THE MATCHUP
The Leopards will get back on the road to face off against a talented Penn State team which comes in at 5-1. The Nittany Lions are led by senior guard Jalen Pickett who is averaging 14.7 points per game. 

LAST MEETING
The last time the Leopards took on Penn State, the team sneaked out of University Park with a 61-57 win over the Nittany Lions.

THAT MIKE JORDAN
For the first time in 27 seasons, the Leopards have a new leader roaming the sidelines in 2000 Penn graduate Mike Jordan, the 19th head coach in Lafayette history. Jordan won three conference championships in the last four seasons as an assistant coach and was named head coach of the Leopards on March 29, 2022.

Jordan played 11 seasons professionally across Europe and was a three-time All-Ivy League selection, two-time Ivy League champion and Ivy League Player of the Year as a senior. 

THAT'S A "W"
Head coach Mike Jordan and the 2022-23 squad earned the first victory of the season, as well as the first of Jordan's career at Lafayette, against Central Connecticut State last weekend, 55-50. Leo O'Boyle led the Leopards for the second game in a row, shooting 4-for-10 from the field to total 16 points. The Scranton, Pa. native was perfect from the free-throw line (5-5), and shot 3-6 from behind the three-point line.

BATTLING BUDDIES
Mike Jordan and the Leopards will take on some old pals along the way, highlighted by the final non-conference test at La Salle against his college head coach, Fran Dunphy, who is also in his first season as the head coach of the Explorers. Lafayette hosted Jordan's alma mater, Penn, last time out and will play his former boss and college teammate, Matt Langel of Colgate, twice in the league stretch of the schedule. 

ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Lafayette has traveled to the first five opponents this season: Miami, St. John's, St. Joseph's, UMBC and Central Connecticut State. The Leopards' hosted only one of two match-ups in Kirby Sports Center against Penn prior to the Patriot League opener on Dec. 30 against American.

There won't be any easing up as the 2022-23 season continues and the Leopards play 11 of their 13 non-conference games on the road, including trips to Miami, St. John's, St. Joseph's, Penn State, Princeton and La Salle. 

LEADING THE NATION
Lafayette returns Patriot League All-Rookie performer CJ Fulton who led all of Division I in 2021-22 in assist/turnover ratio, carrying a 3.67 average as a freshman. Fulton averaged 7.3 points per game with 3.9 boards and 3.3 assists and continues to shine on the court this season. 

NEED SOME ASSISTANCE?
Sophomore guard CJ Fulton ranks second in the Patriot League in assists with a 5.3 average. In six games played, the Belfast, Ireland native has dished out 33 assists, only out-paced by Colgate's Tucker Richardson with 34.

DEFENSIVE EMPHASIS
Lafayette held Miami to only 36.2% shooting from the field and 29.4% from beyond the arc during the season opener. The Leopards' defensive rotations were on point, limiting Miami just under its scoring average from the 2021-22 season, in which the Hurricanes advanced to the Elite Eight.

MAJOR MINUTES
Kyle Jenkins played all but one minute in the season opener. He finished the evening with 10 points, 7 rebounds and 1 assist. Jenkins shot 50 percent from the field and registered one steal in the contest. Against St. John's, Jenkins registered 34 minutes on the court. The Higganum, Conn. native clocked 40 minutes versus St. Joseph's, where he totaled a season-high 18 points.  He currently ranks 1st in the league in minutes played with 219. Teammate CJ Fulton sits behind him with 216 minutes played.

FIRST HALF SUCCESS
During the season opener, the Leopards led the Hurricanes at halftime by a score of 30-28. Leo O'Boyle knocked down a three-point jump shot with the clock winding down to give the Leopards the advantage. Lafayette shot an impressive 44.0% from the field in the first half, and 37.5% from three-point range. The Maroon and White are developing a habit of coming out strong, holding halftime leads in four of their first five games.

THE RETURNING STARTERS
Three of the Leopards' starters from last season are back, led by Patriot League All-Rookie performer CJ Fulton. Senior Leo O'Boyle will provide senior leadership for the Leopards, along with his 112 career 3-point field goals entering the season. Junior Kyle Jenkins has valuable experience having started in 35 of the 44 games he has appeared in during his career. 

TAKING CARE OF THE ROCK
The Leopards ranked 19th in the NCAA during the 2021-22 season in assist/turnover ratio at 1.46. Lafayette recorded 485 assists compared to only 333 turnovers over the course of 30 games. The Leopards currently rank fifth in the Patriot League.

KNOCKING DOWN THE THREE BALL
Lafayette ranked second in the Patriot League last season with 263 three-point shots made. The Leopards will bring back some firepower from beyond the arc with senior Leo O'Boyle who knocked down 56 shots from three, sophomore Jon Brantley (44), and sophomore Kyle Jenkins (41). 

The Leopards are averaging 10.0 3-pointers made per game this season.  During their game against NJIT last year,  Lafayette knocked down a record 16 shots from beyond the arc during a 90-86 loss in double overtime.

NEW FACES
Lafayette has added four freshmen to the roster for the new season in Josh Rivera, Kyle Squires, Gavin Kreitz and Ryan Pettit. The new class will hope to follow in the footsteps of sophomore guard C.J. Fulton, who was selected to the Patriot League All-Rookie Team in 2021-22. 

The Leopards expect big things from freshman Josh Rivera who came from the N.J. basketball powerhouse St. Thomas Aquinas and saw his first career starts against Miami and UMBC. Ryan Pettit of Westfield, N.J. has also seen game action in three of the first five road trips in 2022.

Lafayette has had at least one player on the Patriot League All-Rookie team in each of the last three seasons: CJ Fulton (2022), Kyle Jenkins (2021) and Leo O'Boyle (2020).