Penn State men’s basketball has definitely had moments in history worth celebrating, and being able to celebrate them in front of their home crowd only made them more so. PSU’s home venue is the Bryce Jordan Center, or colloquially as the BJC. This multi-purpose arena has a maximum seating capacity of 15,261 for basketball games and is the largest indoor venue in Pennsylvania outside of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
The Nittany Lions on numerous occasions have had the BJC roaring since its opening in 1996 with multiple big-time upsets and memorable moments. Here’s our list of the top 10 games played in the BJC.
#10. No. 13 Virginia Tech 62 @ Penn State 63 – ACC/Big 10 Challenge – November 27, 2018
Penn State freshman, Myreon Jones, scored a career-high 18 points in this ACC/Big 10 Challenge clash. This win was Penn State’s first victory at home against a non-conference Top 25 team in 20 years.
#9. No. 10 Temple 64 @ Penn State 65 – December 23, 2006
Joe Crispin scored 18 points, dished out 5 assists and drained a 15-footer with 20 seconds left to knock off No. 10 ranked Temple. Calvin Booth added 12 points, 8 rebounds and 5 blocked shots in this huge victory.
#8. No. 8 Michigan 69 @ Penn State 75 – February 12, 2019
Lamar Stevens led the Nittany Lions by tallying a double-double scoring 26 points and ripping down 12 rebounds. He also recorded his 600th career rebound by grabbing 12 boards in the game. Freshman Myles Dread added 17 points and 5 made three-point field goals as Penn State stunned the No. 8 ranked Wolverines.
#7. No. 8 Purdue 70 @ Penn State 81 – December 5, 2024
In this dominating team win, Penn State got its first victory over a Top-10 team since December 10, 2019. Ace Baldwin, Jr. had 17 points and 6 assists. Freddie Dilione V chipped in with 14 points and Puff Johnson scored 13 points, grabbed 5 rebounds and had 4 steals. Nick Kern Jr. added 12 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals while Zach Hicks finished with 11 points.
#6. George Mason 73 @ Penn State 77 (OT) – First Round of the NIT Tournament – March 17, 2009
This overtime thriller was very special because it was in the first round of the 2009 National Invitation Tournament (NIT) in which Penn State won the championship. Talor Battle drilled a three with 4.8 seconds left to play in regulation to extend the game into overtime. In overtime, the Nittany Lions outscored the Patriots 12-8. Penn State went on to beat Rhode Island, Florida, Notre Dame, and Baylor to win the NIT Championship in Madison Square Garden.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.#5. No. 6 Illinois 95 @ Penn State 98 (OT) – January 24, 2001
Titus Ivory returned to the game in the second half after spraining his right ankle with 4:40 left in the first half. He ended up scoring a career-high 27 points with four of them coming in overtime as the Nittany Lions knocked off the No. 6 ranked Fighting Illini. Illinois head coach Bill Self said after the game, “When an opposing player goes down, you never want him to get hurt–but we’d have been a lot better off if he had stayed hurt. He came back and he was a great spark for them. He made play after play–I thought without question he was the best player in the game.” This game was Penn State’s first home victory over a Top 10 team since beating No. 10 Ohio State on Feb. 27, 1999.
#4. No. 5 Purdue 63 @ Penn State 74 – February 14, 2009
Penn State upset the No. 5 ranked Boilermakers behind Pete Lisicky’s 19 point effort. This was the Nittany Lions first win over a Top 5 team in over 50 years. Not since January 14, 1948 had the Nittany Lions upset a Top 5 team when they stunned No. 5 West Virginia 50-46 at Rec Hall.
#3. No. 4 Iowa 75 @ Penn State 79 – February 17, 2016
The fans stormed the court after Penn State stunned the No. 4 ranked and national title contenders Iowa Hawkeyes. Donovan Jack, a senior forward, led Penn State with a career-high 19 points with 8-of-9 shooting off the bench. The PSU reserves scored a total of 29 points to the Hawkeyes reserves who only scored 10 points.
#2. No. 4 Michigan 78 @ Penn State 84 – February 27, 2013
The Legion of Blue, once again, storms the court on Senior Night after Penn State knocked off the No. 4 team in the country the Michigan Wolverines. With just over 10 minutes to play in the game, Michigan had a 15-point lead, which Penn State just kept chipping away at until victorious. Head coach Pat Chambers quoted Winston Churchill after the game, “Never ever, ever, ever, give up.” He also thanked PSU head football coach, Bill O’Brien, for his inspirational speech he gave the basketball team earlier in the week.
#1. No. 4 Maryland 69 @ Penn State 76 – December 10, 2019
The undefeated (10-0) Terrapins entered the BJC as the No. 4 ranked team in the country. Penn State forced 20 turnovers which led to 22 points off of Maryland’s miscues. This was their first win over a Top 5 team since the upset win over Iowa on February 17, 2016. Senior center Mike Watkins led the effort with 15 points, 11 rebounds and 4 blocked shots. Senior forward, Lamar Stevens, said after the game, “Tonight it was everybody. Everybody really contributed in big moments. I think that’s how you know you have the making of a good team. Everybody who played really played their role and did it to the best of their abilities. This one definitely felt a little different. Just a total team win.”
These 10 memorable games could easily be ranked differently. They were all electrifying and were important wins to the program. One thing we can say for sure is that the Penn State men’s basketball program is not done giving us these huge victories at the Bryce Jordan Center.
