| PENN STATE (3-2) at BOSTON COLLEGE (3-3) | ||||||||||||||||
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Dec. 1, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State men's basketball (3-2) hits the road for a midweek matchup, traveling to Boston College (3-3) to take on the Eagles Wednesday, Dec. 2 at 7:15 p.m. in Conte Forum. The Big Ten/ACC matchup will broadcast live on ESPNU with Kevin Fitzgerald and Malcolm Huckaby on the call.
Both teams enter the matchup in search of their fourth win of the season. The Nittany Lions halted a two-game losing skid with a comeback win over Bucknell, 62-58, Saturday, while the Eagles started 3-0 before dropping their next three games in the Wooden Legacy Tournament.
Three Nittany Lions are averaging double-figures in scoring: Brandon Taylor (16.6 ppg), Shep Garner (12.6) and Payton Banks (10.6) with Garner also leading in assists (2.8) and Taylor controlling the boards (6.0).
Banks sunk a 3-pointer with 23 seconds remaining against Bucknell last week to break a 58-58 tie and give Penn State the lead. Taylor is also coming off his second career double-double against Bucknell (19, points 11 rebounds) and the team's first since Jan. 28, 2015 when D.J. Newbill produced one against Minnesota.
SCOUTING BOSTON COLLEGE
The Eagles opened their season 3-0 before dropping each of the last three games as part of the Wooden Legacy tournament in Anaheim, Calif. The tourney slate opened with fellow Big Ten program Michigan State and continued with UC Irvine and Santa Clara. Graduate transfer Eli Carter averaged 17.3 points per game through the three games in California, bolstering his team-leading 18.0 ppg on the season.
| TALE OF THE TAPE | LEADERS | |||||
| PSU | Stat (15-16) | BC | PSU | BC | ||
| 63.6 | Points Per Game | 95.5 | Points | Brandon Taylor: 16.6 | Eli Carter: 18.0 | |
| 66.8 | Opponent Points Per Game | 73.0 | Rebounds | Brandon Taylor: 6.0 | Dennis Clifford: 5.3 | |
| 39.6 | Field-Goal Percentage | 57.8 | Assists | Shep Garner: 2.8 | Eli Carter: 3.8 | |
| 42.2 | Opponent Field-Goal Percentage | 39.2 | Blocks | Josh Reaves: 1.6 | Dennis Clifford: 0.5 | |
| 6.2 | 3-pointers Per Game | 10.0 | ||||
| 30.7 | 3-point Field Goal Percentage | 40.8 | ||||
| 40.4 | Opponent 3-point Field Goal % | 39.1 | ||||
| 62.2 | Free-Throw Percentage | 68.5 | ||||
| 34.4 | Rebounds Per Game | 38.5 | ||||
| 37.4 | Opponent Rebounds Per Game | 32.0 | ||||
| 8.8 | Assists Per Game | 21.0 | ||||
| 9.4 | Turnovers Per Game | 15.5 | ||||
| 5.8 | Steals Per Game | 5.0 | ||||
| 5.8 | Blocks Per Game | 3.0 |
SERIES HISTORY
- This is the 13th meeting all-time between Penn State and Boston College and the first since 2012. Each of the last two matchups have been a part of the B1G/ACC Challenge with each team earning a win in the road contest.
- Records are an even 3-3 on each program's home court. The lone neutral court matchup was part of the Music City Invitational in Nashville, Tennessee, ending with a PSU loss.
Previous 10 Meetings
| 12/26/1967 | H | 58 | 87 | L |
| 12/15/1989 | H | 63 | 67 | L |
| 12/16/1969 | A | 67 | 63 | W |
| 12/19/1970 | H | 66 | 63 | W |
| 2/19/1972 | A | 68 | 64 | W |
| 12/16/1972 | H | 65 | 63 | W |
| 2/16/1974 | A | 72 | 86 | L |
| 1/4/1975 | H | 71 | 82 | L |
| 12/29/1980 | N | 67 | 74 | L |
| 11/27/1999 | H | 85 | 57 | W |
LAST TIME VS. THE EAGLES
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (Nov. 29, 2012) -
Despite a late 18-1 run that cut Boston College's 20-point second half lead to only three with 3:08 to play, the Nittany Lions (3-3) were unable to take the lead and suffered a 73-61 loss to Boston College (3-4) in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Redshirt junior Jermaine Marshall (Etters, Pa.) led Penn State with 25 points going 8-for-13 from the field. Redshirt sophomore D.J. Newbill (Philadelphia, Pa.) was second on the team with a career-high 22 points hitting 6-of-13 from the field and 8-of-11 at the foul line. Sophomore Ross Travis (Chaska, Minn.) had a game-high and career-best 13 rebounds, including 10 defensive boards.
IN THE CHALLENGE
Penn State has won five of its last eight B1G/ACC Challenge games and holds a 6-8 record in 14 Challenge appearances. The Big Ten has retained the Challenge cup for each of the last six seasons after winning eight of 14 games. The Challenge was a tie (6-6) in each of the previous two seasons with the title remaining with the Big Ten after it had won for the previous three years in a row. Last season, D.J. Newbill scored 18 points and Shep Garner added 13 for Penn State (7-1) as the Nittany Lions edged Virginia Tech 61-58 at the Bryce Jordan Center Dec. 3. Penn State limited the Hokies (4-3) to 38.5 percent shooting from the field and 28.6 from 3-point range during the back-and-forth game in which a 16-2 second-half run turned momentum in Penn State's favor.
RETURN TO BOSTON
Head coach Patrick Chambers and assistant coach Ross Condon spent two seasons together in the same positions at Boston University in 2010 and 2011. Chambers led the Terriers to back-to-back 21-win seasons and the 2011 America East title and NCAA Tournament. He also was joined by current director of operations David Caporaletti, who was the assistant to the head coach while at BU.
LOOKING AHEAD
Penn State will return to University Park for three-straight games to close out the non-conference home slate by Dec. 12. The Nittany Lions will welcome Eastern Michigan to the BJC at noon Saturday before hosting a pair of #ReturntoRec games on Dec. 10 (Canisius, 7 p.m.) and Dec. 12 (Louisiana-Monroe, 2 p.m.). A host of promotions are available for the remaining slate of non-conference games, beginning with Hoops for the Holidays, Toys for Tots, THON Hoops and visits from Santa and Mrs. Claus -- all on Saturday.
| 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.