Two games at Rec Hall highlight Penn State's non-con

Sophomore Shep Guard (above) and Penn State will see Drexel again this season, at the Palestra. (Photo: Madeline Pryor)

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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A pair of return games at Rec Hall, a trip to Vegas and an appearance in the Palestra highlight Penn State's non-conference schedule for 2015-16, which the program released on Tuesday afternoon.

Last year, the Nittany Lions piled up a 12-1 record in non-conference play, but a pair of six-game losing streaks in Big Ten play left their final record at 18-14.

The biggest obstacle to overcome this offseason is the graduation of D.J. Newbill, who in three years at State College piled up more than 1800 points, 475 rebounds and 275 assists. The Philadelphia native, a 6-4 combo guard who ran point for PSU the last two years, was a two-time all-Big Ten second team selection despite scoring more as a senior (20.7 ppg) than any player in the conference had since 2008.

If they can recover from Newbill's graduation, head coach Pat Chambers has his team set up for a similarly strong record in early season play this year, without any likely top-25 teams on the slate; the road game at George Washington (Dec. 8) and a potential matchup with Southern Methodist in the final game of the Las Vegas Classic (Dec. 23) are easily the two toughest of the 13 on the schedule.

The Nittany Lions returned to their former home court at Recreation Hall during the 2013-14 season for the first time since 1996, taking a 20-point lead against Princeton before watching it all slip away in a 81-79 overtime loss.

This year, it will be Canisius (Dec. 10) and Louisiana Monroe (Dec. 12) who come to the building that PSU called home from 1929-1996 in the first two of four games that all three teams will play as part of the Las Vegas Classic. No matter what happens in those games, Penn State will be off to Vegas for a Dec. 22 matchup against Colorado before the final/consolation the next day.

Those games in Rec Hall won't be the only ones the Nittany Lions play this winter in a gym that's seen quite a bit of hoops. After playing Drexel at Allentown's PPL Center last year, they'll make a trip down to Philadelphia to take on the Dragons at the Palestra, the famed court that Penn has called home since 1927.

Here's how the first two months of the season look for Penn State:

Penn State 2015-16 Non-Conference Schedule
Times TBD unless otherwise noted; last year's record in parenthesis
Sat., Nov. 14 vs. Virginia Military Institute (11-19)
Tue., Nov. 17 vs. DePaul (12-20)
Fri., Nov. 20 @ Duquesne (12-19); 7 PM
Tue., Nov. 24 vs. Radford (22-12)
Sat., Nov. 28 vs. Bucknell (19-15)

Wed., Dec. 2 @ Boston College (13-19)
Sat., Dec. 5 vs. Eastern Michigan (21-14)
Tue., Dec. 8 @ George Washington (22-13)
*Thu., Dec. 10 vs. Canisius (18-15)
*Sat., Dec. 12 vs. Louisiana-Monroe (24-14)
Sat., Dec. 19. @ Drexel (11-19)
*Tue., Dec. 22 vs. Colorado (16-18) (10:30 PM)
*Wed., Dec. 23 vs. SMU/Kent State