Nov. 16, 2012
VIDEO: Chambers post-game press conference following N.C. State game
Game Notes vs. Providence at Puerto Rico Tip-Off | Watch | Listen |
SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO, NOV. 16, 2012 - Penn State (1-1) will take on Providence (2-1) Friday in the second of three games in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off. The game tips off at 7:30 p.m. (ET) and can be seen on the ESPN3 on-line platform or heard live on the Penn State Sports Network with Brian Tripp and Dick Jerardi calling the action live from the Coliseo Ruben Rodriquez in Bayamon, Puerto Rico.
The Nittany Lions dropped their opening contest in the Tip-Off to No. 6 North Carolina State, 72-55, on Thursday night. Tim Frazier (Houston, Texas) led Penn State with 23 points. D.J. Newbill contributed 13 points on 6-of-12 shooting and Jermaine Marshall had 11 points and eight rebounds for a Nittany Lion team that hit just 3-of-19 from three and shot 31.7 percent in the game.
Frazier became the 30th 1,000-point scorer in program history in the game and posted his 20th career 20-point or better game.
Providence fell to Massachusetts, 77-75, on a last second tip-in in the late game on Thursday night. The Friars bring a 2-1 record into Friday. They are led by 6-1, junior guard Bryce Cotton who is averaging 22.7 ppg and 5.0 apg and had 23 points in 40 minutes of action in the loss to UMass. The Friars are playing with six active scholarship players after losing top returner Vincent Council to a leg injury in the season opener.
Penn State and Providence will square off for the first time since a 69-59 Nittany Lion victory in the first round of the 2001 NCAA Tournament in New Orleans. The victory set the stage for the Lions' "Sweet 16" run, their deepest penetration in the NCAA Tournament in the last 50 years, as they followed up with a victory over No. 2 seed North Carolina (82-74) in the next round. The series with the Friars is tied 1-1. Both meetings came on neutral floors.
The Lions will face either Akron, a first round loser to Oklahoma State (69-65 in overtime), or UNC Asheville, a first round loser to Tennessee (75-68), in their final game of the Tip-Off on Sunday.
PENN STATE (1-1; 0-0 Big Ten) vs. PROVIDENCE (2-1; 0-0 Big East)
FRIDAY, NOV. 16, 2012 @ 7:30 P.M. (ET)
COLISEO RUBEN RODRIQUEZ (9,000)
BAYAMON, PUERTO RICO
GAME INFO
TELEVISION: ESPN3: Jon Sciambi (p-by-p) & Dan Dakich (analyst)
RADIO: Penn State Sports Network: Local (1450 AM); Brian Tripp (p-by-p) & Dick Jerardi (analyst)
Sirius/XM: CH 132 & 194
LIVE STATS:
COACHES:
PENN STATE: Patrick Chambers - 13-21 (2nd at PSU); 55-49 (4th Overall)
PROVIDENCE: Ed Cooley - 17-18 (2nd at Prov); 109-87 (7th Overall)
NEXT UP:
PSU's third game of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off will be played Sunday vs. Akron or UNC Asheville. PSU is 4-1 vs. Akron having last faced the Zips in 1994 (an 80-45 victory in State College). The Lions have never faced UNC Asheville.
THE GAME:
Penn State and Providence will square off for the first time since a 69-59 Nittany Lion victory in the first round of the 2001 NCAA Tournament in New Orleans. The victory set the stage for the Lions' "Sweet 16" run, their deepest penetration in the NCAA Tournament in the last 50 years, as they followed up with a victory over No. 2 seed North Carolina (82-74) in the next round. The series with the Friars is tied 1-1. Both meetings came on nuetral floors. Providence owns an 81-65 victory in the 1971 ECAC Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden. The Lions will face either Akron, a first round loser to Oklahoma State (69-65 in overtime), or UNC Asheville, a first round loser to Tennessee (75-68), in their third game of the Tip-Off on Sunday.
FRAZIER CRACKS 1,000/28TH IN CAREER SCORING:
With 23 points in Penn State's 72-55 loss to N.C. State in its first game of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off, Tim Frazier became the 30th 1,000-point scorer in Penn State history. He now has 1,016 career points which is good for 28th place all-time on the scoring charts passing Jeff Miller (1,008, 1975-78) and Mike Lang (1,014, 1980-83). The 23 points marked his second straight 23-point outing on the season and his 20th career 20-point plus game. He had 17 such outings last season, which ranked fifth among major conference players.
NOTES FROM THE N.C. STATE GAME:
• Tim Frazier recorded his 24th straight double-digit scoring game and 14th with 20+ points during that span. He has led PSU in scoring in 27 of the last 34 games and scored 20+ points in nine of his last 12 games.
• Tim Frazier went 10-of-11 at the foul line and is now 27-of-29 (93%) at the line on the year and 104-of-112 (93%) over his last 18 games.
• Penn State got 47 of its 55 points from its starting backcourt of Tim Frazier (23), D.J. Newbill (13) and Jermaine Marshall (11). It also got 16 of its 36 rebounds, led by Marshall's eight.
• Jon Graham equaled a career-best 10 rebounds in the game and led Penn State in rebounding for the seventh time in his career.
• The Lions shot 14-of-17 (82.4%) at the foul line and are now 42-of-49 (85.7%) at the line on the year.
• Penn State gained 14 offensive rebounds and is averaging 13.5 per game on the year.
• Penn State equaled N.C. State (36-36) on the glass, out-scored the Wolfpack at the foul line (14-12), recorded eight steals and committed less turnovers (13-14) than the Wolfpack, but shot just 31.7% and had four assists on 19 field goals. The four assists marked a program low under coach Patrick Chambers.
• Penn State continued to struggle shooting hitting 3-of-19 (15.8%) from three and are now 6-of-43 (14%) from the arc on the year.
SCOUTING PROVIDENCE:
The Friars lost on a last second tip-in to UMass (77-75) in their opening game of the Tip-Off and bring a 2-1 record into Friday. They are led by 6-1, junior guard Bryce Cotton who is averaging 22.7 ppg and 5.0 apg and had 23 points in 40 minutes of action in the loss to UMass. The Friars are playing with six active scholarship players after losing top returner Vincent Council to a leg injury in the season opener. The Friars went 15-17 (4-14 in the Big East) last year in coach Ed Cooley's first season at the helm. They have victories over NJIT (64-63) and Bryant (81-49) on the season. Four of their seven players that saw action on Thursday night played 37 minutes or more. Junior forward Kadeem Batts (6-9) posted 19 points and nine rebounds while sophomore forward LaDontae Henton (6-6) had a double-double vs. UMass with 13 points and 11 rebounds. The Friars are shooting 45 percent from the floor and 29 percent (16-55) from three on the year.
PUERTO RICO FIELD:
The Puerto Rico Tip-Off field features five teams that reached the 2012 post-season and four teams that finished 2012 in the top 100 of the RPI, with all eight teams finishing 160 or lower. In the field are 2012 NCAA Tournament participants North Carolina State and UNC Asheville; 2012 NIT participants Tennessee, Massachusetts, and Akron; as well as Oklahoma State from the Big 12 Conference and Providence from the Big East. The 2012 tournament marks the fourth-straight year in which a Big Ten team has competed in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off. Minnesota won the event in 2010 and Purdue fell in the championship game to Alabama, 65-56, last year.
CHAMBERS IN PUERTO RICO:
Patrick Chambers will be making his second trip to the Puerto Rico Tip-Off as a head coach. He led his Boston University team to a 1-2 mark in the 2009 Puerto Rico Tip-Off and downed Indiana in San Juan, 71-67, for his first victory as a head coach.
FRAZIER NAMED TO WOODEN TOP 50/NAISMITH WATCH:
Tim Frazier was named to the Wooden Award Men's Preseason Top 50. He is the second Nittany Lion in the last three years to be named to the preseason list joining Talor Battle who was named prior to the 2010-11 season. The Preseason Top 50 was chosen by a poll of national college basketball media members. Frazier was among nine Big Ten players named to the list, which led all conferences. The Wooden Award All American Team, consisting of the nation's top 10 players, will be announced the week of the "Elite Eight" round of the NCAA Tournament. He was also named to the Naismith Award Early Season Watch List by the Atlanta Tipoff Club.
FRAZIER PRESEASON ALL-BIG TEN:
Senior guard Tim Frazier was named to the Preseason All-Big Ten team by conference media voters. Frazier, the lone returning first-team All-Big Ten selection from last year, was joined on the preseason team by Ohio State's Aaron Craft and Deshaun Thomas, Michigan's Trey Burke and Indiana's Cody Zeller who was also named the preseason Player of the Year.
FRAZIER SENIOR CLASS AWARD CANDIDATE:
Tim Frazier was one of 30 Division I men's basketball players selected as candidates for the 2012-13 Senior CLASS Award presented to a senior student-athlete with notable achievements in four areas of excellence - community, classroom, character and competition. The award will be trimmed to 10 finalists midway through the season with the winner announced at the 2013 NCAA Final Four in Atlanta.
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