March 5, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; March 5, 2010 - The Nittany Lion basketball team (11-18; 3-14 Big Ten) will close out its home schedule Saturday with a 2:30 p.m. showdown with No. 7 Purdue (25-4; 13-4 Big Ten) at the Bryce Jordan Center.
The 2:30 p.m. tipoff on the Big Ten Network comes at the beginning of Spring Break week for the University Park Campus and the game was not included in the Student Season Ticket package. Penn State will offer free admittance to the game with a student ID card. Tickets may be picked up at Gate A beginning at 1:30 p.m. Saturday. One ticket per student.
The Nittany Lions are coming off a near upset of No. 11 Michigan State in East Lansing on Thursday as Penn State held a two-point lead with 2:32 to play before the Spartans prevailed 67-65. Talor Battle and Chris Babb both had 16 points in the game to lead the Lions who are shooting 50 percent from the floor in their last five games, winning three.
Babb comes into Saturday having hit eight of his last 10 from three-point range and nearly 58 percent from the arc in his last five games. Battle meanwhile is one of two players in NCAA Division I basketball to average better than 18.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. Battle ranks second in the Big Ten with an 18.9 ppg average, is third with 4.2 apg and 15th pulling down 5.6 rpg.
Penn State will be seeking its first win over a ranked opponent on the season a mere 41 hours after departing the Breslin Center floor. The then No. 14 -ranked Boilermakers fell at the Bryce Jordan Center, 67-64, last season and, similar to that game, will once again be playing without second leading scorer Robbie Hummel (15.7 ppg) who suffered a season-ending knee injury in late February.
Purdue has won 11 of its last 12 games as it looks to clinch a share of the Big Ten regular season title. E'Twaun Moore leads the Boilers scoring 16.9 ppg and brings 28-straight double-figure games into Saturday. The Boilers hound opponents in 15.9 turnovers per game while averaging 72.4 ppg. The Boilers have allowed opponents to shoot just 39 percent in their last 10 games.
Penn State trails the all-time series 23-10, but is 8-8 all-time in State College.
Penn State single game tickets can be purchased by visiting GoPSUsports.com, Ticketmaster or calling 814-865-5555. Single-game tickets for Nittany Lion games are $18 for lower bowl seating, $15 for upper bowl seating and $7/$5 for youth. Penn State also offers special group ticket rates (15 fans or more) of $10 for adults.
Penn State summer sports camps offer the very best in individual and team instruction, and now is the time to start planning for summer 2010! With 26 sports to choose from, not only will campers get the absolute finest instruction from some of the nation's elite coaches, but they'll also enjoy Penn State's terrific campus and state of the art facilities. And Penn State sports camps pride themselves on providing each camper a safe environment with twenty-four hour supervision and on-site medical personnel. Registration fills up fast, so get your information today by visiting www.psusportcamps.org , or calling (814) 865-0561."
-NITTANY LIONS-