| PENN STATE (10-7, 1-3) at PURDUE (14-3, 2-2) | ||||||||||||||||
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Jan. 12, 2016
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State men's basketball hits the road for the first of two back-to-back road games this week, traveling to Purdue to take on the Boilermakers Wednesday, Jan. 13 in Mackey Arena. Tip time is set for 8:30 p.m. ET, live on the Big Ten Network with Jeff Levering and Jon Crispin on the call.
STORYLINES
- Both teams are coming off a loss with the Nittany Lions taking a 92-65 setback to No. 5 Michigan State and Purdue falling to Illinois, 84-70, both on Sunday.
- Penn State's last visit to West Lafayette was in 2014. The Boilermakers used overtime to win last year's regular- season matchup in University Park and a comeback to take the Big Ten tournament quarterfinal meeting.
- Three Nittany Lions are scoring in double-figures: Brandon Taylor (15.9 ppg), Shep Garner (14.9) and Payton Banks (11.4) with Taylor controlling the boards (6.4) and Garner also leading in assists (2.7).
- Brandon Taylor is one of just three Big Ten players to rank in the Top 10 in both scoring and rebounding.
- He became the 32nd Penn State player to pass the 1,000-point mark with his 18 points vs. Michigan Jan. 2. and now has 1,040 over his four-year career to rank No. 26 all-time.
GAMEDAY INFO
SCOUTING PURDUE
The 24th-ranked Boilermakers enter Wednesday night's matchup with a 14-3 record and a 2-2 mark in the Big Ten after falling to Illinois, 84-70, Sunday night in Champaign. They opened the league slate with a win at Wisconsin and have also defeated Michigan, while losing to Iowa.
Purdue has the top-ranked field-goal percentage defense (35.9) in Division I while also ranking in the Top 15 nationally in scoring defense (13th, 61.2), rebound margin (13th, +10.8), rebounds per game (14th, 42.5) and assists per game (14th, 18.3).
A.J. Hammons leads three players in double-figures with 13.9 ppg off the bench to go with 7.8 rpg. Isaac Hass (10.8 ppg) and Caleb Swanigan (10.1) are also driving the charge.
| PSU | STAT CATEGORY | PUR | STAT | PSU LEADER | PUR LEADER | ||
| 67.4 | Points Per Game | 78.5 | Points | Brandon Taylor: 15.9 | A.J. Hammons: 13.9 | ||
| 68.8 | Opponent Points Per Game | 61.2 | Rebounds | Brandon Taylor: 6.3 | Caleb Swanigan: 8.6 | ||
| 41.6 | Field-Goal Percentage | 46.7 | Assists | Shep Garner: 2.7 | P.J. Thompason: 7.9 | ||
| 41.9 | Opponent FG Percentage | 35.9 | Blocks | Jordan Dickerson: 2.0 | A.J. Hammons: 2.7 | ||
| 5.6 | 3-pointers Per Game | 8.3 | |||||
| 29.8 | 3-point FG Percentage | 35.7 | |||||
| 38.6 | Opponent 3-point FG % | 30.7 | |||||
| 69.5 | Free-Throw Percentage | 75.1 | |||||
| 35.0 | Rebounds Per Game | 42.5 | |||||
| 34.9 | Opponent Rebs Per Game | 31.8 | |||||
| 9.3 | Assists Per Game | 18.3 | |||||
| 11.0 | Turnovers Per Game | 12.9 | |||||
| 5.4 | Steals Per Game | 4.8 | |||||
| 4.7 | Blocks Per Game | 5.6 |
SERIES HISTORY
- Purdue holds a 32-12 advantage in the all-time series and a 2-18 record when playing in West Lafayette. This is the lone meeting of the season for the two teams.
- Penn State's last victory in Mackey Arena was Feb. 18, 2006, with a 69-60 decision.
- The Boilermakers were 2-0 in the series last season, defeating the Nittany Lions in overtime during the regular season and taking a comeback win in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals.
CURRENT ROSTER VS. PURDUE
Seven current members of the Nittany Lions have seen action against Purdue, led by Brandon Taylor's 8.8 ppg and 5.3 rpg through six career meetings.
| PLAYER | GP-GS | PPG | RPG | SERIES HIGH |
| B. Taylor | 6-5 | 8.8 | 5.3 | 11, at PUR, 1/13/13 |
| S. Garner | 2-2 | 5.0 | 2.5 | 5, 2x, last vs PUR, 3/13/15 |
| D. Jack | 5-3 | 5.0 | 2.0 | 8, at PUR, 1/18/14 |
| P. Banks | 2-0 | 3.0 | 0.5 | 6, vs. PUR, 1/17/15 |
| J. Dickerson | 4-1 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 5, vs. PUR, 3/13/15 |
| D. Foster | 2-0 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 3, vs. PUR, 1/17/15 |
| J. Moore | 2-0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | -- |
LAST TIME VS. THE BOILERMAKERS
CHICAGO (March 13, 2015) - D.J. Newbill scored 19 points for Penn State, but the Nittany Lions fell to Purdue 64-59 in the Big Ten quarterfinals at the United Center. The 13th-seeded Nittany Lions, who advanced with victories over Nebraska and Iowa, seemed to run out of energy in the final five minutes of their third game in three days. A.J. Hammons scored 23 points on 7-for-10 shooting, and rugged Purdue wore down Penn State in the second half.
NOTABLE GAMES IN THE SERIES
Jan. 17, 2015 (PUR, 84-77 (ot): Despite 37 points from D.J. Newbill, Purdue slipped past Penn State for an 84-77 overtime victory. Newbill's effort stands as the eighth-most points in a Penn State game all-time and were the most since 1965.
Jan. 5, 2012 (PSU, 65-45): Penn State posted the first Big Ten victory of the Patrick Chambers era with an impressive 65-45 victory in the Bryce Jordan Center. The Nittany Lions were led by redshirt junior Billy Oliver, who posted a career-high 21 points on a personal-best 7-of-11 from three. Oliver's seven threes tied for the second-most for a Nittany Lion in a game Penn State history.
Feb. 21, 1998 (PSU, 74-63): The Nittany Lions used Pete Lisicky's 19 points and Jarrett Stephens' 17 to upset No. 5 Purdue, 74-63, in the Bryce Jordan Center. The win was Penn State's first over a team ranked in the Top 5 in nearly 50 years.
AGAINST NO. 24
Penn State is 0-6 all-time vs. teams ranked No. 24 in the USA Today Coaches Poll at the time of meeting with each of the last instances taking place against Purdue.
UP NEXT
Penn State will remain on the road to take on Northwestern in Evanston at 8:30 p.m. ET Saturday on ESPNU. The Nittany Lions have at least two-consecutive road/neutral league contests four times in the 18-game league slate with a stretch of seven out of the first 10 away from University Park.