Men’s Basketball Hosts Hilbert in Final Regular-Season Home Contest

Men’s Basketball Hosts Hilbert in Final Regular-Season Home Contest

ERIE, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend men's basketball team plays its final regular-season home game against Hilbert on Wednesday, Feb. 10. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m.

Coverage:

Video | Live Stats | Game Notes

Behrend News & Notes:

* Behrend picked up a 60-53 victory over Wells in the Junker Center Monday night
* RJ Marsh (State College, PA/Saint Joseph's Catholic Academy) recorded his second consecutive double-double and third of the year, finishing with 16 points and a career-high 14 rebounds
* Following Marsh was Mason Blankenberg (Ontario, NY/Wayne) who tallied 14 points and two steals, while Tommy DiRienzo (Pittsburgh, PA/Bethel Park) delivered 10 points to go along with four rebounds
* On the glass, Michael Sopko (New Castle, PA/Neshannock) pulled down seven rebounds
* As a team, Behrend outrebounded the Express (36-24) and outscored them in the paint (40-26), off the bench (22-6), and in second chance points (11-2)
* DiRienzo leads the AMCC with 19.9 points per game, while Marsh pulls down a team-high 7.8 rebounds per game to rank sixth in the conference
* Blankenberg sits fourth in the AMCC with a 52.7 percent field-goal percentage, while Matthew McDonough (Pittsburgh, PA/North Allegheny) is sixth in three-point percentage (40.7)
* The Lions are first in the conference in field-goal percentage (46.4), three-point percentage (35.0), and free-throw percentage (76.3)

Meet the Opposition:

* Hilbert currently owns an overall record of 10-11 and a 6-8 conference record, falling to La Roche last Saturday (74-69)
* Junior forward Edward Perez leads the Hawks with 15.8 points per game, while also grabbing a team-high 7.7 rebounds per game to rank seventh in the conference
* AMCC Preseason Player of the Year Quran Briggs is second on the team in points per game (14.4). Jahmel Demery also averages in double-figures with 10.3 points per game and is fifth in the AMCC with a 52.6 percent field-goal percentage
* As a team, the Hawks are second in the conference in rebounds (38.6) and assists (14.9)
* Hilbert was selected to finish fourth in the 2023-24 Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll
* Head coach Rob deGrandpre is in his 21st season at the helm of the men's basketball program

Series History:

* Behrend leads the all-time series 39-11, dating back to the 1992-93 season; however, the two teams have split their matchups the last two seasons
* The Lions defeated the Hawks on January 10th by a score of 71-55