Lions Open Season Friday vs. Saint Francis

Penn State to begin 117th season of basketball

UNIVERSITY PARK, PA.; NOV. 8, 2012 – Penn State will open its 117th season of men’s basketball Friday at the Bryce Jordan Center with a 7:00 p.m. tip vs. Saint Francis (PA). The game can be seen on BTN.com and heard live on the Penn State Sports Network with Brian Tripp and Dick Jerardi calling the action.

The November 9 season tipoff will mark the earliest in the history of Nittany Lion basketball, bettering the Nov. 12 season start dates of thelast two seasons. All Penn State freshmen students will be admitted free to the game and it will be an ever-popular Dollar Dog Night.

Penn State has won its last seven season openers dating to the 2005 season and is 86-30 all-time in season opening games, 76-10 in home season openers. The Nittany Lions and Red Flash will be meeting for the first timesince 2007. Penn State owns an 8-2 series lead and has won the last four meetings.

The Red Flash will begin their first season under head coach RobKrimmel, a State College native. Krimmel’s brother, Ken, played basketball at Penn State from 1998-2002 and his father Bob, currently the Athletic Director at Saint Francis, had a 32-year career in the Penn State Athletic Department first as the head women’s swimming and diving coach (1981-98) and then as an Assistant Athletic Director (1998-2005). His mother, Sharon, also had a 35-year career in the Penn State Department of Kinesiology.

Preseason All-Big Ten guard Tim Frazier (Houston, Texas) enters his senior campaign 30 points shy of becoming the 30th 1,000-point scorer in Nittany Lion history and 157 assists shy of breaking the Penn State career assist mark of 600. He is the Big Ten’s top returner in scoring and assists after posting 18.8 points and 6.2 assists per game as a junior.