Oral Roberts @ Penn St. preview

Penn State will try to bounce back from its first loss of the season and prepare for a challenging portion of the schedule when Oral Roberts pays a visit on Friday. The Nittany Lions could not keep up with No. 19 Texas A&M in the second half of Tuesday's 98-87 loss in the title game of the Progressive Legends Classic at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Tony Carr scored 31 points and Lamar Stevens added 25 for Penn State, which will attempt to tighten things up on the defensive end before a stretch in which it visits North Carolina State and then plays its first two Big Ten games at Iowa and home against Wisconsin. "So many lessons to be learned today, so many great experiences that we will look back on and say, 'Okay this is what we've got to work on,'" coach Patrick Chambers told reporters in Brooklyn. "I give Texas A&M credit, they jumped us in the second half and they got to a big lead, but I was really, really proud of our group, and how they responded." Carr has responded all season and is averaging 21.4 points while making 10-of-16 from 3-point range for the Nittany Lions. He will go after a Golden Eagles squad that has given up an average of 82.5 points during a four-game losing streak.

TV: 3 p.m. ET, Big Ten Network Plus

ABOUT ORAL ROBERTS (1-4): All five starters scored at least 11 points in an 80-76 loss at Pepperdine on Tuesday, but four reserves combined for just seven points on 2-of-5 shooting. Leading scorer Albert Owens (14 points per game), a senior center, had 16 points in the setback while sophomore forward Emmanuel Nzekwesi stuffed the stat sheet with 17 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three blocks. Senior guard Austin Ruder is the team's top perimeter threat with 16 3-pointers in 41 attempts.

ABOUT PENN STATE (5-1): Stevens has hit the 25-point mark twice in the last four games and hauled in at least six rebounds in all six contests thus far, while chipping in two blocked shots in four of them. Junior guard Josh Reaves ranks third behind Carr and Stevens on the team's scoring list with 12.2 per game, and he has rebounded from a one-game absence with a sprained ankle to record seven steals over the past two games. Senior Shep Garner was held to six points against Texas A&M but notched his fifth game with multiple 3-pointers and leads the team with 16.

TIP-INS

1. Carr and Stevens are a combined 53-for-65 from the line, while their teammates are 57-for-90.

2. Both teams make an average of six 3-pointers per game, which was tied for 263rd in the country entering Wednesday.

3. This contest is an on-campus game as part of the Legends Classic. The two teams have never met.

PREDICTION: Penn State 86, Oral Roberts 69