GAME NOTES: The Penn State Nittany Lions and the Charlotte 49ers are set to tangle at TD Arena on Thursday afternoon in the first round of the Charleston Classic.

The winner advances to Friday's semifinals to play the survivor of the Cornell/South Carolina matchup, while the losers slide to the consolation bracket.

PSU began the season on a two-game homestand and came out victorious in each matchup, downing Morgan State in the opener, 61-48, before dismissing Fordham on Sunday, 73-54. This matchup will mark coach Patrick Chambers' 100th game with the squad.

Charlotte has played just once on the young season, registering a quality road win at Elon on Sunday, 73-60, to give it wins in each of its last four season openers.

The 49ers own a 2-0 series lead over the Nittany Lions. Both matchups were in the 1980s.

The Nittany Lions' fate was never in doubt in their blowout victory over Fordham earlier in the week, as their lead never dipped below 18 points in the second half. Although they shot a stellar 47.2 percent from the field on the day, their most impressive accomplishments came on the other end of the floor, where they held Fordham to less than 30 percent shooting while forcing 17 turnovers. Leading four players in double figures was D.J. Newbill, who netted a game-high 18 points while handing out five assists. Shep Garner scored 12 points on 4-of-8 from 3-point range, while Brandon Taylor and John Johnson netted 11 points apiece.

Two dominant efforts in the early going this season has left PSU with a commanding +16.0 scoring margin. Newbill is not only the team's go-to scorer with 17.5 ppg but he chips in across the board with 5.0 rpg and 4.0 apg. Garner (13.0 ppg) does most of his damage from beyond the arc (6-of-13).

Charlotte opened up the campaign in impressive fashion, as it led Elon wire- to-wire en route to a 13-point victory. Although it committed a game-high 21 turnovers and made only 50 percent of its free-throw tries (16-of-32), its field goal attempts were dropping at a high rate (.500) and it held Elon to a mere 31.9 percent shooting. Braxton Ogbueze and Pierria Henry were the only players in double figures with 12 points apiece, but eight players scored at least seven points in the balanced effort. Mike Thorne Jr. and Willie Clayton controlled the glass with 13 and 10 rebounds, respectively.

This matchup will be the most difficult task of the young season for both squads, so it'll be interesting to see how they respond. It should go down to the wire, but Charlotte's balanced scoring attack should win out over PSU's more top-heavy approach.