July 15, 2009
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa., - Penn State and Virginia will tangle in the first game of the 11th Annual Big Ten-ACC Challenge presented by Dick's Sporting Goods and ESPN2 will televise the game to a national audience.
Coach Ed DeChellis' Nittany Lions and Cavaliers will clash at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 30 at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Va. The Penn State Sports Network and GoPSUsports.com carry all Penn State basketball games.
For the fifth consecutive year, the Challenge will feature 11 games and include telecasts on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU. ESPN360.com, the broadband sports television network from ESPN, will simulcast the ESPN and ESPN2 telecasts. The 2009 Big Ten/ACC Challenge is scheduled for Nov. 30 - Dec. 2.
The ACC has won the Commissioner's Cup all 10 years of the competition, claiming a narrow 6-5 victory last year. The Big Ten has come within one victory of winning the competition five times. Since 2000, the ACC (9) and the Big Ten (8) have combined for 17 Final Four appearances and five national titles - North Carolina (2009 and 2005), Maryland (2002), Duke (2001) and Michigan State (2000). The ACC and the Big Ten also rank 1-2, respectively, in all-time NCAA Tournament bids, NCAA Tournament victories and Final Four appearances.
Penn State has won its last two Big Ten-ACC Challenge appearances, posting a victory over Virginia Tech (66-61) at home in 2007 and at Georgia Tech (85-83) in 2008, and is 3-5 in eight previous Challenge appearances.
Virginia will be the fifth different Challenge opponent for the Nittany Lions. The Nittany Lions and Cavaliers last met in 1984 with UVA claiming a 66-54 victory at the Sugar Bowl Classic in New Orleans. The Cavaliers own a 5-2 lead in the series, which began in 1972. Penn State has played three games in Charlottesville, the last in 1978, and is 0-3 in those games. Penn State last downed the Cavaliers with a 93-68 victory in Rec Hall in 1973.
The 2008-09 campaign was a season of "firsts" for the Nittany Lion program. DeChellis led Penn State to a school record 27 victories, culminating in the 2009 NIT Championship, the program's first national post-season tournament title. The Nittany Lions (27-11) earned four victories over RPI Top 25 opponents, with seven wins over Top 50 teams, including their first-ever victory at Michigan State, the NCAA Tournament runner-up.
The Nittany Lions return three starters and eight lettermen for the 2009-10 campaign, including rising junior point guard Talor Battle (Albany, N.Y.), a first team All-Big Ten, USBWA and NABC All-District selection this past season. Battle (16.7 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 5.0 apg in 2008-09) recently was Team USA's leading scorer, shooting 52 percent (13 of 25) on three-point attempts, in helping the United States to the bronze medal in the World University Games in Belgrade, Serbia.
Battle is joined by returning starters D.J. Jackson (4.5 ppg, 3.2 rpg) and Andrew Jones (6.2 ppg, 5.7 rpg). Penn State returns 53 percent of its scoring and 65 percent of its rebounding and will welcome four incoming freshmen, as well as forward Billy Oliver (Chatham, N.J.), a freshman who red-shirted this past season.
The Nittany Lions host Penn on Friday, Nov. 13 to open the 2009-10 campaign.
2009 Big Ten-ACC Men's Basketball Challenge
Monday, Nov. 30
Penn State at Virginia, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN2
Tuesday, Dec. 1
Wake Forest at Purdue, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN
Maryland at Indiana, 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2
Northwestern at North Carolina State, 7 p.m. ET, ESPNU
Michigan State at North Carolina, 9 p.m. ET, ESPN
Virginia Tech at Iowa, 9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2
Wednesday, Dec. 2
Illinois at Clemson, 7:15 p.m. ET, ESPN
Boston College at Michigan, 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2
Minnesota at Miami, FL, 7:15 or 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPNU
Duke at Wisconsin, 9:15 p.m. ET, ESPN
Florida State at Ohio State, 9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2