There are two kinds of senior moments: ones when you forget who you are, and ones when you remind everyone who you are.
And with 8:55 to go in regulation Penn State trailing by four, Nittany Lion senior forward Lamar Stevens decided to remind everyone who he is.
In those final nine minutes Stevens was a force, scoring nine points, dishing out two assists, pulling down two rebounds and blocking three shots. Not on the scoresheet: forcing an Alabama timeout and a jump ball in favor of Penn State, Stevens screaming into the air as he flexed his muscles to a roaring crowd.
His final show of force came in the game’s waning seconds, lock down defense preventing any game-winning shot and any hope that the Tide would roll through State College. Penn State wasn’t going to lose on Steven’s watch.
But of course that’s easier to say once it’s all said and done.
Penn State was on the ropes for much of Saturday afternoon, the Nittany Lions on the final outing of a six-game stretch against Power Five teams in over just two weeks time, while Alabama was coming off a week of rest. The Tide went 9-of-34 from beyond the arc but each three felt like a nail in the coffin as Penn State struggled to score in the first half and struggled to answer spurts by a streaky Alabama team.
‘I thought we played better for 32 minutes,’ Alabama coach Nate Oats said after the game.
By the break Penn State trailed 40-34, getting the vast majority of its scoring from the duo of Myreon and Curtis Jones. Stevens was cold, Mike Watkins was in foul trouble and the Nittany Lions looked a team in need of rest.
‘We’re tired,’ Stevens later joked.
The Nittany Lions are also feisty, despite trailing by nine, tying the game and then trailing again, Penn State refused to quit and timely shots by both of the Joneses kept the Nittany Lions within reach, trailing by six, trailing by eight and finally four points.
Then Lamar Stevens happened, an And-1 drive and free throw sparking Penn State. In that moment Stevens remembered what a coach had told him earlier in the season as Penn State took on Georgetown.
‘You’re not going to suck all game,’ Stevens said with a laugh. ‘You put in too much work to suck all game.’
Turns out he and that assistant were right and Stevens had 18 points, 11 rebounds, five blocks and six assists to show for it. Curtis Jones finished with 18 points, Myreon Jones with 17. Mike Watkins added seven points and 11 rebounds to his season total. Penn State took a late lead thanks to a Watkins’ rebound and two free throws inside of 25 seconds to go, the rest was defense, and a senior moment as Stevens locked his man down, launching the ball wildly up behind the backboard as the clock raced towards zero.
Penn State improves to 9-2 with the win and ends a stretch of games against Power Five teams with a 4-2 record over the span. From here the Nittany Lions play two more out of conference games before opening the rest of Big Ten play at the Palestra in Philadelphia.
Games like Saturday will go farther than the win column, the Nittany Lions have now won twice this season without their best. They’ve found ways to pull good wins out of bad performances, and in a long season it’s all about the final score, not the optics.
And sometimes ugly wins look good the farther away you get from them. Say like, March.
