Aug 15, 2013
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's basketball team will square off against Pittsburgh December 3 at 7:30 pm in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge presented by Dick's Sporting Goods as announced today. The game is scheduled to be aired nationally on ESPNU.
The Nittany Lions and Panthers will meet for the 145th time, and first since 2005, when they collide at Pittsburgh's Petersen Events Center on the first of two days of the 2013 Challenge. Pittsburgh will be the Lions' eighth different opponent in the Challenge, which is entering its 15th season. Penn State has won four of their last six Challenge contests, including its last three Challenge road games, and has a 5-7 record overall in 12 appearances in the event.
All 12 games in the 15th annual staging of the Challenge between two of the most successful college basketball conferences will be televised by a combination of ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU.
Penn State leads the all-time series with Pitt, which began in 1906, by a count of 76-68, but Pitt has won the last five meetings. Penn State's last win in the series came with an 88-74 victory in the Bryce Jordan Center in 2000. The teams last met in 2005 with Pitt claiming a victory in Pittsburgh to complete a series of meetings in six straight seasons. The programs met at least once a year every season from 1935 through 1982 and every season except for two between 1913 and 1982.
PSU boasts the top three returning scorers in the Big Ten in 2013-14. The Lions return four of their top five scorers and rebounders as well as 80 percent or more of their points, rebounds and assists from the 2012-13 squad.
The Atlantic Coast Conference is 10-3-1 since the Big Ten/ACC Challenge's inception in 1999, however, the Big Ten is unbeaten in its last four meetings. Pittsburgh will be making its inaugural appearance in the series, in addition to Notre Dame and Syracuse.
First-team All-Big Ten guard Tim Frazier (Houston, Texas), who ranked second in the Big Ten in scoring (18.8 ppg) and led the league in assists (6.2) in 2011-12, returns with an NCAA medical hardship waiver after playing in just four games in 2012-13. He will join 2013 All-Big Ten honorable-mention honorees D.J. Newbill (Philadelphia, Pa.) and Jermaine Marshall (Etters, Pa.), 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 (Chaska, Minn.), 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 (Tabernacle, N.J.), who made 32 threes in his freshman season, will anchor the frontcourt.
The Lions are currently competing in Belgium as part of their 2013 European Tour. In addition to playing a trio of games overseas, players will take in the sights and sounds of Belgium, France, England and the Netherlands.
Penn State men's basketball is on Twitter (@PennStateMBB) and on Facebook (www.facebook.com/pennstatebasketball).