FAIRFAX, Va. — Penn State played without suspended guard Tony Carr on Sunday at George Mason. It certainly didn’t slow the Nittany Lions down.

Lamar Stevens scored 23 points and added 12 rebounds for his first career double-double, Mike Watkins added 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Penn State dominated in the post on its way to a 72-54 victory Sunday.

“Coach pushed us harder,” Watkins said. “This was a great team we were going against. Playing against them and playing without Tony, who’s a big factor on our team, we had to pick up the loose ends.”

Carr, who is averaging a team-high 20 points, was suspended for a violation of team rules. Coach Patrick Chambers said the sophomore will return Tuesday for the Nittany Lions (9-3).

Penn State would have been wise to exploit the undersized Patriots (5-7) even with Carr. His absence made the decision to turn to the frontcourt even easier.

Stevens and Watkins combined for 24 points on 11 of 14 shooting in the first half, and Watkins had nine points during an 11-2 spurt that gave Penn State a 20-10 lead. Its edge never fell below eight after that.

Stevens, who had totaled just 14 points in his last two games, created problems both in the post and on the perimeter.

“He was really focused on trying to rebound the basketball, and we saw him be ferocious,” Chambers said. “We went to him early and often and he did some good things for us, some good drives, had a good 15-footer, got himself to the free throw line. He looked for Mike a bunch. I thought he played a quality game on both ends of the floor.”

Penn State owned a 26-8 scoring advantage in the paint in the first half and a 40-26 edge inside for the game.

Sophomore Justin Kier scored a team-high 17 points for George Mason, which committed 15 turnovers and was 0 of 14 from 3-point range. The Patriots have averaged 52.5 points and are 4 of 37 on 3-pointers in their last two games.

“We’re a better team than we’ve shown the last two nights,” George Mason coach Dave Paulsen said. “We know that. This is the same group that put together some pretty good performances against good teams, but we’re in a little bit of a funk right now offensively.”

UP NEXT

Penn State: The Nittany Lions face a quick turnaround as they play host to Binghamton (8-4) on Tuesday.

George Mason: The Patriots complete nonconference play Friday against Morgan State (4-6).