| PENN STATE (5-2) at GEORGE WASHINGTON (7-1) | ||||||||||||||||
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Dec. 7, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's basketball team returns to action at 7 p.m. Tuesday against George Washington at the Smith Center in Washington, D.C. The game will be broadcast on Comcast Sportsnet with Byron Kerr (play-by-play), John Feinstein (analysis) and Hayley Milon (reporter) calling the action, in addition to being available on the Penn State Sports Network, both locally and online.
Penn State (5-2) has won its last three games, most recently defeating Eastern Michigan 81-70 Saturday afternoon. George Washington (7-1) is coming off a 72-64 win over Seton Hall last Wednesday, its first game since taking its first loss to then-No. 24 Cincinnati.
STORYLINES
- The Nittany Lions, who began a stretch of four games in seven days when it hosted EMU Saturday, will return to action when they #ReturntoRec for two games - 7 p.m. Thursday vs. Canisius and 2 p.m. Saturday against Louisiana-Monroe.
- Three Nittany Lions are averaging in double-figures in scoring: Brandon Taylor (16.0 ppg), Shep Garner (15.6) and Payton Banks (11.3) with Garner also leading in assists (3.3) and steals (2.2), and Taylor controlling the boards (6.4).
- Brandon Taylor has produced a double-double in two of the last three games, including Saturday with a career highs in both points (27) and rebounds (12).
- The Nittany Lions defeated Boston College, 67-58, in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge Dec. 2 in Chestnut Hill, Mass., off the strength of Shep Garner's first career 30-point performance. His eight 3-pointers were one off the PSU record (9) set by Pete Lisicky in 1996. Garner is averaging 23.3 points over the last two games.
SCOUTING GEORGE WASHINGTON
- The Colonials, who were receiving vote in both the Associated Press and USA Today polls last week, enter the matchup Tuesday with a 7-1 record after defeating Seton Hall 72-64 last Wednesday.
- The lone loss of the year game against Cincinnati (61-56) Nov. 28 in the Barclays Center Classic, ending a six-game win streak to start the year that was highlighted by a victory over No. 6 Virginia (73-68, Nov. 16).
- Three players are averaging in double-figures for GW, led by Patricio Garino's 15.3 ppg. Tyler Cavenaugh is narrowly in second with 15.1 ppg and a team-leading 7.8 rpg.
| TALE OF THE TAPE | LEADERS | |||||
| PSU | Stat (15-16) | GW | PSU | GW | ||
| 66.6 | Points Per Game | 77.2 | Points | Brandon Taylor: 16.0 | Patricio Garino: 15.3 | |
| 66.0 | Opponent Points Per Game | 69.0 | Rebounds | Brandon Taylor: 6.4 | Tyler Cavenaugh: 7.8 | |
| 39.5 | Field-Goal Percentage | 45.8 | Assists | Shep Garner: 3.3 | Kevin Larsen: 3.0 | |
| 41.7 | Opponent FG Percentage | 39.8 | Blocks | Josh Reaves: 1.3 | Kevin Larsen: 1.3 | |
| 7.1 | 3-pointers Per Game | 5.6 | Jordan Dickerson: 1.3 | |||
| 34.7 | 3-point Field Goal Percentage | 32.1 | ||||
| 37.5 | Opponent 3-point Field Goal % | 28.9 | ||||
| 65.8 | Free-Throw Percentage | 76.4 | ||||
| 37.3 | Rebounds Per Game | 39.6 | ||||
| 35.1 | Opponent Rebounds Per Game | 35.0 | ||||
| 9.9 | Assists Per Game | 13.4 | ||||
| 10.4 | Turnovers Per Game | 11.9 | ||||
| 5.4 | Steals Per Game | 5.8 | ||||
| 3.9 | Blocks Per Game | 3.5 |
SERIES HISTORY
- Tuesday marks the 32nd meeting all-time between the programs, dating back to the 1908 season and a 47-4 win for the Nittany Lions in The Armory.
- Penn State has captured eight of the last 10 meetings, after renewing the old A10 rivalry last season with the first of a set of home-and-home games. The Lions won the Dec. 14 matchup, 64-51, for their eighth-consecutive victory.
- In the Nittany Lions' final season in the Atlantic 10 in 1990-91, they went 2-1 with the Colonials, including a 81-75 win in the A10 Championship game at Rec Hall, the first conference championship for Penn State basketball.
- Head coaches Patrick Chambers and Mike Lonergan squared off five times in the America East Conference from 2009-11. Lonergan took the first three meetings during the 2009-10 season, before Chambers and Boston University grabbed two wins in 2010-11.
- Penn State is 115-78 all-time against teams in the current Atlantic 10 Conference after playing Duquesne earlier this year.
OVERALL: Record: 20-11; H: 14-1; A: 4-9; N: 2-1
Previous 10 Meetings
| 12/14/14 | H | 64 | 51 | W |
| 12/27/91 | N | 57 | 71 | L |
| 3/7/91 | N | 81 | 75 | W-A10 |
| 2/18/91 | H | 69 | 65 | W |
| 2/3/91 | A | 70 | 83 | L |
| 3/4/90 | N | 83 | 72 | W-A10 |
| 2/17/90 | A | 72 | 64 | W |
| 1/27/90 | H | 77 | 69 | W |
| 2/4/89 | A | 89 | 73 | W |
| 1/12/89 | H | 79 | 53 | W |
LAST TIME VS. GW
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (Dec. 14, 2014) - DJ. Newbill scored 20 points, Brandon Taylor added 17, and Penn State defeated GW 64-51 for its eighth straight win. The Nittany Lions (10-1), who also got 10 points from Shep Garner, shot 38.7 percent (18 of 53) from the field and were 9 of 9 from the free throw line. But six blocks from Jordan Dickerson - out of 11 total blocks - and 10 rebounds from Ross Travis helped shut down a Colonials team that averaged nearly 74 points per game. George Washington (6-3), which was led by 15 points each from Kevin Larsen and Patricio Garino, consistently shot from under the basket but made good on only 18 of 53 shots for 34 percent. The Colonials failed to score on eight 3-point shots and were just 15 of 23 from the free throw line. [RECAP]
UP NEXT
Penn State will #ReturntoRec on Dec. 10 (Canisius, 7 p.m.) and Dec. 12 (Louisiana-Monroe, 2 p.m.) with both games standing as the on-campus contests of the Las Vegas Classic. 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.
CURRENT EVENTS
UNDER 40 » Four of Penn State's five wins this season have come when holding opponents below 40 percent shooting. Foes are shooting at at a 36.9 percent clip in the five PSU victories with the Nittany Lions hitting over 40 percent of shots in the same games. Penn State holds a 40-15 record under head coach Patrick Chambers when limiting opponents to a sub-40 percent field-goal percentage.
BOSTON THREE PARTY » Shep Garner's performance at Boston College Dec. 2 produced eight 3-pointers, the second-most in a single game for a Nittany Lion in program history, trailing just Pete Lisicky's nine tallied vs. Penn in 1996. The effort tied the Conte Forum record, set previously by two players.
BLUE STEAL » Shep Garner leads the Blue and White, as well as all players in the Big Ten, with 2.2 steals per game through eight games. The average also ranks No. 51 in Division I.
CENTURY MARK » Brandon Taylor played in his 100th career game against Bucknell Nov. 28 and has now seen action in 104. He has started 80 games, the most of any current Nittany Lion, and is averaging 8.5 points per game over his four-year career. [Taylor Career Stats: Page 25]
DOUBLE-DOUBLES » Brandon Taylor tallied his second double-double in the last three games against Eastern Michigan Dec. 5 with career highs in points (27) and rebounds (12). He previously hit double-figures in both categories with 19 points and 11 rebounds in the win over Bucknell Nov. 28. His previous double-double was vs. Drexel last season (12/20/14) with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Taylor has led the team in scoring in four games this season with the Lions holding a 3-1 record in those contests.
BC REBOUNDS » The Nittany Lions out-rebounded Boston College 40-27 in the B1G/ACC Challenge Dec. 2, their largest rebound margin (+13) since Feb. 7, 2015, vs. Nebraska (+13) and the first time hitting 40 boards on the season. Penn State is 3-0 this season when outrebounding its opponent.
TURNOVERS » Penn State is ranked No. 10 in Division I in turnovers per game, averaging 10.4 in each outing, and producing fewer turnovers than its opponents in five of seven games this season. PSU foes are turning the ball over an average of 12.7 times per game, leading to an average of 10.6 points for the Nittany Lion offense.
LINEUPS » Penn State has used two different starting lineup combinations this season and nearly 60 different in-game combinations. The lineup of Shep Garner, Josh Reaves, Payton Banks, Brandon Taylor and Julian Moore has started each of the last four games, going 3-1. [Game-by-Game starters: Page 9]
CLOSE CALLS » Penn State's four-point win over Bucknell Nov. 28 was the seventh-game consecutive win in non-conference games decided by five points or fewer, dating back to last season. The Nittany Lions had six non-conference games separated by 1-5 points in 2014-15, winning each of them,
IN THE CHALLENGE » With the win over Boston College Dec. 2, Penn State moves to 6-3 in its last nine Big Ten/ACC Challenge games and has won four of its last five Big Ten/ACC Challenge road games. The Lions hold a 7-8 record in 15 Challenge appearances. The Big Ten has retained the Challenge cup for each of the last seven seasons after winning eight of 14 games this year. Penn State's last two Big Ten/ACC Challenge outings have both been decided by fewer than 10 points, with PSU edging VT 61-58 at home last year.