Dec. 3, 2011
Watch the Next Game Primer Preview Video with Coach Burroughs
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA., Dec. 3, 2011 - Penn State (6-2) returns to the Bryce Jordan Center for the first time in 11 days Sunday when the Nittany Lions take on Mississippi (6-1) in a 6:00 p.m. tip on the Big Ten Network. It is the first Subway Full Court Four Pack of the season as fans can get four tickets, four subs and four drinks for $40.
Penn State is coming off a 62-54 road win at Boston College on Wednesday as the Lions logged their fourth Big Ten/ACC Challenge win in the last five Challenges. Tim Frazier and Jermaine Marshall led the way in that contest scoring 22 points each. Marshall added a career high eight rebounds to go with his career-best 22 points off the bench and is expected to enter the starting line-up for the first time on Sunday.
Ole Miss is coming off a thrilling 70-68 victory at DePaul on Thursday night in Chicago. The Rebels led by 17 in the second half of that game, but needed a driving lay-up with just seconds to play from 6-7 Murphy Holloway to collect the win.
Frazier enters Sunday's game ranked second in the Big Ten in scoring (19.5), first in assists (6.9), second in steals (2.4) and ninth in rebounding (5.8) as he leads the Lions in every category. Penn State will look to match its 7-2 start from last year's NCAA Tournament team. That start would equal its best in the last 10 years. The Lions also won seven of their first nine games in 2008-09 when they went on to win the NIT title.
PENN STATE (6-2; 0-0 Big Ten) vs MISSISSIPPI (6-1; 0-0 SEC)
SUNDAY, DEC. 4, 2011 @ 6:00 P.M. (ET)
BRYCE JORDAN CENTER (15,261) • UNIVERSITY PARK, PA.
LIONS LOOK TO REMAIN UNBEATEN AT HOME
GAME INFO
TELEVISION: BTN: Dan Kelly (p-by-p); Keno Davis (analyst)
RADIO: Penn State Sports Network; Local: 1450 AM; Sirius: CH -; XM; CH 199 Steve Jones (p-by-p) & Dick Jerardi (analyst)
WEB: Gametracker & Audio at: GoPSUsports.com
COACHES: PENN STATE: Patrick Chambers - 6-2 (1st at PSU); 48-30 (3rd Overall) MISSISSIPPI: Andy Kennedy - 111-65 (6th at Ole Miss); 132-78 (7th Overall)
RPI: Penn State:70; Ole Miss: 22
NEXT UP: Penn State will continue a two-game home stand Wednesday when it takes on Lafayette. Penn State leads the series 12-3, is 7-1 at home vs. Lafayette and is 25-0 all-time against teams that were members of the Patriot League at the time the game was played. The teams last met in 2008 with the Lions taking an 83-55 win in the BJC.
THE GAME:
Penn State will return to the BJC for the first time in 11 days for a two-game home stand starting Sunday vs. SEC foe Mississippi. This will be the second game of a home-and-home series. Ole Miss posted an 84-71 victory in Oxford last year in the first-ever meeting between the programs. PSU returns just two players from that game while Ole Miss returns six. Penn State is 8-16 all-time vs. SEC teams. This will be the first appearance by an SEC team in the BJC since a 42-41 overtime victory over Tennessee in 1996. The Lions are 4-0 at home on the year. Penn State will be looking for its seventh non-conference win, which would equal its total from last year's NCAA Tournament team that went 7-4 in the pre-Big Ten campaign.
SCOUTING OLE MISS:
The Rebels (6-1) are coming off a win vs. DePaul (70-68) on a closing seconds lay-up from Murphy Holloway Thursday in Chicago in the SEC-Big East Challenge. The 6-7 Holloway had 16 points and 12 boards in the game for a Rebel team that shot 56 percent but just 11-of-28 from the foul line and 1-of-3 from three and led by 17 with 13:57 to play. The Rebels had 20 turnovers against the DePaul press. Holloway, a transfer from South Carolina and the reigning SEC player of the week, leads the team posting 11.6 ppg and 10.4 rpg. Four Rebels average double-digits. Indiana transfer Nick Williams posts 10.3 ppg. Ole Miss is shooting 41 percent on the year and just 25-121 (20.7%) from three and 55.4 percent from the line. They are posting 41 boards a game while averaging 17 turnovers. Their lone loss came to Marquette (96-66) at the Virgin Islands Paradise Jam. They also have victories over Miami, TCU and Drake on the year.
LAST YEAR IN OXFORD:
The Rebels posted an 84-71 victory last November in Mississippi, led by 24 points from Trevor Gaskins and 20 from Chris Warren. Penn State got 26 from Talor Battle as well as double-digits from David Jackson (17) and Jeff Brooks (15), but were out-rebounded 32-26, had eight shots blocked and saw Mississippi hit 13 threes, six from Gaskins. Penn State returns just two players who saw action in that game. Tim Frazier had two points and six assists in 23 minutes while picking up four fouls and Billy Oliver scored four points and had four turnovers in 14 minutes. Ole Miss returns six players that played in last year's contest led by Nick Williams who posted 15 points and Terrance Henry who logged 13. Reginald Buckner (6-9) posted five blocks.
LIONS WIN 4TH BIG TEN/ACC CHALLENGE GAME IN LAST FIVE:
Penn State improved to 5-6 overall in Big Ten/ACC Challenge games and posted its fourth win in its last five Challenge contests with a 62-54 victory at Boston College, Nov. 30, which gave the Eagles their first-ever Challenge loss in six games. It marked Penn State's third-straight win in a Challenge road game, having also won at Georgia Tech (2008) and at Virginia (2009). Penn State, which was the first Big Ten team to claim a Challenge victory in three-straight seasons, now ranks sixth among Big Ten teams with five Challenge wins. The Big Ten won the Challenge for the third-straight year posting an 8-4 edge, the Big Ten's largest-ever winning margin and equaling the most number of wins in a season in the series. The ACC also won eight in 2006 and 2007 and won the initial 10 Challenges.
NON-CON ROAD WIN:
Penn State's victory at B.C. snapped a string of four-straight non-conference road losses (going 0-2 last year at Mississippi and Virginia Tech) and was its first non-con road win since winning at Virginia (69-66) as part of the 2009 Challenge.
FRAZIER IN THE BIG TEN RANKINGS:
Entering the week, junior guard Tim Frazier ranked SECOND in the Big Ten in scoring (19.5), FIRST in assists (6.9), SECOND in steals (2.4) and NINTH in rebounding (5.8). He ranks in the top 10 of seven statistical categories in the Big Ten and has posted FIVE 20-point outings and two career-high point totals so far on the season. Frazier also has three games of 10+ assists to his name on the year and has posted a career high in either scoring, assists or rebounding (or both) in four games on the year. Frazier now leads Penn State in points, rebounds, assists and steals. Frazier has 55 assists (the next closest Lion 10) and 20 steals (next closest Lion 9) on the year.
MARSHALL PROVIDES SPARK/CAREER HIGH:
Jermaine Marshall came off the bench to score 15 first half points, including the Lions' last 10 of the half, on his way to a career-high 22 points and eight rebounds in Penn State's win at Boston College (11/30). Marshall hit 8-of-16 from the floor and a career-best 3-of-6 from three in the game. It marked the second time away from home against a Big Six conference opponent that Marshall excelled to help the Lions to victory. He posted eight first half points on his way to 14 in Penn State's victory over South Florida (11/20). Against USF, Marshall had a pair of driving three-point plays in the first half to give Penn State its first lead and hit a pair of second-half threes to finish 5-of-8 from the floor and 2-of-5 from three. The sophomore returned to practice on Nov. 10 after being suspended prior to the start of pre-season practice due to a violation of team rules.
20 & 10 AGAIN!:
Three times in the first six games of the season, junior Tim Frazier posted at least 20 points and 10 assists in a game. In Penn State's win over Youngstown State (11/23), Frazier shot 8-of-11 from the floor for a team-high 26 points and added a career-best 11 assists, tying the eighth best game total in Penn State history. It marked Frazier's fourth career double-double (third of the season) and his fifth career 20-point game (4th of the season).
D'ING UP:
Penn State has held five opponents to less then 40 percent shooting on the year and four to 55 points or less. The Lions are allowing opponents to shoot just 39.9 percent on the year and score 61.6 ppg. Take out the game against current No. 1 Kentucky and those averages drop to 37.8 percent and 58.3 ppg. The Lions have won the rebounding battle in six games, winning every one.
HALTING FIRST HALVES:
Penn State is shooting 15 percent better (45.9-30.2) and scoring 10 more points per game (36.4-26.1) in the second halves of games as compared to the first. The Lions have shot better than 40 percent in the second half of every game on the year, four times eclipsing 50 percent shooting. Penn State has shot less than 30 percent in the first half in FIVE games and has shot better than 40 percent in just one, a 60 percent outing (including 7-of-10 from three) in a victory over Youngstown State. The Lions suffered through a 10-point first half in which they shot 4-of-38 from the floor (10.5%) and missed their first 16 shots in their loss at St. Joe's (11/26). Penn State similarly struggled scoring 15 points and shooting 16.2 percent in the first half in a loss to Kentucky (11/19).
Season tickets for Nittany Lion Basketball are $200 for adults, $170 for faculty/staff and seniors, $80 for youth (18 and under) and $59 for students. Lady Lion Basketball season tickets are $117 for adults, $91 for faculty/staff and seniors and $52 for youth. Penn State students will be admitted for free to Lady Lion basketball games beginning this season.
PNC Flex Books are also available again this year for $99. The Flex Book gives fans 12 vouchers, 10 that can be redeemed in any combination for Nittany Lion and Lady Lion Basketball tickets throughout the year and two extra vouchers for the Nittany Lions' Coaches Vs. Cancer game on Feb. 11 vs. Nebraska and the Lady Lions' Think Pink game on Feb. 26 vs. Minnesota.
For all the latest information, notes, pictures and related links on Penn State basketball follow Associate Athletic Communications Director Brian Siegrist on Twitter (@PSUSTRETCH) and check GoPSUsports.com. The Nittany Lions are also on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pennstatebasketball.
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