March 6, 2012
Penn State Big Ten Tourney Central - Videos, Stats, Quotes, Analysis & More
2012 BIG TEN TOURNAMENT CENTRAL
FRAZIER EARNS FIRST-TEAM ALL-BIG TEN
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UNIVERSITY PARK, PA.; MARCH 6, 2012 - Led by first-team All-Big Ten selection Tim Frazier, No. 12 seeded Penn State (12-19; 4-14 Big Ten) will take on No. 5 seeded and 15th-ranked Indiana (24-7; 11-7 Big Ten) in the first round of the 2012 Big Ten Tournament Thursday at approximately 2:0 0 p.m. (ET) at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind. The teams will meet in the first round of the tournament for the second-straight year. The game will be televised on the Big Ten Network.
The No. 15-ranked Hoosiers posted a pair of victories over the Nittany Lions this season. They squeezed out an 88-82 victory at the Bryce Jordan Center on Jan. 8 after hitting 16 threes to offset 21 points from Frazier and 20 from Jermaine Marshall. Indiana guard Jordan Hulls hit 7-of-9 from three for 28 points, while guard Matt Roth was 5-of-6 from the arc for 22 points to lead the Hoosiers in that contest. Indiana rolled to a 73-54 victory in Bloomington on Jan. 22 shooting 65 percent in the second half and 53 percent for the game. Frazier scored 21 points in that contest and freshman Cody Zeller had 18 for Indiana.
Penn State has won two of its last three first round games in the Big Ten Tournament, including a 61-55 victory over Indiana last year. The Lions went on to win three games in the 2011 tournament and reach the program's first-ever Big Ten Tournament championship game where they fell to No. 1-ranked Ohio State.
Penn State is 9-14 all-time in Big Ten Tournament games and has reached the semifinals on three occasions. The Lions are 5-9 all-time in first round contests, but have never won when seeded lower than ninth. Penn State is 2-1 all-time vs. Indiana in Big Ten Tournament games.
The winner of Thursday's contest will take on No. 4 seed Wisconsin at approximately 2:30 p.m. Friday.
PENN STATE (12-19; 4-14 Big Ten) vs. #15/15 INDIANA (24-7; 11-7 Big Ten)
THURSDAY, MARCH 8, 2012 @ 2:00 P.M. (ET)
BANKERS LIFE FIELDHOUSE (18,165)
INDIANAPOLIS, IND.
GAME INFO
TELEVISION: BTN: Gus Johnson (p-by-p), Shon Morris (analyst) & Lisa Byington (sideline)
RADIO: Penn State Sports Network; Local: 1450 AM; Steve Jones (p-by-p) & Dick Jerardi (analyst)
National: Compass Media
LIVE STATS & AUDIO:
PENN STATE: Patrick Chambers - 12-19 (1st at PSU); 54-47 (3rd Overall)
INDIANA: Tom Crean - 52-73 (4th at IU); 242-169 (13th Overall)
RPI: Penn State: #159; Indiana: #12
NEXT UP:
The winner of Thursday's game will face No. 4 seed Wisconsin at 2:30 on Friday. Wisconsin swept the season series winning 52-46 in State College and 65-55 in Madison. Penn State downed Wisconsin in the 2011 Tournament quarterfinals, 36-33. Wisconsin leads the all-time series 30-10 and has won three of the last five games.
FIRST ROUND GAME:
Penn State will be the No. 12 seed and take on No. 5 seeded and No. 15/15-ranked Indiana Thursday in Indianapolis in the 15th Big Ten Tournament. It will be the third first-round Big Ten Tournament meeting between the teams in the last four years and fourth overall. Penn State has won the last two, both in Indianapolis. Penn State downed No. 11 seed Indiana, 61-56, in last year's first round game and is 2-1 all-time vs. IU in the Tournament. Indiana swept the season series - winning 88-82 in State College and 73-54 in Bloomington. Indiana leads the all-time series 30-9, but Penn State has won six of the last nine meetings.
PENN STATE AT THE BIG TEN TOURNAMENT:
The Lions were the No. 6 seed last year and won three games to advance to their first-ever Big Ten Tournament championship game where they fell to No. 1 Ohio State (71-60). Penn State downed No. 11 seed Indiana, 61-56, in last year's first round game before going on to dispatch No. 3 seed Wisconsin (36-33) and No. 7 seed Michigan State (61-48). Penn State is 9-14 all-time in the Big Ten Tournament, reaching the semifinals three times. Penn State is 5-9 in first round games, winning two of the last three (both vs. IU), but has never won when seeded lower than ninth.
SCOUTING INDIANA:
The Hoosiers (24-7) have won four-straight and seven of their last eight, including double-digit victories over Michigan State and Purdue in their last two outings, to finish fifth in the Big Ten at 11-7. They are led by Big Ten Freshman of the Year Cody Zeller who's 15.4 ppg, 6.4 rpg and 1.3 bpg lead the team. IU leads the Big Ten in scoring (77.5 ppg), shooting (49%) and three-point percentage (43%), led by Jordan Hulls (60 threes, 48%), Christian Watford (41 threes, 42%) and Matt Roth (39 threes, 57%). Indiana has big wins over Kentucky and Ohio State on the year, but hasn't won a Big Ten Tournament game since 2006.
LAST TIME VS. IU:
Penn State fell in a shoot-out, 88-82, to a Hoosier team that shot 16-of-24 (66.7%) from three in the BJC. Jordan Hulls posted 28 points on 7-of-9 from three, while Matt Roth had 22 on 5-of-6. Tim Frazier posted 21 and Jermaine Marshall 20 to pace PSU which shot 45.8%. The Lions got within two points three times in the final minute. The Lions shot just 22% in the second half and 34% for the game in Bloomington as IU won 73-54 behind 18 points from Cody Zeller. The Hoosiers hit 65% in the second half to eclipse a 29-27 PSU halftime lead. IU hit 7-of-16 from three and 53% for the game. Frazier had 21 and Nick Colella 11 for PSU.
FRAZIER EARNS FIRST-TEAM ALL-BIG TEN HONORS:
Tim Frazier became just the sixth Nittany Lion to earn FIRST-TEAM ALL-BIG TEN HONORS when he was named by media voters on Monday. Frazier is the third Penn State guard to earn first-team honors joining Joe Crispin (2001) and Talor Battle (2009 & 20011). Frazier, who led the Big Ten in conference games with 2.4 steals per game, was also named to the BIG TEN ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM by conference coaches, the first Penn State player to earn that honor since it began being voted on in 2006. Calvin Booth was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the year in 1998. Frazier was joined on the media's All-Big Ten first-team by forwards Draymond Green (Michigan State), Jared Sullinger (Ohio State), Robbie Hummel (Purdue) and John Shurna (Northwestern). He was named to the All-Big Ten second-team by the coaches who named Jordan Taylor (Wisconsin) as the first-team guard.
FRAZIER BIG TEN ASSIST & STEALS CHAMPION:
Tim Frazier became the first Nittany Lion to lead the Big Ten in assists and just the third to lead the conference in steals with his averages of 5.6 apg and 2.4 spg in Big Ten play. Frazier's 19.6 ppg average in Big Ten games came just 0.4 shy of Northwestern's John Shurna (20.0) to claim Big Ten scoring champion honors. No Lion has ever earned the honor. Frazier finished Big Ten play FIRST in assists, FIRST in steals, SECOND in scoring, SECOND in minutes and THIRD in free throw percentage.
MARSHALL POSTS CAREER HIGH 27:
With Tim Frazier hounded by the Michigan defense and struggling through a 4-of-16 scoring night, sophomore Jermaine Marshall stepped to the front posting nine points during a big 13-0 Penn State run, including a slashing dunk over two Wolverines, that cut a 19-point Michigan lead to six on his way to a career-high 27 points to go with eight rebounds in a March 4 loss to the Wolverines (71-65). Marshall played all 40 minutes in the game and shot 10-of-18 from the floor and made a career-best four threes in eight attempts. It marked Marshall's fourth 20-point game of the season and the second highest scoring total for a Lion on the year behind Frazier's 30 at Nebraska. Marshall scored 16 of his points in the second half as he posted his 20th double-digit scoring game of the season. He had one last year.
FRAZIER SETS PENN STATE SEASON ASSIST RECORD:
With five assists vs. Michigan on Sunday, Tim Frazier set the Penn State single season record with 194, surpassing the previous record of 189 assists posted by Talor Battle in 38 games in 2008-09. Frazier's Big Ten leading 6.3 apg is above the PSU record season average of 6.1 set by Freddie Barnes (1992) and Tom Wilkinson (1978). He matched the previous PSU record in his 30th game, eight fewer than it was set, despite Penn State shooting 39.4% as a team. Frazier has assisted on 29% of Penn State's baskets on the year. Frazier has logged EIGHT games of 9+ assists on the year and had a career-best 11 vs YSU (11/23). Frazier's 173 assists last year rank as the sixth best season mark in PSU history, making him the only Lion with two seasons in the top seven.
FRAZIER 7TH ON SEASON SCORING CHART; 24 POINTS FROM 600-POINT SEASON:
Tim Frazier stands 7th on Penn State's all-time season scoring chart with 576 points, just 24 points from posting just the seventh 600-point season in Nittany Lion history. He is just the 12th Nittany Lion ever to post 500 points in a season (a feat accomplished 16 times overall) and could become just the 5th to reach 600 points. Joe Crispin (2000 & 2001) and Talor Battle (2009 & 2011) both reached the mark twice, while Jesse Arnelle (season record 731 in 1955) and Jarrett Stephens (2000) both did as well.
YOUTH MOVEMENT:
Penn State will return 80% of its scoring, rebounding, assists and steals next season. Two first-year players continued their emergence late in the year. True-freshman Ross Travis posted career highs of 15 points (vs. Michigan) and 9 rebounds (vs. Northwestern) in the last three games of the regular season and red-shirt freshman Jon Graham equaled a career-high 10 points, marking his third-straight game with a career high in either scoring or rebounding, in the Lions Feb. 25 loss to Northwestern. Graham had 29 points (9.7 ppg) and 19 boards (6.3 rpg) in that three game stretch between Feb. 16-25, while Travis averaged 8.3 ppg and 5.7 rpg over the final three games of the regular season. Graham has started the last 16-straight games while Travis has started the last six and 15 on the year. Meanwhile, sophomore Jermaine Marshall posted a career-high 27 points to go with 8 rebounds in the Lions' final regular season game vs. Michigan. He had career-best string of seven-straight double-figure scoring games in late January to February and has 20 such games on the year, 13 in the Big Ten.
LAST TIME OUT:
MICHIGAN 71, PENN STATE 65, March 4 • University Park, Pa.
Michigan came out hot shooting 70% from the floor and 7-of-10 from three in the first half to take as much as an 18-point lead before going to the locker room up 39-28. PSU played well early and led 17-16 when Tim Frazier picked up his second foul and went to the bench at 11:30 of the first. UM went on a 15-2 run. The Wolverines built their lead to 19 with 9:04 to play in the second, before Penn State got hot behind the play of Jermaine Marshall and used a 13-0 run to make it a game. Marshall scored nine points in the run and finished with 27 points and eight boards. PSU got within 4, 62-58, on a Marshall jumper with 2:38 to play, but no closer as UM hit 10-of-18 from three and 59% for the game led by 19 from Trey Burke and 17 from Evan Smotrycz. Ross Travis had a career-high 15 for PSU.
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.
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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