July 26, 2012
2012 Puerto Rico Tip-Off Bracket
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA.; July 26, 2012 - Penn State coach Patrick Chambers' basketball team will take on a Top 10 team in a preseason tournament for the second straight season it was announced Thursday as the bracket for the 2012 Puerto Rico Tip-Off, held Nov. 15, 16 and 18 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, was revealed.
Penn State will take on North Carolina State, ranked No. 6 in the ESPN.com preseason poll, in a first round game on Thursday, Nov. 15. That game is scheduled for a 5:00 p.m. (ET) tip on ESPN2. It is familiar territory for the Nittany Lions under Chambers. Penn State faced No. 2-ranked and eventual national champion Kentucky in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament last year in Chambers' first season at the helm.
"We are looking forward to the challenge of facing an experienced and talented North Carolina State team," Chambers said. "The event this year has an outstanding field of teams which will benefit us as we prepare for the challenges of the Big Ten. This will be a memorable experience for our players, families and alums both on and off the floor!"
Penn State's second game in Puerto Rico, on Friday, Nov. 16, will be against either Providence or Massachusetts, which meet in a first round contest at 7:30 p.m. In other first round games Oklahoma State will face Akron (10:30 a.m.) and Tennessee will take on UNC Asheville (12:30 p.m.) in the top half of the bracket on Thursday. Those three first round games will all be televised on ESPNU. Five of the eight teams in the field reached the 2012 postseason.
A minimum of six tournament games will air on ESPNU and two on ESPN2, including the Championship Game on Sunday, Nov. 18, at 6:30 p.m. ET. ESPN3 will have the three remaining games and the entire tournament will be available through WatchESPN, accessible online at WatchESPN.com and through smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN app to fans who receive their video subscription from an affiliated provider.
North Carolina State returns the bulk of a team that reached the NCAA Sweet 16 last year and will be a favorite to win the ACC. Penn State and N.C. State have met 18 times with the Wolfpack holding a 15-3 series lead. This will mark the third neutral site meeting between the programs, which are tied at 1-1 in the previous two. The teams last met on Nov. 29, 2000, with the Wolfpack claiming an 84-76 victory in Raleigh, N.C. The Lions downed N.C. State, 74-72, the previous season in the consolation game of the 2000 NIT held in Madison Square Garden.
Travel packages and discounted hotel accommodations are available to fans through Anthony Travel, the official travel provider of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off. Packages include hotel accommodations at the team hotel, game day transportation, an all-session pass to the games and access to an exclusive banquet reception with the players and coaches (limited availability). For more information or to book your travel to the tournament, please visit the AnthonyTravel.com/PRTipOff or call 888-632-6951.
The Puerto Rico Tip-Off is owned and operated by ESPN Regional Television, Inc. (ERT), a subsidiary of ESPN.
Head Coach Patrick Chambers will open his second season at the helm of the Nittany Lion program. First-team All-Big Ten guard Tim Frazier (Houston, Texas) returns for his senior season to lead a Penn State team that returns four players that started at least 16 games last year and its top two scorers in Frazier, who finished second in the Big Ten at 18.8 ppg, and junior guard Jermaine Marshall (Etters, Pa.), who posted 10.8 ppg. Bolstering that group will be Southern Mississippi transfer D.J. Newbill (Philadelphia, Pa.), who sat out last season after posting 9.2 ppg and 6.2 rpg as a freshman for the Golden Eagles in 2010-11. Penn State will return 70 percent of its scoring, 60 percent of its rebounding and 78 percent of its assists from a team that posted a 12-20 mark in Chambers' first season.
The Nittany Lions have announced four dates on the 2012-13 schedule. Penn State previously announced a season opening match-up with St. Francis (Pa.) on Friday, Nov. 9 at the Jordan Center, the resumption of the oldest series in program history with a match-up vs. Bucknell in the BJC on Nov. 23, an ACC/Big Ten Challenge clash vs. Boston College on Nov. 28 at the BJC, and its participation in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off, Nov. 15-18.
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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