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Dec. 2, 2014
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State hosts Virginia Tech at 7:15 p.m. Wednesday in an ACC-Big Ten Challenge matchup in the Bryce Jordan Center on ESPNU. The teams have met seven times, with the last meeting taking place in 2010 and the Lions' last win coming in the 2007 Challenge.
The Nittany Lions (6-1) have won each of their last four games, most recently at Bucknell last Friday, 88-80. [RECAP] The 6-1 start ties the best stretch to open the season under Patrick Chambers (6-1 last season).
Penn State will be wearing its new throwback uniform for the second-consecutive game when it takes on Virginia Tech Saturday. The unis are black and pink, honoring the school's original school colors established in 1887. The color pairing lasted just 2.5 years. Problems arose when the pink faded to white after several weeks of exposure to the sun. The students then opted for blue, rather than black, and white. The official announcement of the new choice was made on March 18, 1890. [IMAGE]
| PROMO PLANS |
- Black Out the Hokies: Fans are encouraged to wear black to the game Wednesday night in support of the Nittany Lions' throwback uniforms.
- T-Shirt Giveaway: The first 1,000 students will receive a black and pink Penn State Basketball Never Stops shirt with the design selected via a social media fan vote.
- Toys for Tots: Fans will be admitted for $5 with the donation of a new, unwrapped toy for the Toys for Tots program. They will be dropped off upon entrance at the arena.
- Dollar Dog Night: Dietz & Watson hot dogs are available for $1 while supplies last.
- Kids Eat Free: All kids 12 and younger can eat for free by selected three items from a pre-determined menu.
| QUICK HITS |
- The Lions are outscoring opponents 285-238 (+47) in the second frame through seven games this season. They have battled back from second-half deficits of 14 (Akron), 6 (Southern California) and 13 (Cornell) in recent wins.
- Penn State opened the 2014-15 season with seven games within the first 14 days of the season, the most games within the first two calendar weeks of the season in program history. The Bucknell game Friday was the last of the stretch.
- D.J. Newbill is averaging 25.0 on the season, tops in the Big Ten and third in the country among Division I players. Through Wednesday games this week, he had 175 total points and 59 made field goals, the most of any DI player in both categories.
- Newbill earned Big Ten Player of the Week honors Monday after producing 28.5 ppg and 5.6 rpg in the Lions' wins over Akron and at Bucknell. [RELEASE]
| THE MATCHUP |
| PSU | STAT | VT | |
| 76.0 | Points Per Game | 70.3 | |
| 70.3 | Opponent Pts Per Game | 62.2 | |
| 45.1 | Field-Goal Percentage | 51.4 | |
| 36.6 | 3-Point FG Percentage | 45.5 | |
| 71.0 | Free-Throw Pct. | 71.0 | |
| 38.7 | Rebounds Per Game | 31.3 | |
| 10.3 | Assists Per Game | 13.3 | |
| 13.7 | Turnovers Per Game | 15.3 | |
| 6.0 | Steals Per Game | 4.7 | |
| 4.3 | Blocks Per Game | 2.5 |
SCOUTING VIRGINIA TECH
The Hokies enter the ACC-B1G Challenge matchup with wins in each of their last two games for a 4-2 record after defeating Morgan State 83-63 Sunday evening. Adam Smith had a game-high 22 points vs. the Bears, with 18 coming off 3-pointers. Smith leads Virginia Tech with 14.3 ppg, while Justin Bibbs is second with 12.2 and Joey van Zegeren is third at 10.8 ppg and a team-leading 6.5 boards per game. Virginia Tech is coached by Buzz Williams, who is in his first season at VT after six years at Marquette.
SERIES HISTORY
Virginia Tech leads the all-time series 6-1 with the lone PSU win coming in the 2007 ACC-B1G Challenge. The teams exchanged home-and-home meetings during the 2009 and 2010 seasons. In the 2009 matchup in the Bryce Jordan Center, Talor Battled netted 32 points, but the Lions were edged 66-64. Virginia Tech's Erick Green made the front end of his two free throws to give the Hokies a 66-64 lead. After missing the second one, Battle grabbed the defensive board and drove the ball down the floor. His attempted lay-up fell short off the rim as time expired.
LAST TIME VS. THE HOKIES
Blacksburg, Va. (Dec. 12, 2010) - Virginia Tech hit 54 percent from the floor and got 18 points on 5-of-7 from three from senior guard Malcolm Delaney to post a 79-69 victory over Penn State. Talor Battle had 26 points, while David Jackson added 12 points and eight rebounds for the Lions.
Trailing by 11 at the half, Penn State used an 8-0 run to start the second period to get within three, 44-41. The Hokies responded however with a 10-0 run of their own sparked by a pair of threes from Green and Delaney to take a 54-41 lead with 10:53 to play. The Hokies led comfortably the rest of the way with Penn State getting no closer than eight with 8:23 to play. [RECAP]
| IN THE CHALLENGE |
ACC-B1G CHALLENGE
Penn State has won four of its last seven ACC/Big Ten Challenge games and holds a 5-8 record in 13 Challenge appearances. The Challenge was a tie (6-6) in each of the last two seasons with the title remaining with the Big Ten after it had won for the previous three years in a row. In 2011, the conference posted a dominating 8-4 tally, the Big Ten's largest winning margin and a mark equaling the most number of wins for a conference in the series. The ACC also won eight games in 2006 and 2007 and won the initial 10 Challenges. Eight of the previous 13 Challenges have been decided by one game. The ACC has won 10 of the 14 Challenges.
Last season, Tim Frazier led Penn State with 27 points but the Nittany Lions fell to Pitt 78-69 in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge Dec. 3 at the Petersen Events Center. D.J. Newbill chipped in 18 but Penn State couldn't keep up when Pitt turned up the pressure down the stretch. The Nittany Lions took a 59-58 lead on a layup by Donovon Jack with 5:15 left but Pitt responded with an 11-3 burst to take control.
In 2010, Penn State became the first Big Ten program to win Challenge games in three-consecutive seasons. Penn State has previously won games vs. Virginia Tech (2007), at Georgia Tech (2008) and at Virginia (2009) in its last five Challenge games. The Lions fell to Boston College (73-61) in their last home Challenge appearance in 2010.
2013 at Pittsburgh -- L, 78-69
2012 Boston College -- L, 73-61
2011 at Boston College -- W, 62-54
2010 Maryland -- L, 62-39
2009 at Virginia -- W, 69-67
2008 at Georgia Tech -- W, 85-83
2007 Virginia Tech -- W, 66-61
2006 at Georgia Tech -- L, 77-73
2005 Clemson -- L, 96-88
2004 Did not participate
2003 Did not participate
2002 at Clemson -- L, 79-70
2001 Clemson -- L, 79-66
2000 at N.C. State -- L, 84-76
1999 Clemson -- W, 85-75
| UP NEXT |
MARSHALL, DEC. 7: The Nittany Lions will travel to Marshall for a 6 p.m. game Saturday at the Cam Henderson Center in Huntington, W.Va. It is Penn State's first trip to Marshall since 1992 and is a return to the Herd's 2013 trip to Happy Valley.
All five starters turned in double figure scoring efforts as the Penn State men's basketball team downed Marshall, 90-77, on Dec. 7 at the Bryce Jordan Center. Ross Travis and Donovon Jack set the pace for the Lions, tallying 20 and 18 points, respectively.
Jack entered Penn State's single-game record books after blocking a career-high seven shots, which ties Calvin Booth's (Bradley, 1999) effort for 10th all-time. The forward also pulled down a team-high seven rebounds in the win while Travis tacked on six boards and two assists.