PENN STATE (1-0) VS. DEPAUL (1-0)
| DATE | Tuesday, Nov. 17 | 5 p.m. ET |
| LOCATION | Bryce Jordan Center (University Park, Pa.) |
| TV | ESPNU: Clay Matvick (pxp), Sean Harrington (analysis) | WatchESPN |
| RADIO | Listen: Penn State Sports Network: Steve Jones (pxp), Dick Jerardi (analysis) |
| GAME NOTES | Penn State Notes | DePaul Notes |
| TICKETS | Ticketmaster | Account Manager | Mobile Ticketing | Ticket Exchange |
| ARENA INFO | Virtual Venue | Parking | Directions | Bag Policy |
| LIVE STATS | |
| BLOG | Basketball Blog VIDEO & Preview for the DePaul Game |
| SOCIAL MEDIA | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | #PSUMBB |
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Nov. 16, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Penn State men's basketball (1-0) is set to host DePaul (1-0) Tuesday, Nov. 17 at 5 p.m. in the Bryce Jordan Center as part of the inaugural Gavitt Tipoff Games. The event is part of an eight-team Big Ten vs. Big East challenge in honor of Dave Gavitt, founder of the Big East. The matchup is also part of ESPN's annual Tipoff Marathon. Tuesday's tilt will broadcast live on ESPNU with Clay Matvick and Sean Harrington on the call.
Penn State and DePaul will meet for the first time in 31 years, marking the seventh game in a series that dates back to 1938.
The Nittany Lions are 1-0 on the year after downing VMI, 62-50 in the 2015-16 home-opener Saturday afternoon. In his sixth season as a collegiate head coach, Patrick Chambers will also look to secure his 100th career victory against the Blue Demons.
PROMO PLANS
- Kids Eat Free: Kids 12 and under eat for free by selecting three items from a pre-set menu
- Halftime: Hula hoop performer Lauren Resnick
- Anthem Singer: Huntington Middle School
SCOUTING DePAUL
The Blue Demons opened their season with a 69-63 win over Western Michigan Saturday at McGrath-Phillips Arena in Chicago. Billy Garrett Jr. led the Blue Demons with 18 points, five rebounds and four assists while Myke Henry finished with 16 points. Tommy Hamilton IV contributed 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds.
The Blue Demons are coached by Dave Leitao, who began his second stint as the DePaul head coach this season. He last led the team in 2002-05.
DePaul returned 11 players, including three starters, from the 2014-15 season, headlined by Henry, Garrett Jr. and Hamilton IV. Garrett is the top returning scorer after averaging 12.3 points per game while Henry 12.0 points and 5.4 rebounds. Hamilton averaged 10.0 points and 5.3 rebounds.Overall, the Blue Demons return nearly 70 percent of the scoring and just over 60 percent of the rebounding from last season.
SERIES HISTORY
The Lions are 0-6 all-time against DePaul with the last meeting coming during the 1984-85 season. The Blue Demons were ranked in the Top 5 nationally in each of the last three games in the series.
Previous Meetings
| 12/26/1983 | A | 23 | 31 | L |
| 12/10/1955 | A | 62 | 84 | L |
| 12/29/1968 | N | 68 | 83 | L |
| 12/28/1977 | N | 67 | 82 | L |
| 12/12/1984 | A | 60 | 86 | L |
| 1/2/1982 | H | 61 | 78 | L |
LIONS VS. THE BIG EAST
Penn State is 35-41 all-time against current teams in the Big East Conference. The last game vs. a Big East team was an 89-82 overtime victory vs. St. John's as part of the 2013 Barclays Classic in New York.
Big East Conference (35-41)
| Butler | 1-2 |
| Creighton | 1-0 |
| DePaul | 0-6 |
| Georgetown | 22-20 |
| Marquette | 2-3 |
| Providence | 2-1 |
| Seton Hall | 5-1 |
| St. John's (NY) | 1-1 |
| Villanova | 1-7 |
| Xavier | -- |
NON-CONFERENCE WINS
Penn State has won each of its last each 13 non-conference games in the Bryce Jordan Center, dating back to Nov. 13, 2013, and a 90-80 setback vs. Bucknell. The Nittany Lions were 7-0 vs. non-league opponents in the BJC last season.
UP NEXT
Penn State takes its first road test against Duquesne at 7 p.m. Friday in the CONSOL Energy Center. The Nittany Lions lead the all-time series 26-19 including victories in six of the last seven games. The last six games between the teams have been decided by an average of 5.5 points.
LAST TIME OUT
Shep Garner scored 10 of his 15 points in the second half and Penn State beat VMI 62-50 on Saturday in the season opener for both teams. Garner hit back-to-back 3-pointers, including a 4-point play, to extend Penn State's lead to 51-31 midway through the second half. Garner finished with four of Penn State's five 3-pointers. Penn State led 29-24 at halftime and opened the second half on a 15-4 run to build a 44-28 lead. Brandon Taylor added 13 points for Penn State and Payton Banks had 12.
SEASON OPENERS
Penn State has won its last 11 season openers dating to 2005, including all five under Patrick Chambers. The Lions are 89-30 overall in season openers and 79-10 in home season openers.
Openers under Patrick Chambers
| 11/14/15 | vs. VMI | W, 62-50 |
| 11/14/14 | vs. Morgan State | W, 61-48 |
| 11/9/13 | vs. Wagner | W, 74-62 |
| 11/9/12 | vs. St. Francis (Pa.) | W, 65-58 |
| 11/12/11 | vs. Hartford | W, 70-55 |
| SEASON NOTES |
CHAMBERS TAKES ON YEAR FIVE
The 2015-16 season marks the fifth year at the helm of the Nittany Lions for head coach Patrick Chambers. The Philly native is coming off his best season in University Park after posting a win total (18) that had been topped just twice in the last decade and four times since 2000. Chambers has seen his overall win total climb each of the last three years and has continued to make waves in Big Ten play.
SENIOR LEADERSHIP
A pair of four-year players -- Brandon Taylor and Donovon Jack -- combined with Jordan Dickerson, who has played a year and a half in Happy Valley, and Devin Foster, who joined the Lions last year, make up the 2015-16 senior class. Taylor and Jack have been a part of 44 wins in their first three years, the most since the 2011-12 class entered its final year with 57 victories.
ROOKIE RECOGNITION
The freshman class of Josh Reaves, Mike Watkins and Deividas Zemgulis make up the most heralded group to sign at Penn State to date. The trio was rated as the No. 28 class in the nation by 247 Sports, marking the first Top 30 group to join the Nittany Lions. Both four-star players, Reaves and Watkins were each ranked among the Top 100 players in the country by ESPN with Reaves holding the No. 81 spot and Watkins coming in at No. 89 at the time of their signing. Zemgulis was a three-star recruit and a Top 12 prospect from Maryland.
LIONS GAIN UCONN TRANSFER
Terrence Samuel joined the Nittany Lions in July after playing two years at the University of Connecticut. He will have two seasons of eligibility remaining after sitting out the 2015-16 campaign to satisfy NCAA transfer rules. A member of the Huskies' 2014 NCAA Championship team, Samuel saw action in 65 career games with eight starts as a sophomore. He averaged 3.6 points and 2.5 rebounds per game in his second season in Storrs with career averages of 3.0 ppg and 1.7 rpg.
BLOCK PARTY
The Nittany Lions have a total of three players in the Penn State Top 10 in the blocks category. Donovon Jack and Jordan Dickerson are tied at No. 8 with 82 career blocks, while Brandon Taylor is 10th with 74. Jack and Dickerson also share the No. 8 position in single-season blocks with 53 after putting up the total in 2013-14 and 2014-15, respectively. It was the first time Penn State had a player produce more than 50 blocks in back-to-back seasons since 1998 and 1999 when Calvin Booth did so.
RETURN TO REC ... TIMES TWO
Penn State's non-conference schedule is highlighted by two games to be played in historic Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions will take on Canisius and Louisiana-Monroe Dec. 10 and 12, respectively, as part of the second Return to Rec. Penn State last played in Rec Hall during the 2013-14 season in a Return to Rec event that marked the first men's basketball game played there since the Nittany Lions defeated Wisconsin, 79-50, in the building on Jan. 7, 1996. From 1926-96, the Lions compiled a stellar 514-183 (73.7%) record in Rec Hall, including a 45-game win streak from 1951-55.
PSU TAKES NYC
The Nittany Lion basketball and men's hockey programs will take over Madison Square Garden Jan. 30 in the first Big Ten Super Saturday - Hoops and Hockey doubleheader. The teams will both take on Michigan with tip slated for noon and puck drop scheduled for 7 p.m., both on Big Ten Network. in the first of four annual events at "The World's Most Famous Arena," which also will host the 2018 Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament Feb. 28-March 4 of that year. Big Ten men's basketball and hockey programs will play regular-season games at Madison Square Garden in late January or early February in 2016 through 2019.
LAS VEGAS CLASSIC
Penn State will take part in the Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic Dec. 22-23 at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. The Nittany Lions will open action by taking on Colorado at 10:30 p.m. ET Tuesday, Dec. 22. The winner of the Penn State-Colorado game will play the winner of the SMU vs. Kent State matchup at 10:30 p.m. ET Dec. 23 on FoxSports1. The losers in each game will play each other at 8 p.m. ET, also on FoxSports1. Each team will play four games in the Classic -- the first two at on-campus sites and the final two rounds at the Orleans Arena. Penn State's two games are vs. Canisus and Louisiana-Monroe in the Return to Rec series.
STAFF CHANGES
Head coach Patrick Chambers announced a series of staff changes in the offseason, beginning with the move by Ross Condon from director of operations to assistant coach in wake of the departure of Brian Daly. David Caporaletti, who previously spent four seasons as the director of on-campus recruiting, filled Condon's former post. Nicholas Colella then moved into the recruiting role and graduate managers Evann Baker and Kevin Hacke were added to the mix.
NCAA ANNIVERSARIES
The 2015-16 marks significant anniversaries for each of the last four NCAA tournament appearances by the Nittany Lions.
| 2011 | NCAA First Round | 5 Years |
| 2001 | Sweet Sixteen | 15 Years |
| 1996 | NCAA First Round | 20 Years |
| 1991 | NCAA Second Round | 25 Years |
TWENTY SEASONS IN THE BJC
The 2015-16 campaign will be the 20th season in the Bryce Jordan Center. Since opening its doors to basketball Jan. 7, 1996, with a 79-50 win over Wisconsin, the BJC has hosted 316 Nittany Lion games with the team holding a winning percentage of 61.1 in those contests. Penn State has won at least 10 home games in four of the last five seasons.
120TH SEASON PENN STATE BASKETBALL
The Nittany Lions embark on the 120th season of basketball at Penn State and their 25th as a member of the Big Ten in 2015-16. The Lions began play in 1897 with a pair of contests vs. Bucknell, who they will face for the fourth-consecutive season and the 102nd time overall. Penn State has made 13 postseason appearances in the last 27 years (4 NCAA, 8 NIT, 1 CBI) and a total of 20 (9 NCAA, 10 NIT, 1 CBI) overall.