Penn State Nittany Lions at Bryce Jordan Center
The Nittany Lions play in the Bryce Jordan Center, a 15,000-seat multipurpose arena in University Park, Pennsylvania. The stadium opened in 1995 bearing the name of the former university president who'd helped secure the funding to build it. The student section is known as the Legion of Blue, and the Pride of the Lions pep band keeps things lively. Since 2011, the Lions have been coached by Patrick Chambers.
Penn State Nittany Lions Men's Basketball History
They may live in the shadow of the vastly better-funded and more successful football team, but Penn State hoops has had some winning moments over the years. From nice NCAA tournament berths, including a Final Four to 11 appearances in the National Invitation Tournament (including two championships since 2009) and the whole career of Lamar Stevens (a versatile forward now in his last season in Happy Valley). Stevens poured in 20 points a game in 2018-19, second in the Big Ten to Purdue's Carsen Edwards, and perhaps more significantly he spent nearly the whole season out on the floor, playing nearly 37 minutes a game.
In 2017-18, the Nittany Lions took home an NIT championship. As a No. 4 seed, the Penn State team knocked off No. 5 seed Temple, No. 1 seed Notre Dame and No. 2 seed Marquette to reach the semifinals, where they romped past Mississippi State. In the final against Utah, Lamar Stevens scored 28 points, dished out three assists, and pulled down two rebounds, and guard Tony Carr just missed a triple-double, with 15 points, 14 assists and nine boards, en route to an 82-66 Penn State victory at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Penn State's only NCAA Final Four appearance was in 1954. The Lions were coached that year by Elmer Gross and led by junior Jesse Arnelle, who scored 21 points per game and hauled in nearly 12 rebounds per game. After dropping Toledo, ousting Louisiana State and dispatching Notre Dame, Penn State fell to La Salle in the semifinal, 69-54. The Lions would go on to beat USC, 70-61, in the national third-place game.
