UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The 2023-24 Penn State men's basketball non-conference and Big Ten schedule was unveiled Tuesday ahead of Peter and Ann Tombros Endowed Head Coach Mike Rhoades' first season at the helm. The Nittany Lions will host 17 games throughout the 2023-24 season, including a "home" date at The Palestra in Philadelphia. The 2023-24 Penn State men's basketball season is presented by Highmark Health.
The 2023-24 slate begins on Monday, Nov. 6 inside the Bryce Jordan Center. Penn State is set to host seven non-conference home games and 10 Big Ten matchups, including a Sunday, Jan. 7 tilt with Michigan inside the historic Palestra. The 2023-24 schedule features eight Friday, Saturday or Sunday home games inside the Bryce Jordan Center, four of which come in conference play.
Tipoff times and television network designations for all Big Ten and non-conference games will be announced by the conference in the coming weeks.
Non-Conference
The non-conference slate features seven home games inside the Bryce Jordan Center, beginning with the Monday, Nov. 6 season opener against Delaware State. The Nittany Lions then host back-to-back games against in-state foes Lehigh (Friday, Nov. 10) and St. Francis (Pa.) (Tuesday, Nov. 14) before welcoming defending Ohio Valley Conference regular-season champion Morehead State to the Bryce Jordan Center on Friday, Nov. 17.
Penn State's first tests away from home come at the previously announced ESPN Events Invitational in Orlando, Fla. from Nov. 23-26. The Nittany Lions open tournament action against Texas A&M on Thanksgiving on ESPN in a rematch of last season's NCAA Tournament first round game in which Penn State defeated Texas A&M 76-59 in Des Moines. The Nittany Lions will then play either Butler or Florida Atlantic on Friday, Nov. 24, at either 11 a.m. or 1:30 p.m. on either ESPN2 or ESPN+. Penn State then faces a team on the other side of the bracket in Boise State, Iowa State, VCU or Virginia Tech on Sunday, Nov. 26. The full bracket is available here.
The Nittany Lions then return home to host local foe Bucknell on Saturday, Dec. 2. Following a pair of early-season Big Ten games, Penn State remains in Happy Valley for two non-conference games around the holiday break when the Nittany Lions host Le Moyne on Thursday, Dec. 21 and Rider on Friday, Dec. 29.
Big Ten
Big Ten play begins with a pair of early-December contests as Penn State opens conference action at Maryland on Wednesday, Dec. 6, before hosting Ohio State on Saturday, Dec. 9. Following the return to non-conference play and brief breaks for final exams and the holidays, the Nittany Lions return to Big Ten play in earnest on Thursday, Jan. 4 with a trip to Michigan State.
Penn State makes its return to the historic Palestra on Sunday, Jan. 7, when the Nittany Lions play host to Michigan in the City of Brotherly Love. Penn State has hosted three Big Ten games inside the "Cathedral of College Basketball", defeating Michigan State in 2017 and Iowa in 2020 and falling to top-ranked Purdue in 2023. Penn State has played 61 total games in The Palestra dating back to 1927. The 2023-24 Nittany Lion roster features several student-athletes with Philadelphia-area ties including Jameel Brown (Philadelphia, Pa.; Westtown School), Demetrius Lilley (Philadelphia, Pa.; Lower Merion) and Zach Hicks (Camden, N.J.; Camden Catholic). The Penn State-Michigan game at The Palestra also features a father-son coaching battle as Nittany Lion assistant coach Jimmy Martelli will face his father in Michigan associate head coach and former longtime Saint Joseph's head coach Phil Martelli.
Tickets for the Penn State-Michigan game at The Palestra will go on sale at a later date. 2023-24 men's basketball season ticket holders and Nittany Lion Club members will have first priority to secure tickets for the game at The Palestra. Further ticket information and details for The Palestra game will follow at a later date.
The Nittany Lions are then back in Happy Valley on Wednesday, Jan. 10, when Northwestern comes to town. Penn State heads to Mackey Arena on Saturday, Jan. 13, for a rematch of last season's Big Ten Tournament Championship game when the Nittany Lions face Purdue in the season's only regular-season meeting. Penn State will also host Wisconsin (Tuesday, Jan. 16) and Minnesota (Saturday, Jan. 27) during January, with additional road trips set for Ohio State (Saturday, Jan. 20) and Rutgers (Wednesday, Jan. 31).
February begins with a Saturday, Feb. 3, trip to Assembly Hall to face Indiana in the first of two regular-season contests against the Hoosiers. The Nittany Lions will play host to Iowa (Thursday, Feb. 8), Michigan State (Wednesday, Feb. 14), Illinois (Wednesday, Feb. 21) and Indiana (Saturday, Feb. 24) during February, with away games during the month slated for Northwestern (Sunday, Feb. 11), Nebraska (Saturday, Feb. 17) and Iowa (Tuesday, Feb. 27).
Penn State faces its final regular-season road test on Saturday, March 2 with a trip to Minnesota. The Nittany Lions then return home to close the regular season inside the Bryce Jordan Center against Maryland on Sunday, March 10.
The 2024 Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament is slated for Wednesday, March 13 through Sunday, March 17 at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
Tickets
Fans interested in purchasing season tickets for the 2023-24 season should visit this LINK. Single-game tickets sales and student season tickets sales will take place in the coming weeks.
Tickets for the Penn State-Michigan game at The Palestra will go on sale at a later date. 2023-24 men's basketball season ticket holders and Nittany Lion Club members will have first priority to secure tickets for the game at The Palestra. Further ticket information and details for The Palestra game will follow at a later date.
