UNIVERSITY PARK — The Penn State men’s basketball team will play eight home games, take on some of the nation’s top teams in Puerto Rico, and return to Philadelphia for the fifth time in six seasons during the 2012-13 non-conference slate that was announced on Wednesday.

Tip times and television arrangements will be announced at a later date.

Games against Bucknell, Pennsylvania and Duquesne, which all finished last season in the top 111 of the RPI, as well as an ACC/Big Ten Challenge match-up with Boston College highlight the home slate. The non-conference road campaign is topped by a trip to the Puerto Rico Tip-Off and a match-up against La Salle at the Palestra in Philadelphia.

Fans will get their first chance to see the Nittany Lions in action on Nov. 3 when Penn State takes on Philadelphia University in exhibition action at the Bryce Jordan Center. Penn State will play the first of five regular season opponents from the state of Pennsylvania when it officially opens the season vs. St. Francis (Loretto) on Nov. 9 at the Bryce Jordan Center.

Penn State will head to San Juan, Puerto Rico, the following week. There the Lions will compete in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off beginning on Nov. 15. Penn State’s first-round opponent will be North Carolina State in a game to be televised live at 5 p.m. on ESPN2. The Lions will face either Providence or Massachusetts in the second round of the tournament that also features Oklahoma State, Tennessee, Akron and UNC-Asheville.

The Lions return for a run of three games at the BJC on Nov. 23 with a matchup with Bucknell, before meeting Boston College on Nov. 28 and hosting Penn on Dec. 1.

The Lions will close out the non-conference slate with four straight home games starting on Dec. 8 with a contest with Army. Delaware State comes to the BJC on Dec. 15, and a week later New Hampshire visits on Dec. 23. Penn State will continue what has been a close recent series with Duquesne on Dec. 29 at the BJC.