Penn State returns to Big Ten play on Thursday night against Northwestern – Penn State

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Big Ten play continues for the Penn State men’s basketball team on Thursday night when the Nittany Lions host Northwestern at the Bryce Jordan Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game will air on Peacock.

FOLLOW WITH

TIPS FOR OPENING

• Penn State is 11-2 this season, 1-1 in Big Ten play and resumes conference play Thursday night when Northwestern visits Happy Valley.
• Penn State ranks in the top 10 in the country in points per game (88.2), assists per game (18.8), forced turnovers per game (17.23) and points margin (+21.2).
• Five Nittany Lions average double-digit points, led by Ace Baldwin Jr.’s 14.8 ppg.

WHEN PENN STATE BEATS NORTHWESTERN

• Penn State would win its 12th straight home game since last season and go 9-0 at the Bryce Jordan Center this year.
• The Nittany Lions would improve to 12-2 overall, their best start since 2019-20.

In search of the wild cats

• The Wildcats are 10-3 this season, 1-1 in Big Ten play and head to Happy Valley Thursday night on a four-game winning streak.
• Northwestern suffered an 80-79 road loss at Iowa on December 3 in its first Big Ten game of the season, but bounced back with a 70-66 overtime win against Illinois on December 6 at home.
• The Wildcats’ only two other losses this season came at Dayton (66-71) and against Butler (69-71).
• The duo of Nick Martinelli and Brooks Barnhizer lead the Wildcats with 20.2 and 20.1 points per game, respectively. Barnhizer leads the team with 9.4 rebounds per contest. Jalen Leach (14.1 ppg) is the only other Wildcat to average double-digit points.

TOWARDS THE NORTHWEST

• Penn State and Northwestern will meet for the only time this season as Big Ten play resumes Thursday night.
• The Nittany Lions hold a 38-22 lead in the all-time series, including a 19-7 edge over the Wildcats in Happy Valley.
• The last seven meetings between the two teams were decided by an average of just four points.
• Penn State has won five of its last seven games, but the Wildcats won the regular-season series last year.

BACK TO B1G

• The Nittany Lions resume conference action on Thursday night when Penn State hosts Northwestern.
• Penn State is 1-1 in conference play after two games in early December. The Nittany Lions defeated Purdue, then ranked eighth, 81-70 in their Big Ten opener on Dec. 5, 81-70. Penn State led the Boilermakers by as many as 27 points and had a 20-point lead with two minutes to play. Penn State then dropped a tough 80-76 road game at Rutgers on December 10th. The Nittany Lions cut their 17-point deficit to two in the final minutes but were unable to complete the comeback.
• Penn State finished 9-11 in conference play a season ago when Mike Rhoades led the Nittany Lions to the second-most Big Ten wins by a first-year head coach in program history.

HOME SWEET HAPPY VALLEY

• Penn State has a perfect 8-0 record at home this season and has won 11 straight home games dating back to last season.

11-2

• The Nittany Lions are off to an 11-2 start to the season, their best record through the first 13 games of the season since the 2019-20 season.
• The Nittany Lions rank in the top 10 in the country in points per game (88.2 – 6th), forced turnovers per game (17.23 – 7th), assists per game (18.8 – 9th), Sales range (5.9 – 10th) and points range (+). 21.2 – 10.).

WRITE HISTORY… ALREADY

• The Nittany Lions have reached the following Penn State milestones in the first 13 games of the season alone:
  • They finished 10-1 in non-conference play. This marks just the sixth time since Penn State joined the Big Ten in 1992-93 that the Nittany Lions have finished regular-season non-conference play with one or fewer losses.
  • The Big Ten’s opening win over #8 Purdue was Penn State’s first win over a team ranked in the top 10 of the AP Poll since December 2019.
  • For the first time in 25 years (since the 1999-2000 season), he started the season 6-0.
  • Started the season 8-1 for the first time in 10 years (since the 2014-15 season).
  • Scored more than 100 points in consecutive games for the first time in program history (108 vs. Binghamton, 103 vs. UMBC).
  • Scored more than 80 points in six consecutive games for the first time in program history.
  • Scored more than 100 points in three games in the same season for the second time in program history. The 1954-55 team scored more than 100 points three times.

NATIONAL NUMBERS

• The Nittany Lions currently rank in the top 25 in the country in several statistical categories as of Dec. 30 games:

400

• Peter & Ann Tombros-backed head coach Mike Rhoades earned his 400th career head coaching win in Penn State’s final game on Dec. 29 against Penn. Rhoades is in his 21st season as a head coach and has a career record of 400-208, a winning percentage of .658, seven NCAA Tournament appearances and nine national postseason appearances.

HIGH OCTANE

• Penn State averages 88.2 points per game, ranking sixth nationally.
• The Nittany Lions have scored more than 80 points in 10 of their 13 games this season, including their first six games in which Penn State scored more than 80 points in six consecutive games for the first time in program history.

Domination

• Penn State outscores its opponents by an average of 21.2 points per game, a mark that ranks 10th in all of Division I. All 11 of Penn State’s wins were by double digits. The Nittany Lions have three wins by more than 40 points this season.
• Penn State has played 520 minutes of basketball this season and trailed by just 87 minutes and 9 seconds.

BALANCED ATTACK

• Five different Penn State players average double-digit points: Ace Baldwin Jr. (14.8 ppg), Yanic Konan Niederhauser (13.5 ppg), Zach Hicks (12.0 ppg), Nick Kern Jr. (11.8 ppg ) and Puff Johnson (10.6 ppg). ), with Freddie Dilione V almost reaching double figures (9.9 ppg).
• Nine of the 13 players coming off the bench this season scored in double figures in the Nittany Lions’ balanced offensive attack, with five different players scoring more than 20 points in games.

Turn defense into offense

• Penn State ranks seventh in Division I in forced turnovers per game (17.23) and 16th in steals per game (10.1). The Nittany Lions held a 276-134 point advantage through turnovers through the first 13 games of the season.

ONE OF ONE

• Graduate student Ace Baldwin Jr. is the ONLY active Division I player with more than 1,000 career points (1,490), more than 700 career assists (730) and more than 250 career steals (298).
• If Baldwin Jr. surpasses the career mark of 1,500 points/700 assists/300 steals, he will become just the ninth Division I player since the 1947-48 season (age 77) and the first since Richmond’s Jacob Gilyard (2017-22). So.
• Baldwin Jr. is the active Division I career leader in steals (298) and his 730 career assists ranks him second among active Division I players.

We have an ace up our sleeve

• Ace Baldwin Jr. currently ranks third in the country with 8.6 assists per game and is sixth in free throw percentage (94.5%). He averages excellent marks of 14.8 points, 8.6 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game. He has five point-assist double-doubles and has scored double-digit assists in more games (6) than he did all of last season (4), including a school record single-game assist of 16 assists on December 14 against Coppin State.
• Reigning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Baldwin Jr. has earned a spot on the Naismith Trophy Men’s College Player of the Year watch list this preseason and is also on the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Top 20 Preseason Watch List landed was named a Preseason All-Big Ten selection.

A big guy storms onto the stage

• Yanic Konan Niederhauser, Penn State’s agile and versatile 7-foot-1 forward, is averaging 13.5 points and a team-best 6.6 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game. The Swiss native transferred to Penn State before the 2024-25 season after two years at Northern Illinois.

BEST SHOOTER IN B1G

• Senior Zach Hicks leads the Big Ten in both 3-point shooting percentage (44.3%) and 3-pointers made per game (2.69).

CORE IS COMING

• Senior Nick Kern Jr. has scored double-digit points in each of the last 10 games. He shot 65.9 percent (60-91) from the field this season while averaging 11.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.4 steals per game.

The future looks bright

• Head coach Mike Rhoades has signed the highest-ranked recruiting class in program history and the 21st class in the country as three highly touted prospects who signed to join the Nittany Lions during the early signing period in November.
• Penn State’s three-member class ranks 21st nationally in 247 sports. The three-member class consists of Mason Blackwood (Rochester, NY), Justin Houser (Camp Hill, Pennsylvania), and Kayden Mingo (Farmingdale, NY). The three new Nittany Lions join the program as the Class of 2029 and bring outstanding athletic and academic pedigrees to Penn State.

Lions in the league

• Penn State is well represented in the NBA and G League organizations this season:
  • Jalen Pickett ’23 – Denver Nuggets – Second Season
  • Calvin Booth ’98 – General Manager – Denver Nuggets
  • Izaiah Brockington ’21 – Birmingham Squadron (New Orleans Pelicans)
  • Andrew Funk M’23 – Grand Rapids Gold (Denver Nuggets)
  • Josh Reaves ’19 – Rio Grand Valley Vipers (Houston Rockets)
  • Lamar Stevens ’20 – Motor City Cruise (Detroit Pistons)
  • Andrew Jones ’11 – Head Coach – Raptors 905 (Toronto Raptors)

The 2024-25 Penn State men’s basketball season is presented by Highmark Health.