Pat Chambers and his Nittany Lions are coming off of an exciting postseason run culminating in the second NIT Championship in school history.

The success also harks back to Penn State’s first-ever NIT title in 2009. Penn State, led by a sophomore Talor Battle, entered the NIT with a 22-11 record after going 10-8 in the Big Ten. For the most part, these two Penn State squads had remarkably similar postseason runs.

Offensive Leaders

Tony Carr, who’s heading to the NBA after an impressive season in Happy Valley, was the clear leader of the Penn State offense. The sophomore led the squad in scoring with an average 19.6 points and five assists per game.

Talor Battle led the ’09 squad, tallying an average 16.7 points, 5.3 rebounds, and five assists per game. Battle’s stats are eerily similar to Carr’s, although Battle stuck around for all four seasons. Battle also played a slightly different game than Carr, coming in at 5’11” and playing a more traditional role at the point.

NIT Run

The opening game of the NIT was a tough one for both Penn State teams. The Nittany Lions took George Mason to overtime in 2009, but ended up pulling out a win 77-73. After that nail-biting victory, Ed DeChellis’ team rattled off a string of victories with some sizable point cushions. Penn State took down Rhode Island, Florida, Notre Dame, and Baylor by an average margin of more than 8 points as the Nittany Lions virtually cruised to the title.

Chambers’ own NIT run was very similar to the 2009 run. Penn State trailed for most of its opening-round contest with Temple, before going on a late-game tear. The ensuing games against Notre Dame, Marquette, Mississippi State, and Utah all proved to be pretty straightforward wins. In fact, the Nittany Lions dismantled their opponents by an average margin of 11.5 points.

Penn State even accounted for the tournament MVP in both 2009 and 2018. Jamelle Cornly won the award back in the first championship run, while Lamar Stevens was given the award after his astounding performance in March.

Hometowns

The geographical composition of these different Nittany Lion squads is really the only place where the teams differ significantly.

The Philly influence is strong among the 2018 NIT champs. Pat Chambers’ roots in the area are very apparent as many of the biggest contributors hail from Southeast Pennsylvania. Tony Carr, Lamar, Stevens, Nazeer Bostick, and Shep Garner all even hail from the same school (as you’ve surely heard before). Mike Watkins, Julian Moore, and John Harrar also have Philadelphia-area roots.

The only significant contributor to the 2009 NIT team from the Philadelphia area was Andrew Jones, the forward who produced 6.2 points and 5.7 assists per game. Apparently, Ed DeChellis didn’t need that Philly magic to come out on top of the tournament in Madison Square Garden. This squad saw big contributors come from New York, Ohio, and Virginia, among other states.