Men's Basketball Heads to Historic Hinkle

PHILADELPHIA - The University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team went 2-9 in the 2012 portion of this season, and hopes that a change of calendars will bring a reversal of fortune. The first step toward that goal will not be easy, however, as the Quakers travel to historic Hinkle Fieldhouse to face arguably their most daunting non-conference challenge of the season: nationally ranked Butler.

GAME 12 - PENN (2-9) at #17/20 BUTLER (10-2)
Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013 * 7 p.m.
Hinkle Fieldhouse (Indianapolis)
TV: Comcast SportsNet
Radio: WXPN 88.5 FM (Brian Seltzer, Vince Curran)

Click here for Live Stats!

Penn Game Notes (PDF) / Butler Game Notes (PDF)

TV/Video info for the Game
Wednesday night's game can be viewed in the Indianapolis area on WNDY-23 and in the Philadelphia area on the Comcast Network. For those fans not in either of those areas, the video stream can be purchased for $9.95 on Butler's website, butlersports.com. Anthony Calhoun will give the play-by-play, while Nick Gardner provides expert analysis.

The Penn-Butler Series
*The Quakers and the Bulldogs are meeting for just the second time in history. The first meeting came last year in the postseason when Penn hosted Butler at another historic and famed venue, The Palestra in Philadelphia, in the second round of the CBI. Butler won the game, 63-53.

*This is Penn's first visit to historic Hinkle Fieldhouse. FUN FACT: the last time the Quakers played in Indianapolis AND visited the great state of Indiana was the 1987-88 season-but they were different trips. Penn was part of the Hoosier Classic in Indianapolis on Dec. 28 and 29 of that season; on Jan. 21, the Red and Blue came back and hit South Bend to face Notre Dame.

*Butler is a new member of the Atlantic 10 Conference this season, a conference with which Penn is very familiar -- especially since three of its members are in Philadelphia with the Quakers. (In fact, starting with Wednesday's game four of Penn's next seven opponents will hail from the A-10.) Penn is 107-137 all-time against programs that currently compete in the Atlantic 10; that includes a 70-68 loss to Fordham earlier this season in the NIT Season Tipoff.

Countdown to 1,700
Penn has won 1,699 games as a program; with one more, the Quakers will become the 11th NCAA Division I program to reach 1,700 wins. (Indiana only recently became the 10th, scoring its 1,700th win on December 19 against Mount St. Mary's.)

Quaker Notemeal From Wagner
*Penn played the game without leading scorer Fran Dougherty, who did not make the trip to Staten Island due to mononucleosis. (Doc will not be with the team at Butler, either.)

*The game was Penn's first overtime game of the 2012-13 season; the Quakers fell to 45-46 all-time in OT games.

*Penn had nine steals in the game, a team high since collecting 10 against Delaware on November 12.

*Penn tied a season team high with four blocked shots, all of them coming from freshman Darien Nelson-Henry.

*Freshman Jamal Lewis doubled his season/career high in points (16) and also set season/career highs in assists (4), three-point baskets (3) and minutes (41). On Monday, he was named the Ivy League Rookie of the Week, his first Ivy honor at Penn.

*Junior Miles Cartwright hit his first three free throws, giving him 21 in a row over a five-game span, before missing two in a row; he ended the game 7-of-9 at the line and is 47-of-52 (.904) over his last eight games.

*Sophomore Henry Brooks had 12 points, one shy of a career high, for his first double-figure scoring game this season and fourth at Penn; he also set career highs in steals (3) and minutes (43) and tied his career high with six rebounds.

*Nelson-Henry had season/career highs in rebounds (7) and blocked shots (4) and tied his season/career high in points (7); he led Penn in rebounding for the second time in three games.