Alabama @ Penn St. preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 21, 2018 ) Penn St. 64, Alabama 73

Four days after knocking off the fourth-ranked team in the country for its first Big Ten win, Penn State steps back into non-conference play when it hosts Alabama on Saturday. Five players scored in double figures and the Nittany Lions held Maryland to 33.3 percent shooting in Tuesday's 76-69 victory, prompting a court-storming at a raucous Bryce Jordan Center.

"What a home-court advantage we had tonight," Penn State coach Patrick Chambers told reporters. "There were situations where I couldn't hear in the huddles. I couldn't hear our guys on the bench." The Crimson Tide are enjoying their first winning streak of the season after consecutive victories over Southern Miss and Stephen F. Austin. Freshman forward Jaden Shackelford scored 17 points and was part of a solid defensive effort in a 78-68 triumph last Friday over the Lumberjacks, who won at Duke earlier in the season. "For a team that went in and won for the first time in 20 plus years as a non-conference team at Cameron (Indoor Stadium), that's going to be a confident team that came in here, and I thought our defense was as good as it's been all year," Alabama coach Nate Oats told reporters after the win.

TV: 2 p.m. ET, Big Ten Network

ABOUT ALABAMA (4-4): Sophomore guard Kira Lewis Jr. finished the last game with 15 points and team highs of six rebounds and four steals, and he leads the Crimson Tide in scoring (18.6), assists (4.4) and steals (1.8). Junior guard John Petty Jr. averages 15 points and a team-leading seven rebounds, and the Alabama native is third among SEC players with an average of three 3-pointers per game. Junior forward Alex Reese chipped in a season-high 15 points versus Stephen F. Austin while making 4-of-8 from long range.

ABOUT PENN STATE (8-2): Seniors Lamar Stevens and Mike Watkins scored 15 points apiece and combined for 21 rebounds along with six blocked shots against Maryland, and Stevens took note of how easily this team bounced back from a 32-point loss at Ohio State a few days earlier. "In previous years, one loss may lead to two, two to four, four to 10. But this team is different," Stevens told reporters. "It was always like (if we won) a hero would step up. The reason we won this game is because everybody contributed in big moments." Stevens is the team's top scorer at 16.6 points per game while Watkins leads the way on the boards (9.4) and entered Friday ranked fourth nationally in blocks (3.8).

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Nittany Lions sophomore G Izaiah Brockington is averaging 15.3 points in 25.7 minutes over his last three games.

2. Shackelford was 10-of-11 at the foul line against Stephen F. Austin after going 1-for-5 over his previous three games.

3. Petty had 13 points and five rebounds while Stevens was held to 6-of-19 shooting as Alabama won last season's meeting at home 73-64.

PREDICTION: Penn State 75, Alabama 67