| PENN STATE (2-0) at DUQUESNE (2-0) | ||||||||||||||||
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Nov. 19, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's basketball team heads out on the road for the first time this season, taking on Duquesne at 7 p.m. Friday in the CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pa. The game will be streamed live on the Atlantic 10 Network for free, in addition to being available on the Penn State Sports Network, locally and online.
Both teams are off to a 2-0 start to their seasons, with the Nittany Lions defeating VMI (62-50) and DePaul (68-60) in their first two games in the Bryce Jordan Center. Brandon Taylor is leading the team with 17.5 points per game, while Shep Garner (15.5) and Payton Banks (11.0) are also averaging double-figures. Julian Moore is the team's leading rebounder off the bench, grabbing 7.0 boards per game.
THREE-POINTERS
- Penn State and Duquesne are meeting for the 47th time, dating back to the 1924 season and a 43-40 Penn State victory. This will be the sixth-consecutive season the teams have met with the Lions going 4-1 in that stretch.
- Head coach Patrick Chambers picked up his 100th career victory Tuesday against DePaul in his sixth season as a college head coach.
- The game Friday pits the Division I Top 30 scoring defense Nittany Lions (56.0 opponent ppg) vs. Top 20 scoring offense Dukes (95.5 ppg). Penn State and its opponents have combined for an average of 121 points in the last two games, compared to 168.5 in Duquesne's first two contests.
SCOUTING DUQUESNE
Duquesne is off a 2-0 start to the season after defeating Seton Hill (96-91) and New Orleans (95-75) and has the 19th-highest scoring average in Division I at 95.5 points per game. The Dukes are shooting at a 57.8 percent clip from the field and 40 percent from behind the arc with four players owning multiple 3-pointers on the young season. Nearly 63 percent of their field goals are assisted with 10 players earning at least one assist to date.
Micah Mason is leading the Dukes with 21.5 ppg, including 12.0 ppg coming off 3-pointers. He is shooting 57 percent from 3-point range and 67 percent overall. Derrick Colter also is averaging in double-figures (15.0 ppg) with 5.0 assists per game, while Darius Lewis is the leading rebounder (11.0 rpg).
| TALE OF THE TAPE | LEADERS | |||||
| PSU | Stat (15-16) | DUQ | PSU | DUQ | ||
| 65.0 | Points Per Game | 95.5 | Points | Brandon Taylor: 17.5 | Micah Mason: 21.5 | |
| 56.0 | Opponent Points Per Game | 73.0 | Rebounds | Julian Moore: 7. | Darius Lewis: 11.0 | |
| 41.7 | Field-Goal Percentage | 57.8 | Assists | Shep Garner: 2.5 | Derrick Colter: 5.0 | |
| 37.3 | Opponent Field-Goal Percentage | 39.2 | Blocks | Jordan Dickerson: 2.5 | L.G. Gill: 1.5 | |
| 7.5 | 3-pointers Per Game | 10.0 | ||||
| 37.5 | 3-point Field Goal Percentage | 40.8 | ||||
| 27.3 | Opponent 3-point Field Goal % | 39.1 | ||||
| 65.8 | Free-Throw Percentage | 68.5 | ||||
| 34.0 | Rebounds Per Game | 38.5 | ||||
| 36.0 | Opponent Rebounds Per Game | 32.0 | ||||
| 8.0 | Assists Per Game | 21.0 | ||||
| 9.5 | Turnovers Per Game | 15.5 | ||||
| 6.5 | Steals Per Game | 5.0 | ||||
| 5.0 | Blocks Per Game | 3.0 |
SERIES HISTORY
This will be the 47th meeting between the Dukes and Nittany Lions, dating back to the 1924 season and a 43-40 Penn State victory. This will be the sixth-consecutive season the teams have met with the Lions going 4-1 in that stretch.
Previous Six Meetings
| 12/4/2010 | H | 77 | 73 | W |
| 12/10/2011 | A | 59 | 66 | L |
| 12/29/2012 | H | 84 | 74 | W |
| 12/11/2013 | A | 68 | 59 | W |
| 12/11/2013 | H | 64 | 62 | W |
LAST TIME VS. DUQUESNE
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (Dec. 10, 2014) - The Nittany Lions took the lead late in the first half and never trailed in the second en route to a 64-62 victory over Duquesne Wednesday night. Their seventh straight victory is the longest streak since 2007-08 and is the longest active streak among Big Ten teams. Geno Thorpe scored a career-high 19 points, freshman Shep Garner added 13 and Penn State upped its record to 9-1, its best start since the Lions' 2000-01 Sweet 16 season. The Dukes (3-3), who were led by 18 points from Jordan Stevens and 11 from TySean Powell, took a potential game-winning shot at the final buzzer, but Micah Mason's 3-pointer fell short. [RECAP]
LAST TIME @ CONSOL
PITTSBURGH (Dec. 11, 2013) - Reserve Allen Roberts had 15 points and D.J. Newbill added 13 points as Penn State won for the sixth time in its past eight games, 68-59 against Duquesne in CONSOL Energy Center. Tim Frazier had a career-high 13 assists along with 11 points for the Nittany Lions (8-3), who won despite having only 10 free-throw attempts as compared to the Dukes' 34. Ovie Soko had 19 points to lead the Dukes (3-4), who shot 27 percent from the field and made just four of 23 attempts from 3-point range. [RECAP]
NON-CONFERENCE WINS
After opening the year with two wins, Penn State has won its last 12 non-conference games after closing the pre-Big Ten slate with a 10-game winning streak last season. The Nittany Lions also have won their last 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 returns home for a pair of Thanksgiving week contests in the Bryce Jordan Center, beginning at 6 p.m. Tuesday against Radford. The Highlanders are 2-1 on the season after opening the year with a win over Georgetown in Washington, D.C. The Nittany Lions also will welcome Bucknell to the BJC at 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 28 for the second of three games vs. in-state foes. [TICKETS]
LAST TIME OUT
Helped out by double figure scoring from four Nittany Lions, Penn State men's basketball (2-0) took down DePaul (1-1) 68-62 Tuesday evening at the Bryce Jordan Center. After picking up two fouls early, Brandon Taylor scored 19 of his 22 points in the second half and Penn State led DePaul whistle to whistle in the Gavitt Tipoff Series. Shep Garner added 7 of his 16 points in the final two minutes to keep the Blue Demons at bay. [RECAP]
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.
Under 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.
SUITS AND SNEAKERS
Head coach Patrick Chambers will don suits and sneakers for every game during the 2015-16, in honor of the 20th season of Coaches vs. Cancer - Penn State. The school's chapter of CVC is consistently ranks among the Top 10 CVC organizations in the nation. It was started in 1995 under then head coach Bruce Parkhill and raises funds to support the American Cancer Society as well as the Bob Perks Fund (BPF), a local initiative that provides direct support for community members and families fighting cancer. Coaches vs. Cancer - Penn State has raised nearly $2.5 million to date through a series of year-round events. To get involved please visit CVCPENNSTATE.ORG or call 814-234-1023.
FACILITY UPGRADES
The Penn State basketball program recently moved into new training table and video room facilities in the Bryce Jordan Center. The $1.2 million project was propelled by a generous gift from Peter and Ann Tombros and allows the Nittany Lions to utilize state of the art technologies. The concourse of the BJC also got a makeover in the offseason, and features Nittany and Lady Lion basketball graphics surrounding the circumference, as well at the main entrances.
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.