s basketball coach Patrick Chambers. “Indiana is a really good team, I watched them on film. They had a great win against Michigan State, they probably should’ve beat Maryland. They played three games in seven days and you could see that in the second half a little bit, and you could see us really reemerge with our speed and our quickness. I thought guys really stepped up and different guys stepped up at different times in the second half.”

Penn State’s outstanding defensive effort produced a season-best 15 steals, four each from three different Nittany Lions, while holding the Hoosiers to 33.3 percent shooting and just two 3-pointers. The Nittany Lions scored 21 points off turnovers.

For the second-straight game, Penn State’s bench proved to be a strength for the Nittany Lions with a 31-11 advantage in the win. Graduate guard Curtis Jones Jr. gave Penn State an offensive spark with 10 points in 11 minutes the first half and junior guard Jamari Wheeler set the pace and tempo. Wheeler had five assists, four points, four steals and five rebounds.

Lamar Stevens finished with a game-high 17 points and nine rebounds while tying his career-best with four steals.

Back-to-back 3-pointers by freshman forward Seth Lundy and sophomore guard Myles Dread broke the game open from a one-point lead, 33-32, at the 15:21 mark to a 39-32 advantage less than a minute later. The Nittany Lions used a 13-4 run over seven minutes to expand the lead while the Hoosiers were 1-7 from the field.

Stevens hit two-straight field goals to put Penn State up by 13, 48-35, with 8:27 to play and added another to counter a basket by Trayce Jackson-Davis. Indiana had two turnovers and senior forward Mike Watkins blocked a shot to keep the Hoosiers scoreless over a three-minute stretch.

Penn State led by as many as 20 as Stevens scored his ninth point of the second half with 3:01 remaining in the game. Indiana made three of their last four baskets for the final 64-49 score.

Trayce Jackson-Davis led the Hoosiers with 14 points and snagged seven rebounds. Five Hoosiers had at least five rebounds as Indiana won the battle of the boards 44-38.

The Nittany Lions and Hoosiers were locked in a defensive struggle in the first half as both teams had nearly identical shooting performances from the field. Indiana shot 34.5 percent and Penn State 34.4 percent. They combined for a 3-15 mark from beyond the arc.

Myles Dread scored just before the buzzer and tied the game at 28-28 going into the break.