Dec. 13, 2014
| DATE | Sunday, Dec. 14 |
| TIME | Noon |
| LOCATION | Bryce Jordan Center (University Park, Pa.) |
| TV | ESPN3: Doug Sherman (pxp), Brian Allen (analysis) |
| RADIO | Listen: Penn State Sports Network: Steve Jones (pxp), Dick Jerardi (analysis) |
| GAME NOTES | Penn State Notes | George Washington Notes |
| TICKETS | Ticketmaster |
| LIVE STATS | |
| BLOG | Basketball Blog: Red-Hot Lions Looking Ahead to GW |
| SOCIAL MEDIA | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube |
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State looks for its eighth-consecutive win when it hosts George Washington at noon Sunday in the Bryce Jordan Center. The Nittany Lions are 9-1 on the season, matching the its best start since the 2000-01 team, and have won each of its last seven games, which ties the longest winning streak since 2007-08.
The game renews an old Atlantic 10 rivalry as the teams have not met since 1991. Penn State leads the all-time series with the Colonials 19-11 and has wins in seven of the last nine meetings, including the 1991 Atlantic 10 Championship game at Rec Hall.
Sunday's game vs. the Colonials will be streamed on ESPN3 with Doug Sherman and former Nittany Lion Brian Allen on the call. It also is available on the radio through the Penn State Sports Network.
Tickets to the game Sundayare $5 and will cover general admission to both the Nittany Lions and the Lady Lions (2-7), as they take on Rider at approximately 2:30 p.m.
| PROMO PLANS |
- Sunday is Military Appreciation Day with free admission for all those with a military ID.
- CAMO HAT:Additionally, a special camo Penn State basketball hat will be handed out while supplies last.
- Postgame, there will be a special presentation between the team and Penn State's ROTC program members. It will be closed to the public.
- Penn State and George Washington players will work together to hold the American Flag for the pregame National Anthem.
- STUDY BREAK: The first 500 students to the game Sunday will receive a free doughnut from Dunkin Donuts and small coffee from McDonald's.
| QUICK HITS |
- The Colonials are 6-2 and have won each of their last three games, including a 78-70 victory over Charlotte, who handed Penn State is lone loss of the season.
- At seven games, Penn State has the longest winning streak among all 14 big Ten teams and is tied with Maryland and Wisconsin for the highest win percentage (.900). The trio are tied for 11th in Division I with the .900 mark.
- Penn State is 6-0 in the Bryce Jordan Center this season and has won each of its last 11 non-conference games in the BJC.
- The Nittany Lions are ranked among the Big Ten and NCAA best in several categories, including win percentage, rebounding and field goal percentage defense.
- Penn State has outrebounded its opponent in seven of 10 games are is second in the Big Ten with 39.7 rebounds per game.
- Through 10 games, Penn State has had four decided by one possession, winning each of them. Last season, the Lions had eight games decided by three points or fewer in the regular season. They lost each of the first five and won the last three, giving them a seven-game win streak in regular-season, one-possession games.
- The Lions average 32.3 points in the first half, while putting up nearly 40 in the second, uisng the points to battle back from second-half deficits of 14 (Akron), 13 (Cornell), 8 (Virginia Tech) and 6 (Southern California) in recent wins.
- Penn State has used two different starting lineup combinations this season and a total of 70 different in-game combinations.
- D.J. Newbill is averaging 22.1 ppg, tops in the Big Ten and seventh in the country among DI players. Through Friday games this week, his 221 total points and 75 made field goals were the second and third-most of any DI player, respectively.
- With 1,329 career points at Penn State, Newbill holds the record among players to spend just three years in the Blue and White and is No. 13 all-time.
- Donovon Jack and Geno Thorpe have been X-factors in the team's recent success. Jack is averaging 7.0 ppg in the last three games, twice his production from the first seven games, while Thorpe led the Lions with a career-high 19 points vs. Duquesne.
- Ross Travis is third in the Big Ten in rebounding with 7.7 per game after leading the team in each of the last three games and seven this season. He is 13th all-time at Penn State and with his career average produced this season, will end up in the Top 3. [More: Page 19]
- Shep Garner is second on the team in both scoring (10.5 ppg) and assists (2.3 apg) as a freshman. He has scored 10+ in all but three games this season, but has seen increased assist and rebound numers when limited in scoring.
| THE MATCHUP |
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SCOUTING GEORGE WASHINGTON
- The Colonials have won each of their last three games and enter Sunday with a 6-2 overall record.
- Both their losses have come on the road, to No. 9 Virginia (59-42; 11/21) and Seton Hall (58-54; 11/29).
- Four players are averaging more than 10.0 points per game, led by Patricio Garino's 15.1 ppg.
- The team is shooting nearly 48 percent from the field with six players shooting above 50 percent. Garino's team-leading scoring comes off 59.5 percent shooting (47-79) with all but two field goals coming inside the arc.
- GW attempts just 14 3-pointers per game, hitting 32.5 perent of chances. With 10 treys, reserve player Nick Griffin has the team high.
- The lone mutual opponent is Charlotte, who handed Penn State its only loss of the season, a double overtime setback in the Charleston Classic. The Colonials defeated the 49ers 78-70 in the Verizon Center.
SERIES HISTORY
- Sunday marks the 30th meeting all-time between the programs, dating back to the 1908 season and a 47-4 win for the Nittany Lions in The Armory.
- Penn State has captured seven of the last nine meetings, though the teams have not met since 1991 in the Palm Beach (Fla.) Classic
- In the Nittany Lions' final season in the Atlantic 10 in 1990-91, they went 2-1 with the Colonials, including a 81-75 win in the A10 Championship game at Rec Hall, the first conference championship for Penn State basketball.
- The two teams will complete the currently scheduled homeand-home series in D.C. in 2015-16.
- Head coaches Patrick Chambers and Mike Lonergan squared off five times in the America East Conference from 2009-11. Lonergan took the first three meetings during the 2009-10 season, before Chambers and Boston University grabbed two wins in 2010-11.
- Current PSU graduate manager D.J. Irving was a freshman on that 2010-11 Terrier squad under Chambers and then-assistant coaches Brian Daly and Ross Condon.
- Penn State is 113-77 all-time against teams in the current Atlantic 10 Conference with wins over Fordham and Duquesne this season.
| UP NEXT |
Penn State and Drexel will meet next Sunday, Dec. 22 in the newly-opened PPL Center in Allentown, Pa. The game is a home contest for the Lions with the return slated for 2015 in Philadelphia's revered Palestra. Tickets for the PPL Center game are available from Penn State's box office, 1-800-NITTANY.