Jan. 18, 2013
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UNIVERSITY PARK, PA., JAN. 18, 2013 - Coming off its highest scoring game in Big Ten play so far with a 72-point outing vs. Michigan State on Wednesday, Penn State (8-9; 0-5 Big Ten) will look to record its first conference win of the season Saturday when Nebraska (9-9; 0-5 Big Ten) comes to town for a 1:00 p.m. tip on ESPNU.
It will be THON Hoops Day at the Jordan Center with Penn State welcoming approximately 60 pediatric cancer patients and their families to the game and proceeds from all student single-game ticket sales being donated to Penn State Dance Marathon. There will also be a post-game autograph session with the team on the concourse.
Penn State shot 55 percent and scored 47 points in the second half of their match-up with the 18th-ranked Spartans on Wednesday. Guards Jermaine Marshall (Etters, Pa.) and D.J. Newbill (Philadelphia, Pa.) led the way posting career high scoring totals of 29 and 27 points respectively. The pair combined to score 56 points on 60 percent shooting for the highest combined point total for a pair of Nittany Lions in the same game since 2006.
Nebraska is also winless in the conference and brings a five-game losing streak into the BJC. The Huskers are led by senior guard Dylan Talley who is logging 13.4 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. The Lions defeated the Huskers 67-51 in the Jordan Center last year.
Penn State will return to the road next week when they head to Bloomington to take on No. 2 Indiana in a 7:00 p.m. tip.
Single game tickets for men's basketball are available by calling 1-800-NITTANY or by visiting GoPSUsports.com/tickets or Ticketmaster. Single-game tickets for Nittany Lion games are $24 for lower bowl seats between the baselines, $18 for the lower bowl behind the baskets and upper level between the baselines and $15 for upper level behind the basket seats for adults and seniors. Youth tickets (18 and under) are $10, while Penn State student tickets (University Park or branch campus) are $5.
For all the latest information, notes, pictures and related links on Penn State basketball follow Associate Athletic Communications Director Brian Siegrist (@PSUSTRETCH) and the official Penn State men's basketball handle (@PennStateMBB) on Twitter and check GoPSUsports.com. The Nittany Lions are also on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pennstatebasketball.
PENN STATE (8-9; 0-5 Big Ten) vs. NEBRASKA (9-9; 0-5 Big Ten)
SATURDAY, JAN. 19, 2013 @ 1:00 P.M. (ET)
BRYCE JORDAN CENTER (15,261)
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA.
GAME INFO
TELEVISION: ESPNU: Mike Crispino (pxp) & Bob Valvano (analyst)
RADIO: Penn State Sports Network: Local (1450 AM); Steve Jones (pxp) & Dick Jerardi (analyst)
Sirius/XM: 93/191
LIVE STATS:
COACHES:
PENN STATE: Patrick Chambers - 20-29 (2nd at PSU); 62-58 (4th Overall)
NEBRASKA: Tim Miles - 9-9 (1st at NU); 292-229 (18th Overall)
RPI: PSU: 167; NU: 61
NEXT UP:
PSU will hit the road to take on No. 2 Indiana on Wednesday. IU posted a 74-51 victory in the BJC on Jan. 7 and owns a 32-9 lead in the series with a 16-2 advantage in Bloomington. The Hoosiers posted a 73-54 victory in Assembly Hall last year, but PSU won the previous meeting at IU, 69-60, on Dec. 27, 2010 and have won two of the last three at IU.
THE GAME:
Coming off its best scoring and shooting game thus far in Big Ten play, Penn State will look to snap a five-game losing skid and post its first conference win when Nebraska comes to the Jordan Center on Saturday. The Huskers are also riding a five-game losing skid and are winless in conference play. The teams split a pair of games last year with each posting a double-digit win on its home floor. Penn State posted a 67-51 victory in the Jordan Center behind 23 points from Tim Frazier. The Lions own a 3-2 lead in the series that began in 1980 and are 2-0 vs. the Huskers in State College.
THON HOOPS DAY:
Penn State will welcome approximately 60 pediatric cancer patients and their families to Saturday's game and will donate all revenue from single-game student ticket sales to Penn State Dance Marathon (THON), the largest student-run philanthropy in the world. THON raised a record of more than $10.6 million last year and holds its annual event with more than 700 dancers on the third weekend in February in the Jordan Center. The money that is raised is donated to The Four Diamonds Fund, a charity devoted to defeating pediatric cancer through research and caring for patients at the Penn State Hershey Children's Hospital. More than 15,000 students get involved in the event each year, organizing it and raising funds with the rallying cry, "FOR THE KIDS!".
NOTES TO KNOW:
• Penn State's 47 points against Michigan State in the second half marked a high for a half under Coach Chambers. The Lions eclipsed 70 points for the fifth time on the season and fifth in the last seven home game. The 72 points and 48% shooting marked a high in Big Ten play on the year. MSU entered the game ranked second in the Big Ten in scoring defense (57.7 ppg) and defensive shooting percentage (37.6%) and had allowed just one opponent to reach 70, a 74-70 win over Boise State.
• Penn State is averaging 66.8 ppg at home, eclipsing 70 five times, and 50.0 ppg on the road, with a high of 57, this season. D.J. Newbill is posting 17.3 ppg and 8.7 foul shots per game at home, while posting 11.0 ppg and 3.3 foul shots per game on the road.
• Four different players have led PSU in scoring in the last four games.
• Jermaine Marshall (29) and D.J. Newbill (27) both posted career high point totals and accounted for 56 of PSU's 72 points vs. MSU while combining to shoot 60% from the floor. They scored 40 of the Lions' 47 in the second half and 18 straight at one point.
• Jermaine Marshall posted his first career double-double (29 & 10) vs. MSU. He has double-figure scoring in 11 of his last 13 games and leads the team with 29 threes and 28 steals.
• D.J. Newbill is the only Big Ten player to rank in the Top 20 of the conference statistics in scoring (6th), assists (8th) and rebounding (16th). He posted his sixth 20-point game of the season (27) vs. MSU and is averaging 18.7 ppg in his last three games.
• PSU has posted 12 games with double-digit offensive boards, including 14+ in four of the last six and a season high 17 vs. Indiana.
• The Lions 73.9% at the foul line in Big Ten play ranks 2nd in the conference, but PSU has a 137-69 deficit in free throws attempted and 84-51 in free throw line scoring in Big Ten play. The Lions got to the line 27 times vs. MSU, by far their most in any Big Ten game.
• Ross Travis led Penn State in scoring for the first time in his career logging a season high equaling 14 points vs. Indiana. He ranks 4th in the Big Ten in rebounding with 7.4 rpg.
• D.J. Newbill leads Penn State with 117 free throw attempts and has gotten to the foul line at least once in 46 of 49 career games.
• Newbill (6th, 15.6 ppg) and Marshall (7th, 15.0 ppg) are one of two sets of teammates to rank in the Top 10 in scoring in the Big Ten, and the 2nd highest scoring backcourt (29.0 ppg), behind Michigan's Trey Burke (3rd, 18.0) and Tim Hardaway Jr. (5th, 16.4), 34.4 ppg.
• All-Big Ten guard Tim Frazier hit week 8 of his recovery from Achilles tendon surgery and advanced from a walking boot to a heel wedge in his shoe on Jan. 15.
WHAT A COMBO!:
Junior Jermaine Marshall posted career highs of 29 points and 10 rebounds and sophomore D.J. Newbill had a career high 27 points and added six assists as Penn State's starting guard accounted for 56 of the Lions' 72 points in an 81-72 loss to No. 18 Michigan State (1/16). The tandem combined to shoot 18-30 (60%) from the floor and 17-of-23 (74%) at the foul line. Marshall hit three treys and tied a career high with 10 field goals while Newbill go to the foul line 15 times and made 11. They both exploded in the second half with Marshall collecting 22 of his points and Newbill 18 of his in the second 20 minutes, accounting for 40 of the Lions 47 points in the highest scoring PSU half in coach Patrick Chambers two seasons. They accounted for 18 straight points at one point and 30 of the final 32 for the Lions as PSU sliced a 16-point MSU lead to five with 2:06 to play. Their combined 56 points were the most by two Lions in a game since Geary Claxton (31) and Jamelle Cornley (25) combined for 56 in a 129-111 victory over VMI in 2006. It marked the second time this season they both scored 20 points in a game.
72 VS. MSU ENDS BIG TEN SCORING DROUGHT:
Penn State's 47 points against Michigan State in the second half marked a high for a half in two seasons under Coach Chambers. The Lions eclipsed 70 points for the fifth time on the season and fifth in the last seven home game. The 72 points and 48% shooting marked a PSU high in Big Ten play on the year. MSU entered the game ranked second in the Big Ten in scoring defense (57.7 ppg) and defensive shooting percentage (37.6%) and had allowed just one opponent to reach 70, a 74-70 win over Boise State. PSU posted 78.5 ppg in its final four non-conference games, but failed to eclipse 54 points in its first four Big Ten games, posting 49.5 ppg over that stretch. The Lions had logged three straight games with season lows in shooting (31.7% vs. Indiana, 31.6% vs. Northwestern in the Jordan Center and 25.9% (the lowest mark under Patrick Chambers) at Purdue) prior to the MSU game. The Lions 42 points in the loss at Purdue marked the fewest scored in two seasons under head coach Patrick Chambers.
A NEW MARSHALL IN TOWN:
Junior Jermaine Marshall has emerged as not only one of Penn State's main weapons, ranking 7th in the Big Ten scoring 15.0 ppg, but a primary ball handler, sharing duties at the point with D.J. Newbill, and a generator of turnovers, leading the team with 28 steals (7th in the Big Ten, 1.6 spg). He posted his FIRST CAREER DOUBLE-DOUBLE with career highs of 29 points and 10 rebounds vs. Michigan State (1/16) and his combined point and rebound total (39) were the most by a Nittany Lion since Talor Battle posted 28 points and 13 rebounds (41) in a 69-61 win over Michigan in 2008. He has two 20-point games on the year. He led Penn State in scoring in four straight games immediately following the injury to Tim Frazier and has led the team in points seven times on the year. He logged a career high five assists vs. two turnovers in the win over Delaware State for his best floor game of the year and followed that with a career high five steals in the win over New Hampshire. Marshall is the Lions' leading active career scorer (discounting the injured Tim Frazier) with 591 points and three-point shooter with 72 career threes.
NEWBILL ON POINT:
D.J. Newbill, a natural off-guard, has taken over point guard duties since the injury to Tim Frazier in the fourth game of the season. He is logging big minutes at the position playing 35.8 per game to rank second in the Big Ten. He is the only Big Ten player to rank in the Top 20 of the conference statistics in scoring (6th, 15.6), assists (8th, 3.9) and rebounding (16th, 5.9). Working through growing pains at the position, he posted 10-straight double-digit scoring games after taking over, a streak snapped vs. Indiana, and has posted double-digit points in 14 of 17 games with six 20-point outings, including a career high 27 vs. Michigan State (1/16). He has led the Lions in scoring five times since Frazier's injury, posting career highs on four occasions including a 23-point, 12-rebound effort vs. Duquesne for his first double-double at Penn State and seventh career. His six 20-point outings on the year are third most in the Big Ten.
SCOUTING NEBRASKA:
The Huskers bring a five-game losing streak to the Jordan Center and are winless in conference play after falling 65-56 to Purdue in Lincoln on Wednesday. NU has played the last two games without 6-10 senior Brandon Ubel who fractured an elbow in a 62-47 loss at Michigan and may miss the remainder of the season. He was leading the team posting 6.8 rpg and was the third leading scorer at 12.1 ppg. Dylan Talley leads the Huskers in scoring (13.2) and assists (2.5) and now rebounding (5.6) in the absence of Ubel. Guard Ray Gallegos is fifth in the Big ten making 2.3 threes per game. The Huskers rank last in the Big Ten scoring 58.1 ppg and field goal percentage defense (43.0) and second to last in field goal percentage (41.1) and three-point percentage (29.6).
LAST TIME OUT: No. 18 MICHIGAN STATE 81, PENN STATE 72, Jan. 16, 2013 • West Lafayette, Ind.
Penn State posted its best shooting and scoring game in Big Ten play to date on the season and got career high scoring games from guards Jermaine Marshall (29) and D.J. Newbill (27) but couldn't over come an MSU team that shot 53 percent in the second half and got a career high 20 points in just 17 minutes of action from Adreian Payne who joined Branden Dawson in sitting out the first half due to a pre-game incident. PSU held MSU to just 29 first half points on 40% shooting, but saw the Spartans explode for 52 in the second half. The Lions led 36-35 with 15:16 to play when Payne took over scoring 16 points in six minutes to give MSU a 54-44 lead with 9:11 to go. Marshall scored 22 and Newbill 18 in the second half as PSU cut a 16-point MSU lead to five, 71-66, with 2:06 to play but could get no closer. The two PSU guards combined to shoot 18-of-30 (60%) and score 56 points as the Lions shot 48% for the game and 19-of-27at the foul line.
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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