Jan. 22, 2013
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BLOG PREVIEW: Nittany Lions Head to No. 7 Indiana
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UNIVERSITY PARK, PA., JAN. 22, 2013 - Penn State (8-10; 0-6 Big Ten) will face the first of back-to-back top 20 ranked opponents Wednesday when the Lions head to Bloomington, Ind. to take on No. 7-ranked Indiana (16-2; 4-1 Big Ten) in a 7:00 p.m. (ET) clash televised live on the Big Ten Network.
The Lions have seen an offensive resurgence in the last two games as they have averaged 68 ppg behind the scoring of junior guard Jermaine Marshall (Etters, Pa.) who led Penn State in scoring in both games last week posting a career high 29 vs. Michigan State and 18 vs. Nebraska. Marshall is averaging 23.5 ppg in his last two outings and joins D.J. Newbill (Philadelphia, Pa.) to form the second highest scoring tandem in the Big Ten. Newbill ranks sixth (15.3 ppg) and Marshall seventh (15.2 ppg) in the conference in scoring.
Indiana brings a nation's leading 84.4 ppg scoring average into Wednesday, but suffered their lone Big Ten setback with a 64-59 loss to Wisconsin at Assembly Hall. Preseason All-American and Player of the Year Cody Zeller leads the Hoosiers posting 17.2 ppg and 8.2 rpg.
Indiana posted a 74-51 victory over Penn State in the Bryce Jordan Center on Jan. 7 and holds a 16-2 series lead in games played in Bloomington. However, the Lions have won two of the last three games played there. Sophomore Ross Travis (Chaska, Minn.) led Penn State with 14 points in the first meeting this season.
Penn State will return to the Jordan Center on Saturday to face No. 14 Ohio State in a noon tip on ESPN2. It will be Coaches vs. Cancer Band Together Day with Penn State donating $3 from every single game ticket sold to Coaches vs. Cancer. It will be a Gray Out with the Nittany Lions donning their gray jerseys and fans encouraged to wear gray. Fans can purchase a $10 gray Band Together T-shirt at any Jordan Center gate with all proceeds going to Coaches vs. Cancer.
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 (8-10; 0-6 Big Ten) at No. 7/8 INDIANA (16-2; 4-1 Big Ten)
WEDNESDAY, JAN. 23, 2013 @ 7:00 P.M. (ET)
ASSEMBLY HALL (17,472)
BLOOMINGTON, IND.
GAME INFO
TELEVISION: BTN: Kevin Kugler & Shon Morris
RADIO: Penn State Sports Network: Local (1450 AM); Steve Jones (pxp) & Dick Jerardi (analyst)
Sirius/XM: 93/190
LIVE STATS:
COACHES:
PENN STATE: Patrick Chambers - 20-30 (2nd at PSU); 62-59 (4th Overall)
INDIANA: Tom Crean - 71-77 (5th at IU); 261-173 (14th Overall)
RPI: PSU:188; IU:14
NEXT UP:
PSU will return the Jordan Center on Saturday for the Coaches vs. Cancer game vs. Ohio State. It will be a Gray Out with fans asked to wear gray. It will be the only meeting between the teams this season. OSU owns a 31-13 lead in the series and has won the last 17 straight dating to a 64-47 PSU victory in the BJC in 2004. PSU is 7-11 vs. OSU at home. OSU posted a 78-54 win in Columbus last year.
THE GAME:
Penn State will hit the road to take on Indiana on Wednesday. IU posted a 74-51 victory in State College on Jan. 7, fourth straight in the series. IU 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 has won two of the last three in Bloomington. Penn State is seeking its first conference victory of the season and its first conference road win since March of 2011, a string of 11 losses. The Lions have lost three road games on the year and 13 in a row since a 62-54 victory at Boston College on Nov. 30, 2011.
CVC BAND TOGETHER DAY:
Penn State will hold the third annual Coaches vs. Cancer Band Together Day at the Jordan Center on Saturday, Jan. 26 vs. Ohio State. Penn State will donate $3 from every single game ticket sold to the game to CVC-Penn State and fans can buy $10 gray Band Together T-shirts at any BJC gate to support the cause. It will be a Gray Out with fans encouraged to wear gray and the Lions donning their gray uniforms. Area cancer survivors and their families are invited to attend the game as Penn State's guests and survivors and area cancer fighting organizations will be honored at halftime.
NOTES TO KNOW:
• Penn State has had an offensive resurgence posting 68 ppg in its last two outings after 49.5 ppg in its first four Big Ten outings, but has seen its last two opponents average 74.5 ppg, well above the Lions' season opponent average of 66.9 ppg.
• Penn State is averaging 66.7 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 16.8 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.
• Jermaine Marshall has led the Lions in scoring in the last two games, posting 23.5 ppg, and three times in six Big Ten games. posting 16.3 ppg in Big Ten play.
• Jermaine Marshall (29) and D.J. Newbill (27) both posted career high point totals and accounted for 56 of PSU's 72 points in a loss to 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 12 of his last 14 games and leads the team with 31 threes and 30 steals.
• D.J. Newbill is the only Big Ten player to rank in the Top 15 of the conference statistics in scoring (6th), assists (8th) and rebounding (15th). He posted his sixth 20-point game of the season (27) vs. MSU.
• PSU has posted 13 games with double-digit offensive boards, including 14+ in five of the last seven and a season high 17 vs. Indiana on Jan. 7. PSU has won the rebounding battle in 10 of the last 12 games and leads the Big Ten collecting 75.4% of all defensive rebounds.
• After opening Big Ten play with a massive free throw deficit in the first four games, Penn State has gotten to the line an average of 25.5 times in the last two games but has hit just 34-51 (66%), including one of its last six in a four-point loss to Nebraska.
• Ross Travis led Penn State in scoring for the first time in his career logging a season high equaling 14 points vs. Indiana (1/7). He ranks 4th in the Big Ten in rebounding with 7.2 rpg.
• D.J. Newbill leads Penn State with 126 free throw attempts and has gotten to the foul line at least once in 47 of 50 career games.
• Newbill (6th, 15.3 ppg) and Marshall (7th, 15.2 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 (30.5 ppg), behind Michigan's Trey Burke (3rd, 18.0) and Tim Hardaway Jr. (5th, 16.4), 34.4 ppg.
• Newbill and Marshall account for 49% of the Lions points and steals and 55% of PSU's free throws made and attempted.
• 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.
• Penn State's last Big Ten road win came March 6, 2011 at Minnesota (66-63).
SCOUTING INDIANA:
The Hoosiers posted a 67-59 win at Northwestern on Sunday to improve to 16-2 overall and 4-1 in the Big Ten, their one loss coming last week at home to Wisconsin (64-59). IU leads the nation scoring 84.4 ppg and lead the Big Ten with five players averaging 10 ppg or more. IU leads the Big Ten in three-point percentage (41.3%) opponent field goal percentage (37%). Preseason All-American and Player of the Year Cody Zeller posted 21 points and 13 rebounds at Northwestern and leads IU posting 17.2 ppg and the Big Ten with 8.2 rpg. Five Hoosiers have made at least 12 threes, led by Jordan Hulls who is 43-of-84 (51%) from the arc and 6-9 Christian Watford (28-60, 46%). Senior Victor Oladipo leads the league with 2.2 steals per game and shooting 66.4 percent on the year.
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 15.2 ppg, but a primary ball handler, sharing duties at the point with D.J. Newbill, and a generator of turnovers, leading the team with 30 steals (7th in the Big Ten, 1.7 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 EIGHT 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 679 points and three-point shooter with 74 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 35.6 per game to rank second in the Big Ten. He is the only Big Ten player to rank in the Top 15 of the conference statistics in scoring (6th, 15.3), assists (8th, 4.1) and rebounding (15th, 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 15 of 18 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.
LAST TIME OUT: NEBRASKA 68, PENN STATE 64, Jan. 19, 2013 • State College, Pa.
Penn State used a 12-0 run to go from 10 down to up two, 43-41, on Nebraska with 11:56 to play, but faltered at the foul line down the stretch and saw the Huskers get a career high 29 points on 10-of-11 shooting from freshman Shavon Shields. Jermaine Marshall scored all of his team-leading 18 points in the second half as PSU challenged but saw NU rebuild a seven-point lead in part due to a perfect 16-of-16 performance at the foul line (14-14 in the second half). A Marshall three had PSU within three with 32 seconds to play when D.J. Newbill (11 pts) got a steal and NU was called for a flagrant foul which resulted in four free throws and PSU possession. PSU hit just 1-of-4 at the line and saw Marshall get fouled on the ensuing possession but go 0-of-2 at the foul line as Nebraska held on for the victory. PSU shot 38 percent and 15-24 (62.5%) at the foul line while NU hit 47% and got 15 points and three treys from Ray Gallegos.
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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