Feb. 10, 2009
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA., Feb. 10, 2009 - Penn State will try to end a two-game losing skid and collect its program record-tying third Big Ten road win Wednesday when the Nittany Lions take on No. 20 Purdue in West Lafayette, Ind. The game is scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. tip on the Big Ten Network and can be heard live on the Penn State Sports Network.
Penn State stands tied for fifth in the Big Ten with a 6-5 conference mark and is 17-7 overall going into Wednesday. The Nittany Lions have been held to season lows of 51 and 44 points in their last two losses at Michigan and to Wisconsin. However, Mackey Arena is a gym in which many Nittany Lions like to shoot including senior three-point ace Danny Morrissey who is 14-of-20 (70%) from three in three career games at Mackey and is averaging 15.6 ppg in those meetings.
Penn State is led by Big Ten leading scorer Talor Battle (18.2) and seniors Jamelle Cornley (15.3) and Stanley Pringle (13.6), the only trio of players to all rank in the Top 11 of scoring in the conference.
The Boilermakers lost their first two Big Ten games, including at PSU (67-64), before rebounding to win six straight. But, the back problems that limited standout Robbie Hummel in the early losses have returned and Purdue has lost its last two including a 66-48 loss at Illinois on Sunday in which Hummel did not play. Forward JuJuan Johnson has picked up the slack in Hummel's absence averaging a team-leading 14.9 ppg and 7.4 rpg in conference play. Purdue has the second best field goal defense (.402) in conference play and leads in defensive rebounds (25.3).