Feb. 15, 2012
VIDEO: Coach Chambers Serving Big Macs at McDonald's
CHAMBERS SERVES BIG MACS PHOTO GALLERY
VIDEO: Assistant Coach Brian Daly Breaks Down the Iowa Game
DOLLAR DOG NIGHT
PENN STATE KNIT CAP GIVE AWAY
PENN STATE FOOTBALL COACH BILL O'BRIEN AND NITTANY LION COACHING STAFF INTRODUCED AT HALFTIME
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UNIVERSITY PARK, PA., FEB. 15, 2012 - The last time the Nittany Lions took the floor at the Bryce Jordan Center, they posted a 67-51 victory over Nebraska behind a near triple-double from junior guard Tim Frazier (Houston, Texas), but left without reaching 70 points and thus delivering free McDonald's Big Macs to those in attendance.
Prior to Penn State's (11-15; 3-10 Big Ten) Thursday night match-up with Iowa (13-12; 5-7 Big Ten) at the BJC, coach Patrick Chambers made it up to the Nittany Nation. The first-year head coach purchased 200 Big Macs and delivered them in person to students with Nebraska game ticket stubs or Nittany Nation T-shirts Wednesday afternoon from behind the counter at State College's downtown McDonald's location. Penn State, which had 67 points with 2:22 left on Saturday before pulling its starters and holding the ball, has a year-long promotion with McDonald's in which all fans in attendance can redeem their game ticket for a free Big Mac when the Lions reach 70 points.
Chambers and the Lions will try to deliver again Thursday night in an 8:00 p.m. tip on ESPNU when the Hawkeyes come to town. Iowa posted a 77-64 victory over Penn State in Iowa City just 12 days ago. Frazier had 23 points and five assists in that game while the Hawkeyes were led by 18 points from senior guard Matt Gatens. The Lions struggled early shooting in that game, hitting just three of their first 17 shots, and found themselves in an early hole from which they could not dig out.
Penn State had no such problem on Saturday against the Huskers as the Lions shot a blistering 58 percent from the floor and 5-of-8 from three to take a 36-26 lead at the half and led by double-digits the rest of the way. Frazier was spectacular posting one of the best games of his career and nearly recording the first triple-double for a Penn State player since 1998. Frazier posted 23 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists and three steals while shooting 7-of-9 from the floor and 8-of-8 at the line.
Frazier's out-put brought him within 20 points of becoming the first Penn State player ever to record 500 points, 150 assists and 50 steals in a season and moved his season assist total to 167, good for sixth-best all-time and just six shy of his fifth place total of 173 posted last year. Frazier, who continues to lead the Big Ten and ranks ninth nationally with 6.4 apg, is now 22 assists shy of Penn State's single-season record of 189 set by Talor Battle in 2009.
Senior Cammeron Woodyard posted 14 points vs. Nebraska, continuing his strong play at home where he has post 10 double-digit outings and is averaging 11.5 ppg. Sophomore Jermaine Marshall logged his fifth-straight double-figure scoring game with 12 and continues to be a strong scoring option with 16 double-digit scoring games on the year.
Penn State will hit the road for one of its final two Big Ten road games Sunday at Wisconsin. The Lions and Badgers will tip at 4:00 p.m. ET in Madison live on the Big Ten Network.
PENN STATE (11-15; 3-10 Big Ten) vs. IOWA (13-12; 5-7 Big Ten)
THURSDAY, FEB. 16, 2012 @ 8:00 P.M. (ET)
BRYCE JORDAN CENTER (15,261) • UNIVERSITY PARK, PA.
GAME INFO
TELEVISION: ESPNU: Jim Barbar & Tim McCormick
ONLINE: ESPN3.com
RADIO: Penn State Sports Network; Local: 1450 AM; Sirius: CH 113; XM; CH 190
Steve Jones (p-by-p) & Dick Jerardi (analyst)
LIVE STATS & AUDIO:
COACHES:
PENN STATE: Patrick Chambers - 11-15 (1st at PSU); 53-43 (3rd Overall)
IOWA: Fran McCaffery - 24-32 (2nd at IA); 275-209 (16th Overall)
RPI: Penn State: #131; Iowa: #130
NEXT UP:
Penn State will play its second to last road game of the season Sunday at Wisconsin. The Badgers pulled out a hard-fought 52-46 victory in the BJC on Jan. 31 and lead the series 27-10 and 15-2 in Madison. The Lions have won 2 of the last 4 meetings, but haven't won in Madison since a 78-67 victory in 1995 and have lost 13-straight games at UW.
THE GAME:
Penn State will continue a two-game home-stand Thursday when the Lions face Iowa for the second time in 12 days. Iowa claimed a 77-64 victory in Iowa City on Feb. 4. The Hawkeyes lead the series 23-12, but the Lions lead 10-6 in State College. The teams have split the last eight meetings, 4-4, each winning four games at home. Penn State won, 65-51, last year in Iowa's last trip to the BJC and has won the last four games in the BJC. Both teams should be well rested. Iowa will be playing its first game since an 83-64 loss at Northwestern on Feb. 9, a seven-day span, while Penn State will have five days to recover after a 67-51 victory over Nebraska at home on Feb. 11.
FAVORABLE FINISH:
Penn State began a regular season finish of four of its final six games at home with a 67-51 victory over Nebraska on Feb. 11. The Lions shot 52% in that game, 58% in the first half, to continue a season long trend of shooting and scoring much better at home on the year. The Lions are now shooting 42% and averaging 67.4 ppg at home on the year compared to 35% and 55.3 ppg away from the BJC. After facing five ranked foes in their previous six games and playing seven their first 12 Big Ten games vs. teams in the top half of the Big Ten, the Lions play four teams in the bottom half (three at home) in their final six conference games. All of the Lions' four home games in the final stretch will also mark the second meeting with a team Penn State previously lost to on the road this season and will be the second meeting all-time for the present coaching staff.
FRAZIER EYES 500 & 170:
Tim Frazier needs 20 points and three assists to become just the 12th Nittany Lion ever to post 500 points in a season (a feat accomplished 15 times overall; three times by Talor Battle and twice each by Jesse Arnelle and Joe Crispin) and log just the sixth season of 170 assists or more in PSU history. Frazier is already among just five players to have posted 170 assists in a season (logging 173 last year) and would become the first ever to accomplish the feat twice. Freddie Barnes, the Lions' all-time career assist leader with 600, came the closest posting 177 assists in 1992 and 159 in 1990. Frazier currently stands ninth in career assists (413), five behind Ben Luber (418) in 8th and 187 behind Barnes' record mark.
FRAZIER 20 POINTS SHY OF FIRST-EVER 500, 150, 50 SEASON AT PSU:
Just the THIRD Lion ever to eclipse 400 points and 150 assists in a season - joining Talor Battle (635 points & 189 assists in 2009) and Joe Crispin (649 points & 178 assists in 2000), Tim Frazier's 23 points and nine assists in a victory over Nebraska have him on the cusp of a Nittany Lion first. Frazier enters Thursday with 480 points, 167 assists (6th all-time) and 56 steals (9th all-time) on the year - just 20 points shy of becoming the FIRST LION EVER to eclipse 500 points, 150 assists and 50 steals in the same year. He needs to reach 520 points (40 more) to become the FIRST LION EVER to post a top 10 season in scoring, assists and steals in the same year. He is currently SECOND among active career assist leaders in the Big Ten with 413 (Wisconsin's Jordan Taylor leads with 422).
HOT HALVES:
Penn State has shot better than 53% from the floor in three of its last six halves, including a hot 57.9% from the floor and 5-of-8 from three in the first half of its 67-51 victory over Nebraska, Feb. 11. The Lions previously combined to shoot 53.3%, 12-of-24 from three and average 41.5 points per half in the second halves of road contests at Iowa and Michigan State.
FRAZIER ULTRA EFFICIENT IN NEAR TRIPLE-DOUBLE/13th 20-POINT GAME:
Tim Frazier went 7-of-9 from the floor (1-1 from three) and 8-of-8 from the foul line Feb. 11 vs. Nebraska as he led Penn State with 23 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists and three steals. Frazier was involved in 46 of the Lions 67 points (68%) as he assisted on five of the Lions' nine threes. His rebound total doubled that of the next closest Lion and his three steals were two more than any teammate. Frazier logged his Big Ten leading 13th 20-point or better game of the year and came up one assist shy of logging the first triple-double by a Lion since Calvin Booth posted 19 points, 10 rebounds and 10 blocks in a 1998 NIT victory over Dayton.
FRAZIER ASSISTS AT RECORD PACE:
Tim Frazier is on pace to break the Lions' single-season assist record of 189 set by Talor Battle in 38 games in 2008-09. Frazier's Big Ten leading 6.4 apg is above the PSU record season average of 6.1 set by Freddie Barnes (1992) and Tom Wilkinson (1978). He currently has 167 assists, good for the 6th-best season total. Frazier has posted career-best assist totals in three games this year, posting at least 10 on each occasion, and has logged EIGHT games of 9+ assists. He had a career-best 11 assists vs YSU (11/23). Frazier's 173 assists last year rank as the fifth best season mark in PSU htory. He ranks 9th on the PSU career assist chart.
WOODYARD'S SENIOR SUCCESS:
Penn State's lone senior, Cammeron Woodyard, spent his first three seasons playing an average of just 8.7 minutes per game (including a high of 10.4 mpg last year) and never averaged more than the 2.2 ppg he posted in 24 contests as a freshman.
• Fifth in the Big Ten shooting 83.0% at the foul line in conference games.
• Leads the team shooting 82.4% (42-51) from the foul line on the year.
• Performing well at home averaging 11.5 ppg and posting TEN of his 13 double-digit scoring games on the year in the BJC while shooting 46.6% from the field and 44.6% (25-56) from three in home games on the year.
• Equaled a career-best with four threes (4-7) and logged 14 points in a 67-51 victory over Nebraska (2/11) in the Jordan Center.
• He had one double-digit scoring game on his career entering the season.
• Led Penn State in scoring for the second straight game logging 17 points on 3-of-4 from three in a 54-52 upset of No. 22 Illinois (1/19).
• Scored a career-high 22 points with a career-best 8-of-8 at the foul line in a loss to Minnesota at the BJC (1/15).
LAST TIME OUT:
Penn State 67, Nebraska 51, Feb. 11 • State College, Pa.
Penn State nearly got a triple-double from Tim Frazier as the 6-1 guard posted 23 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists and three steals in a dominating 16-point win over the Huskers. The Lions used a 10-0 run with 8:33 to play in the first half to break-open an 18-17 game and take a 28-17 lead with 6:05 to play. Three different Lions scored in the run as PSU went on to shoot 58% in the first half and 5-of-8 from three to take a 36-26 halftime lead. PSU held the margin over double-digits the entire second half and led by as many as 20 as the Lions shot 52% for the game. Cam Woodyard posted 14 points on a career-best equaling four threes and Jermaine Marshall added 12. Dylan Talley led NU with 12 points as the Huskers shot 39%, 6-of-20 from three, and were out-rebounded 30-21.
All of Penn State's games can be heard live on the Penn State Sports Network throughout Pennsylvania with Steve Jones and Dick Jerardi calling the action. "The Penn State Basketball Show" featuring Nittany Lion coach Patrick Chambers and Steve Jones airs each Thursday live from Damon's Grill in State College. Fans are encouraged to attend the live broadcast or call in their questions for the coach at 1-800-52LIONS.
Nittany Lion Basketball single-game tickets or group tickets can be purchased by calling 1-800-NITTANY, visiting GoPSUsports.com or through Ticketmaster. Single-game tickets are $18 for the lower bowl and $15 for upper level tickets for adults. Youth tickets (18 and under) are $7 for the lower bowl and $5 for upper level seating, while Penn State student tickets (University Park or branch campus) are $5. Penn State also offers special basketball group ticket rates for groups of 15 fans or more. Nittany Lion group rates are $10 for adults and $5 for youth.
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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