| PENN STATE (2-2) vs. BUCKNELL (3-2) | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Nov. 27, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's basketball returns to action at 1 p.m. Saturday against Bucknell in the Bryce Jordan Center. The game will not be on television, but can be streamed through BTN Plus (subscription rates apply) in addition to being available on the Penn State Sports Network, locally and online.
Both teams are coming off losses with the Nittany Lions dropping each of their last two contests at Duquesne and vs. Radford and Bucknell falling in overtime to Siena. Penn State and the Bison are meeting for the fourth-consecutive season and the 103rd time overall, extending one of the longest series histories for both programs.
Three Nittany Lions are averaging in double-figures in scoring: Brandon Taylor (16.0 ppg), Shep Garner (13.5) and Payton Banks (11.0) with Garner also leading in assists (3.5) and Banks controlling the boards (5.5).
PROMO PLANS
- Subway Full-Court Four-Pack: Purchase four tickets and receive four vouchers for 6" subs and sodas for $40.
SCOUTING BUCKNELL
The Bison are 3-2 to start the season and are coming off an 83-81 overtime setback to Siena Tuesday night in Lewistown. They are 2-0 in road games this season, defeating Robert Morris (81-76) and Manhattan (80-67). Bucknell is averaging 86.2 points per outing and outscoring opponents by 10.4 points as a result of 49.8 percent shooting from the field and 37.9 percent from behind the arc.
Bucknell is led by Chris Hass and his 18.5 ppg. Zach Thomas (15.0 ppg) and Nana Foullan (12.8) join Hass in double figures with Foulland also holding the team lead in rebounds with 7.6 per game. Nearly 66 percent of Bucknell's field goals are assisted with an average of 19.9 assists per game, led by Stephen Brown's 5.2 per game.
| TALE OF THE TAPE | LEADERS | |||||
| PSU | Stat (15-16) | BU | PENN STATE | BUCKNELL | ||
| 64.0 | Points Per Game | 86.2 | Points | Brandon Taylor: 16.0 | Chris Hass: 18.8 | |
| 69.0 | Opponent Points Per Game | 75.4 | Rebounds | Payton Banks: 5.5 | Nana Foulland: 7.6 | |
| 31.3 | Field-Goal Percentage | 49.8 | Assists | Shep Garner: 2.5 | Stephen Brown: 5.2 | |
| 45.5 | Opponent Field-Goal Percentage | 41.2 | Blocks | Josh Reaves: 1.7 | Nana Foulland: 5.2 | |
| 6.5 | 3-pointers Per Game | 7.8 | ||||
| 31.3 | 3-point Field Goal Percentage | 37.9 | ||||
| 42.7 | Opponent 3-point Field Goal % | 29.7 | ||||
| 60.5 | Free-Throw Percentage | 73.8 | ||||
| 33.5 | Rebounds Per Game | 38.0 | ||||
| 38.0 | Opponent Rebounds Per Game | 39.0 | ||||
| 8.8 | Assists Per Game | 19.0 | ||||
| 9.5 | Turnovers Per Game | 14.4 | ||||
| 6.0 | Steals Per Game | 7.4 | ||||
| 3.8 | Blocks Per Game | 3.4 |
SERIES HISTORY
- This is the 103rd meeting between Bucknell and Penn State in a series dating back to 1897.
- Penn State holds a 77-25 advantage in the all-time series with Bucknell, including wins in 13 of the last 14 meetings.
- The Bison captured the last game in the BJC, 90-80, Nov. 13, 2013, their first win in the series since 1976.
- Bucknell is one of four opponents Penn State has faced over 100 times (102), trailing just Pittsburgh (147), West Virginia (119) and Syracuse (105).
- Patrick Chambers is 3-2 all-time vs. Bucknell, going 2-1 at Penn State and 1-1 while at Boston University.
Previous 10 Meetings
| 12/21/1998 | H | 62 | 58 | W |
| 12/19/1999 | H | 67 | 63 | W |
| 12/22/2000 | H | 82 | 72 | W |
| 12/22/2001 | H | 78 | 57 | W |
| 12/20/2002 | H | 59 | 55 | W |
| 1/3/2004 | H | 58 | 46 | W |
| 11/21/2006 | H | 63 | 60 | W-ot |
| 11/23/2012 | H | 60 | 57 | W |
| 11/13/2013 | H | 80 | 90 | L |
| 11/28/2014 | A | 88 | 80 | W |
LAST TIME VS. THE BISON
LEWISTOWN, Pa. (Nov. 28, 2014) - D.J. Newbill had 28 points and Penn State pulled away late for an 88-80 victory over Bucknell. The Nittany Lions (6-1) never trailed but never led by more than 12. Bucknell (2-5) tied the game once, at 66-all, with 6:19 to play. Penn State answered with a 12-4 run and held steady from there with Newbill scoring six of the Nittany Lions' last 10 points to secure the win. Ross Travis added 14 points, and Brandon Taylor and Geno Thorpe had 12 apiece. Penn State was 8 of 15 from 3-point range and 30 of 54 from the field. [RECAP]
UP NEXT
Penn State will take on Boston College at 7:15 p.m. Wednesday at the Conte Forum in Boston as part of the B1G/ACC Challenge. The game will be televised on ESPNU and broadcasted on the Penn State Sports Network on local radio stations and online. The Nittany Lions and Eagles last met in the 2012 Challenge with BC taking the victory to bring its series lead to 7-6. Penn State captured the last meeting in Boston, a 62-54 win in the 2011 Challenge. The Lions are 6-8 in 14 Challenge appearances after knocking off Virginia Tech, 61-58, last season.
LAST TIME OUT
Despite double figure scoring from five Nittany Lions, Penn State (2-2) fell short in an 86-54 decision to Radford (4-2) Tuesday evening at the Bryce Jordan Center. There were four ties and 17 lead changes in the game. Jones and Anderson scored eight points apiece during a 22-9 run the Highlanders used to take control with 8:03 to play. Penn State chipped away and made it a two-possession game with 3:36 left but Davis hit his second 3-pointer with 3:17 remaining to put it out of reach. [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.