University Park, Pa. — The Nittany Lion basketball team will take on Georgia Tech in Atlanta, Ga., on Wednesday, Dec. 3 as part of the 10th Annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge. The Big Ten announced match-ups for the 2008 Challenge Tuesday. Game times and television arrangements have yet to be released. All games in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge will be broadcast nationally on ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU.
The match-up with the Yellow Jackets will mark Penn State's second trip to Atlanta for an ACC/Big Ten Challenge game in three seasons. The Nittany Lions knocked off Virginia Tech, 66-61, in the Bryce Jordan Center in the 2007 Challenge. Penn State is 2-5 in Challenge games since the series began in 1999. The Nittany Lions lost an exciting game, 77-73, at Georgia Tech in 2006.
Penn State is 1-1 all-time vs. Georgia Tech having posted a 75-70 victory in the 1998 NIT. The Yellow Jackets return three starters from a team that posted a 15-17 record last year (7-9 ACC) and lost to Duke (82-70) in the first round of the ACC Tournament. They return three of their top five scorers, but lose leading scorers Anthony Morrow (14.3 ppg) and Jeremis Smith (10.5 ppg). Georgia Tech lost, 83-79, at Indiana in the 2007 Challenge.
Penn State, which posted a 15-16 record (7-11 Big Ten) last year, will return seven players that started 12 or more games and averaged more than 14 minutes per game in 2007-08, including team Co-MVPs Talor Battle (10.2 ppg) and Jamelle Cornley (12.1 ppg). The Lions return their top two leading scorers and five of their top six, four of their top five rebounders and their assist leader and top four in assists.
For the fourth consecutive year, the Challenge will feature 11 games and will be played the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday after Thanksgiving (Dec. 1-3). The ACC has won the Commissioner's Cup the previous nine years. Since 2000, the ACC (8) and Big Ten (7) have combined for 15 Final Four appearances and four national titles. The ACC and Big Ten also rank first and second, respectively, in all-time NCAA Tournament bids, NCAA Tournament victories and Final Four appearances.
The 2008 ACC/Big Ten Challenge match-ups are:
Monday, Dec. 1 -
Wisconsin at Virginia Tech
Tuesday, Dec. 2 -
Duke at Purdue
Clemson at Illinois
Ohio State at Miami
Virginia at Minnesota
Iowa at Boston College
Wednesday, Dec. 3 -
North Carolina vs. Michigan State (Ford Field)
Indiana at Wake Forest
Michigan at Maryland
Florida State at Northwestern
Penn State at Georgia Tech