OPENING TIP
• Lafayette returns to the friendly confines of Kirby Sports Center for a 7 p.m. contest against Penn State Lehigh Valley. The game serves as the first matchup between the two squads. 

• Cooper Kesler has been hot to start his season on College Hill. The sophomore guard has started in all three of the Leopards' games this season and is averaging 19 points per game following outings of 25 and 23 points against King's and Saint Joseph's respectively. Kesler leads the Maroon and White in field goal percentage (.556) and three point percentage (.579).

 • Guard Beckett Currie has put together back-to-back games with double-digit points. Against King's, the Camas, Wash. native collected 13 points while drilling three triples. Currie followed up with 18 points, knocking down a trio of threes and was a perfect 5-for-5 at the charity stripe.

SCOUTING PENN STATE LEHIGH VALLEY
Penn State Lehigh Valley enters the game with a 2-1 mark after finishing the 2025-26 season 7-19 overall and 4-12 within the Pennsylvania State University Athletic Conference (PSUAC).  Kyle Mills begins his third year at the helm for the Nittany Lions, overseeing a roster with 12 players from Lehigh Valley high schools. Penn State Lehigh Valley's offense is buoyed by a trio of players averaging 10-plus points, with Emmanuel Kenyi (16.2 ppg) the leading scorer.

LAST TIME OUT
The Leopards traveled to Saint Joseph's on Nov. 7, falling to the Hawks, 67-57, in overtime. Cooper Kesler (23) and Beckett Currie(18) combined for 41 points, while Jasraj Gill pulled down 12 boards and blocked three shots. Forward Shareef Jackson netted the game-tying bucket with four seconds left to bring an end to regulation.

DENIED BY GILL
With three blocks against Saint Joseph's, Gill claims four denials in three contests. The freshman from Brisbane, Australia is tied for third in the conference and finds himself one block behind American's Eric Michaels and Lehigh's Hank Alvey.

RAINING BUCKETS
Four different Leopards recorded double-digit outings against King's. Kesler's 25 points led all players, while Currie (15), Gill (14) and Kelly (12) combined for 41.

BOUND TO REBOUND
The Maroon and White rank second in the Patriot League in combined team rebounds, with 110. The Leopards have hauled in the second-most boards in the conference on the offensive glass (28), with Misha Bednostin (6) and Jackson (5) grabbing the most. Gill has pulled down 23 rebounds defensively, contributing to Lafayette's  82 defensive boards, the best mark in the Patriot League.

CLOSE TO HOME
Five of Lafayette's non-conference opponents reside in the Keystone State. The Leopards have already faced two of them in King's and Saint Joseph's. After Penn State Lehigh Valley, Lafayette will take on the remaining two teams in December: Penn (Dec. 7) and Penn State (Dec. 19).

DEJA VU
The Leopard's 104-67 win over King's is the first time since December 2016 that Lafayette has scored 100 points in a game. The December 2016 matchup happened to come in a home contest against Moravian, where Lafayette won, 104-67.