12/23/2019 basketball Edit

Nittany Lions climb to No. 20 in latest AP Top 25 poll

Nate Bauer • Happy Valley Insider

Senior Editor

Is in his 17th year covering Penn State football and men's basketball for Blue White Illustrated.

The climb continues for Penn State men's basketball.

Following its first ranking in a national poll since January 1996, the Nittany Lions have jumped again from No. 23 last week to the No. 20 spot Monday afternoon.

Friday evening Penn State improved to 10-2 on the 2019-20 campaign, including a 1-1 mark in Big Ten play, with an 87-58 win against Central Connecticut at the Bryce Jordan Center.

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Lamar Stevens and the Nittany Lions continued their rise in the Associated Press Top 25 poll Monday. (AP Images)

Initially ranked No. 18 in the NCAA's NET ratings, Penn State saw no change in the update released Sunday.

The Nittany Lions have outscored opponents by an average of 79.6 to 66.5 points per game this season, with senior forward Lamar Stevens leading the way with 16.2 points per game, followed by Myreon Jones (14.2), Mike Watkins (10.5), and Izaiah Brockington (9.8).

Asked following his Nittany Lions' latest win Friday evening, and how he intends to see it through this new frontier of success, Chambers insisted that his group hasn't yet fully blossomed.

"I talk to the team all the time about staying present, staying in the moment. You can't win the moment if you're not in the moment. So let's just stay right here. Let's stay present. That's all good stuff. It's great for the university, it's great for the students, the alums, your families, but inside those lines, it's like a great win and now we move on. And that's great. That's positive," Chambers said. "But I truly believe our best basketball is ahead of us. We haven't seen this team hit on all cylinders yet. Maybe 20-25 minutes at Georgetown, maybe when they were fully loaded, fully stocked, maybe. But right now, I think we have to continue to be hungry and getting better."

Penn State returns to action Sunday afternoon to close out the nonconference schedule when it hosts Cornell (noon, ESPNU).

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