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Dec. 6, 2016
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's basketball team hosts George Mason at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Bryce Jordan Center. The game will be televised on Big Ten Network with Jason Horowitz and Jon Crispin on the call.
STORYLINES
- The Nittany Lions are looking for their fifth-consecutive win.
- This is the seventh meeting all-time between Penn State and the Patriots and just the second since 2000.
- At four games, Penn State is tied with Indiana for the longest active win streak in the Big Ten. It is the first four-game win streak for the Nittany Lions since winning 10 in a row during 2014-15 non-conference play.
- In the four-game win streak, Penn State is out-scoring opponents by an average of 12 points per game and holding them to 35.6 percent shooting, down over five percent from the season average of 41.0 percent.Wright State shot 24.2 percent (16-66) from the field, the lowest field-goal percentage by a Penn State opponent since Northwestern shot 23.3 percent (10-43) on March 6, 2014.
- Four players are averaging in double figures through nine games, led by Garner (14.9). Three freshmen are among the top five scorers with a rookie leading the team in scoring in four games.
- With eight blocks Saturday, Mike Watkins has the most blocks (33) of any player in the Big Ten and the second-most of an Division I player. The eight blocks are the most by a Penn State player since 1999.
- Tip time for Penn State vs. Michigan State in the Palestra was set for 1 p.m. on January 7, the Big Ten announced Tuesday.
PROMO PLANS
- Pre-game buffet for General Public Season Ticket Holders (5:30-6:30 PM)
- Pre-game FREE Food for Students at Gate A courtesy of THE MET!
- Alex Zhao Trading card to the first 2,500 fans
- Penn State football's Big Ten Championship trophy will be on the concourse at Portal 3 from 6-6:55 p.m. for fans to take photos with.
SCOUTING GEORGE MASON
- The Patriots bring a five-game win streak into University Park, most recently with a 79-68 win over Mercer Saturday in Fairfax, Va.
- In the win over Mercer, the Patriots shot a season-best 47.1 percent from 3-point range (8-17); nearly doubling their average 4.6 treys per game on 28.1 percent shooting.
- Marquise Moore led the Patriots with 21 points and 12 rebounds, for his fifth double-double of the season. He is averaging 17.3 points and 10.0 boards per game, leading the team in both categories.
- Otis Livingston is the second-leading scorer at 14.1 points per game and the is the leading shot blocker with 1.0 per game.
- This is the second true road game for George Mason and fourth away from home. The Patriots are 3-1 in road/neutral games.
CONNECTIONS
- Dave Paulsen is in his second season as head coach of George Mason after spending seven seasons as the head coach at Bucknell.
- Penn State and Bucknell met in each of Paulsen's final three seasons.
SERIES HISTORY
- This is the seventh meeting between the programs and just the second since 2000. Penn State is 6-0 with a 4-0 mark at home.
- The last meeting was in the first round of the 2009 NIT Championship run, a 77-73 overtime win for the Nittany Lions.
- Penn State is 117-79 all-time against teams in the current Atlantic 10 Conference after defeating Duquesne and George Washington earlier this season.
LAST TIME AGAINST THE PATRIOTS
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (March 17, 2009) - Talor Battle hit a game-tying three as time expired in regulation and nine-consecutive points in overtime to lead Penn State past George Mason, 77-73, in an NIT first round overtime thriller in the Bryce Jordan Center.
Battle, who hit a final second game winner vs. No. 23 Illinois in his last BJC appearance, posted a game-high 24 points on the night and added six assists and five boards while playing all 45 minutes of a tight contest that saw 24 lead changes and seven ties.
Battle led the Lions to their first postseason win since knocking off North Carolina to advance to the 2001 NCAA Sweet 16. Penn State improved to 23-11 on the year, just two wins shy of the program record for wins in a season, and 9-2 in home NIT games. The Lions are now a program-best 16-3 at home on the year.
LAST TIME OUT
Shep Garner scored 17 points, Payton Banks added 15 and Penn State beat Wright State 72-50 on Saturday.
Josh Reaves and Lamar Stevens added 12 points apiece for the Nittany Lions (6-3) who won their fourth straight. Tony Carr grabbed 12 rebounds.
Mark Alstork led Wright State (6-3) with 15 points while Justin Mitchell and Steven Davis added nine each. Mitchell led the Raiders with 11 rebounds. [RECAP]
UP NEXT
Penn State will play on the road each of its next two games before closing out the non-conference in the Bryce Jordan Center against Morgan State at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 21. The Nittany Lions are taking on Pitt in the inaugural Never Forget Tribute Classic at 2:30 p.m. Saturday on CBS Sports Network. The matchup is the second half of a doubleheader with defending national champion Villanova and Notre Dame, benefiting the Families of Freedom Scholarship Fund.
WIN STREAK
At four games, Penn State is tied with Indiana for the longest active win streak in the Big Ten. It is the first four-game win streak for the Nittany Lions since winning 10 in a row during 2014-15 non-conference play. After starting the season with a loss, Penn State also won each of its last five games played in the Bryce Jordan Center.
STREAK-Y STATS
- In the four-game win streak, Penn State is out-scoring opponents by an average of 12 points per game with the 22-point win over Wright State standing as the largest margin of victory since Jan. 24, 2015 when the Lions downed Rutgers 79-51.
- Opponents are shooting 35.6 percent, down over five percent from the season average of 41.0 percent. Wright State shot 24.2 percent (16-66) from the field, the lowest field-goal percentage by a Penn State opponent since Northwestern shot 23.3 percent (10-43) on March 6, 2014.
- Penn State has a +4.3 rebound margin over the last four contests, compared to -8.6 through the first five games. The Nittany Lions are coming off a 47-rebound performance vs. Wright State.
HOT FROM CHARITY STRIPE
- Penn State has hit 79.6 percent (129-162) of its free throws attempts this season, including a season-high 91.7 percent effort (11-12) against Cincinnati. The season percentage is ranked eighth in Division I and second in the Big Ten.
- Four players are shooting 80 percent or higher from the FT line.
- Among players with more than 15 attempts, Lamar Stevens leads the way with a 91.4 (32-35) showing. He is second in the Big Ten and in the top-30 in the NCAA
BLOCK. THAT. SHOT.
- After posting eight Saturday, Mike Watkins has the most blocks (33) of any player in the Big Ten and the second-most of an Division I player.
- He leads the league and is fourth in Div. I with 3.7 blocks per game.
- Watkins' eight blocks are tied for the sixth-most all-time by a Penn State player and are the most since 1999. He is the only player besides Calvin Booth to tally at least eight blocks in a game.
- Calvin Booth holds each of the top four places on the season blocks chart with his freshman campaign owning the No. 2 position (101/3.6 bpg, 1995-96).
DROPPING DIMES
- Over 56 percent of the team's field goals are assisted so far this season (129/230), compared to 44 percent a year ago.
- The Nittany Lions tallied 20 assists in back-to-back games vs. Duquesne (11/13) and Grand Canyon (11/15).
- The last time Penn State secured 20 assists in back-to-back contests was in three-consecutive games in the 2006-07 season (vs. Maine, VMI and Northwestern).
- Freshman Tony Carr leads the team in assists (4.0 apg) after tallying a team-high five in two of the last three games.