Game Day Essentials: Game #24 vs Penn State - 2/9/2013

Penn State Info

Mascot: Nittany Lion

School Location: University Park, PA

Last game out: Lost to Purdue

Coach: Pat Chambers

Shirt not to wear: Navy Blue, Cat

Phantom body parts to avoid: Elbows

Point Spread: Nebraska by 6

Probable Starters:

Nebraska Cornhuskers

2-David Rivers - 6-7 -So. -F

15-Ray Gallegos - 6-2 -Jr.- G

24-Dylan Talley - 6-5 -Sr.- G

13-Brandon Ubel - 6-10 -Sr.- F

31-Shavon Shields -6-6 -Fr.- G/F

Penn State Nittany Lions

20 Nick Colella G 6-3 195 SR

2 D.J. Newbill G 6-4 205 SO

11 Jermaine Marshall G 6-4 205 JR

10 Brandon Taylor F 6-7 235 FR

21 Sasa Borovnjak F 6-9 240 JR

Player to watch; DJ Newbill

Last time against the Huskers, the Lions' leading scorer Newbill put up 11 points and took a phantom elbow to the face from Brandon Ubel to almost steal the game. Newbill is always trying to draw contact though and is a big part of why Penn St has been to the line nearly 100 more times than the Huskers. Considering he's shooting a dreadful 17% from three point range, the Huskers can gameplan to sag off Newbill when he has the ball behind the arc.

Battle of the B1G basement: Part Duex

The reason Nebraska, and not Penn State was picked to finish last in the conference is because of one person: Tim Frazier. Frazier crumpling in the 4th game vs. Akron essentially killed any chances the Nittany Lions had of being competitive this season and potentially any chances of Penn State winning in the B1G.

Besides being Nebraska's first B1G win this season, the victory over Penn State was Shavon Shield's coming out party. Much like everyone else since then, Penn State will game plan to take away his scoring and take advantage of his tendency to commit fouls.

When you boil it down, Penn State is a terrible shooting team who keeps in games by dominating the defensive boards and scoring from the free throw line. This is a big game for both teams in a sense...the Huskers have a chance to get back to .500 and also guarantees themselves of not having a losing record in their history at the BOB. Penn State knows this is one of their best chances to get a conference win this year. Both teams play ugly...expect the Husker to be less tonight.

Prediction: Nebraska 62 - Penn St 54