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Penn State Athletics

Penn State Heads to Rutgers for Wednesday Night Road Test

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's basketball team hits the road for a midweek battle at Rutgers Wednesday night at 8:30 p.m. on Big Ten Network.
 
FOLLOW ALONG

 
OPENING TIPS

  • The Nittany Lions are on the road for back-to-back games this week, beginning with a Wednesday night showdown at Rutgers.
  • Penn State sits 3-6 in Big Ten play with conference wins over Ohio State, Michigan and #11 Wisconsin.
  • Kanye Clary is averaging a team-best 18.4 points per game, while Ace Baldwin Jr. has contributed 13.2 points, a team-best 4.9 assists and a Big Ten-best 2.75 steals per game. Baldwin Jr.'s 2.75 steals per game ranks seventh in the country.

 
IF PENN STATE BEATS RUTGERS

  • Penn State would beat Rutgers in Piscataway for the first time since March 6, 2019.
  • The Nittany Lions would earn the first true road win of the Mike Rhoades era.

 
SCOUTING THE SCARLET KNIGHTS

  • The Scarlet Knights are 10-9 on the season and 2-6 in conference play.
  • Rutgers' two Big Ten wins have both come at home against Indiana (66-57) and Nebraska (87-82 OT).
  • Rutgers has lost its last two games, a road game at Illinois on Jan. 21 and a home contest against #2 Purdue on Jan. 28.
  • Aundre Hyatt leads Rutgers with 12.4 points per game, while Cliff Omoruyi follows with 10.9 points and 9.2 rebounds per contest.

 
AGAINST RUTGERS

  • Penn State and Rutgers meet for the only time this season Wednesday night.
  • The Nittany Lions own a 45-36 advantage in the all-time series, but Rutgers has won each of the last three matchups.
  • Penn State will be looking for its first road win in Piscataway since March 6, 2019, a 66-65 Nittany Lion win.
  • The Scarlet Knights won both of last season's meetings. Rutgers earned a 65-45 home win on Jan. 24, 2023 before rallying back from a 19-point deficit for a 59-56 win in Happy Valley on Feb. 26, 2023.

 
TURN UP THE PRESSURE

  • The Nittany Lions have forced their opponents into 15.65 turnovers per game, a mark that leads the Big Ten and ranks 18th in the nation. Penn State's +5.0 turnover margin ranks 10th in the country.
  • The Nittany Lions have scored a Big Ten-best average of 17.0 points off turnovers per game thus far this season, while Penn State's opponents have only scored 10.4 points per game off Nittany Lion turnovers.

 
FIRST-YEAR OFFENSE

  • Penn State enters Wednesday's game averaging 76.3 points per game in Mike Rhoades' debut season.
  • That mark is on track to be Penn State's best offensive output since the 2000-01 team averaged 76.8 points per game en route to a Sweet 16 appearance.
  • It is also on pace to be Penn State's best offensive output under a first-year head coach since 1954-55 when the Nittany Lions put up 78.7 ppg under John Egli.

 
SOPHOMORE LEAP

  • Sophomore guard Kanye Clary has seen the second-highest PPG increase by a Division I player from last season to this season. Clary's +14.7 ppg increase in scoring production trails only SIU's Xavier Johnson's +16.0 ppg difference. 
  • The Virginia Beach, Va. native played limited minutes as a freshman behind Penn State's veteran 2022-23 backcourt that included two 2023 NBA Draft picks and five 1,000-point scorers.
Clary Stat 2023-24 2022-23 Increase
Points per game 18.4 3.7 +14.7
FG% 46.5% 43.4% +3.1%
Rebounds per game 3.2 0.9 +2.3
Assists per game 2.8 0.7 +2.1

 
 
GOT AN ACE UP OUR SLEEVE

  • Senior point guard Ace Baldwin Jr. has stuffed the stat sheet through his first 20 games as a Nittany Lion, averaging 13.2 points per game, a team-best 4.9 assists per contest and a Big Ten-best 2.75 steals per game. His 2.75 steals per game ranks seventh in the nation.
  • Baldwin Jr. has proven to be one of the most dynamic players in the conference. He is the first Big Ten player to have a 25+ point game (vs. VCU & Michigan), 13+ assist game (at Purdue) and 8+ steal game (vs. Northwestern) in a single season since Michigan State's Mateen Cleaves during the 1997-98 season.
  • Baldwin Jr. scored his 1,000th career point on Dec. 29 in Penn State's win over Rider and notched his 500th career assist in his 13-assist performance at Purdue on Jan. 13. His 238 career steals rank fourth amongst active Division I players.
  • Baldwin Jr. is on track to be one of only two active Division I players with 1,000+ points, 500+ assists and 250+ steals once he records his 250th career steal.

 
KERN COMING ON

  • Nick Kern Jr. has turned it up a notch as of late, scoring in double figures in six of the last seven contests.
Nick Kern Jr. Last 7 Games First 13 Games
Points per game 12.0 5.8
FG% 58.5% 49.1%

 
UP NEXT

  • The Nittany Lions travel to Indiana Saturday for a noon tip against the Hoosiers on FS1.

 
The 2023-24 Penn State men's basketball season is presented by Highmark Health.