March 17, 2013
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA.; MARCH 17, 2013 - Penn State basketball will part of the field for the 2013 Barclays Center Classic in Brooklyn, N.Y. next season and is slated for two games at the new arena Nov. 29-30.
Coach Patrick Chambers' third Nittany Lion team will join Georgia Tech (ACC), Ole Miss (SEC) and St. John's (Big East) in the field for the second year of the event, which featured Kentucky and Maryland among other teams last year. Tickets for the Barclays Center Classic go on sale March 22 at www.barclayscenter.com or www.ticketmaster.com. Match-ups, tip times, and television arrangements will be announced at a later date.
"We are looking forward to competing in the 2013 Barclays Center Classic," Chambers said. "It is a great opportunity to take our team and fans to a terrific new venue and to challenge ourselves against a competitive tournament field."
The $1 billion Barclays Center opened in September of 2012 with eight sold-out Jay-Z concerts. The 17,732-seat arena is the home of the Brooklyn Nets and hosted the A-10 Tournament. It is the center of the Atlantic Yards commercial and residential development project in Brooklyn.
The Lions will be competing in their third in-season tournament under Chambers. Penn State went 1-2 in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off last year in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. In that event, Penn State downed Providence and fell to No. 6 North Carolina State and eventual MAC champion Akron, a game in which All-Big Ten guard Tim Frazier went down with a season-ending Achilles injury in the first six minutes. The Lions posted a 3-1 mark in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off in 2011, going 1-1 in games played at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut. The Lions downed South Florida and fell to No. 2 Kentucky in that event.
The Nittany Lions will be playing their first games in one of the New York City boroughs since downing Notre Dame and Baylor in Madison Square Garden to win the 2009 NIT championship. The Lions will be making their second in-season tournament appearance in New York and first since winning a pair of games over Princeton and Hofstra in the 2000 ECAC Holiday Classic in Madison Square Garden.
Penn State will return four of its top five scorers and rebounders as well as 80 percent or more of its points, rebounds and assists from a 2012-13 squad that posted a 10-21 record, but knocked of No. 4 Michigan (84-78) in late February. Frazier, who ranked second in the Big Ten in scoring (18.8 ppg) and led the league in assists (6.2) in 2011-12, will petition the NCAA for a medical hardship waiver and fifth season of eligibility after playing in just four games in 2012-13. He would join 2013 All-Big Ten honorable-mention honorees D.J. Newbill and Jermaine Marshall, who finished fifth (16.3 ppg) and sixth (15.3 ppg), respectively, in the Big Ten in scoring in 2012-13, to form one of the most potent backcourts in the nation. Sophomore forward Ross Travis, who finished fifth in the Big Ten in rebounding (7.4 rpg) and posted double-doubles in three of his last seven games, and Brandon Taylor, who made 32 threes in his freshman season, will anchor the frontcourt.
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.
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