UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Senior guard Ace Baldwin, Jr. stole the ball on the inbound pass and raced to the basket despite being blanketed one-on-one by a St. Francis defender. Baldwin laid the ball softly through the nylon and embodied a dominant defensive effort from Penn State.
The Nittany Lions flew around the floor with tenacious aggression and energy in a battle of Keystone State foes. Penn State's defense was the catalyst for a 83-53 win as a signature full-court press and half-court pressure proved pivotal.
Penn State was active in passing lanes and forced 20 Red Flash turnovers through opportunistic traps. The Nittany Lions held St. Francis to a 5-for-19 mark from 3-point range and a 21-for-60 clip from the field by closing out fast to shooters on the perimeter and creating contested shots.
"It's a fun way to play defense," head coach Mike Rhaodes said. "It is very, very demanding and there's a lot of things that guys have to learn doing it, but I also think it allows us to create offense. It takes people out of their plan of attack and we also have a lot of versatile guys that can guard different positions and that's something I haven't always had everywhere I've been so even this first year with this group, we have a lot of versatility on the defensive end."
Playing defense for Rhoades brings a unique level of determination and willingness to attack the ball carrier with unrelenting pressure. Rhoades used the phrase "let's build an army" to not only describe his depth, but also his defensive style of play which is spearheaded by Baldwin.
Baldwin was named the 2023 Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year when he played for Rhoades at VCU. The Baltimore, Maryland, native has carried that defensive success to Happy Valley and portrayed his highly-touted defensive nature Tuesday night with a trio of steals.
Rhoades referred to his veteran guard as the "head of the snake on the defensive end" and Baldwin lived up to that billing showcasing his game-changing ability with signature plays on both ends of the floor. Baldwin has lived up to his self-proclaimed "aggressive and sneaky" style while elevating the defensive prowess of his teammates, "you gotta want it and they want it and it shows," Baldwin said.
"When you have a guy like Ace as your head of the snake on the defensive end, gets his hands on everything and steals the ball but then you got to deal with everybody else, it's just something we're going to continue to build on," Rhoades said. "We want to play fast, we want to score points, but we also want to be able to sit down and guard really good teams late in the game when the game's on the line."
Five Nittany Lions forced at least one steal including sophomore guard Kanye Clary who led Penn State in scoring for the third consecutive game. Clary's 14-point performance was guided by a 6-for-12 shooting mark from the field and a pair of 3-pointers.
Clary's offensive evolution has been a trademark throughout the opening three contests but Rhaodes praised Clary's off-ball defense and said, "I thought his defense was the best of the season."
Clary indicated how "we did a good job of heating them up, forcing them into tough shots", which in turn translated to 28 Penn State points off turnovers. A stifling style of defense is a focal part of Penn State's identity as the transaction of defense to offense will continue to pay dividends.
"I think just overall playing good defense can lead to good offense," Clary said. Coach is big on just always bring your energy on defense. Just knowing us and how we style our defense, this game we had less turnovers and it translated to our offense."
