UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Fresh off a Wednesday night road win, the Penn State men's basketball team remains on the road Saturday as the Nittany Lions travel to Indiana for a noon tipoff in Assembly Hall on FS1.
FOLLOW ALONG
- TV: FS1 – Matt Schumacker (pxp) & Stephen Bardo (analyst)
- RADIO: Penn State Sports Network – Steve Jones (pxp) & Dick Jerardi (analyst)
- NATIONAL RADIO: SiriusXM Ch. 383 & SXM App Ch. 973
- LIVE STATS: StatBroadcast | Live Stats
- GAME NOTES: Penn State
OPENING TIPS
- The Nittany Lions close a two-game road swing with a Saturday afternoon matchup at Indiana inside Assembly Hall.
- Penn State sits 4-6 in Big Ten play and is coming off a strong 61-46 road win at Rutgers Wednesday night.
- Kanye Clary is averaging a team-best 18.4 points per game, while Ace Baldwin Jr. has contributed 13.2 points, a team-best 5.1 assists and a Big Ten-best 2.86 steals per game. Baldwin Jr.'s 2.86 steals per game ranks sixth in the country.
IF PENN STATE BEATS INDIANA
- Penn State would earn a road win in Bloomington for just the fourth time in program history and the first time since Feb. 12, 2014.
SCOUTING THE HOOSIERS
- The Hoosiers are 13-8 on the season and 5-5 in conference play.
- Four of Indiana's five Big Ten wins have come inside Assembly Hall.
- The Hoosiers are coming off a 74-68 home win over Iowa Tuesday night in their most recent contest.
- Malik Reneau leads Indiana with 16.0 points per game. Kel'el Ware follows with 14.7 points and a team-best 9.4 rebounds per game. Mackenzie Mgbako (10.9 ppg) and Trey Galloway (10.4 ppg) are also averaging double-digit points.
AGAINST INDIANA
- Penn State and Indiana meet for the first of two times this regular season Saturday in Bloomington.
- The home team has won each of the last six regular-season matchups between the two teams.
- The Nittany Lions and Hoosiers meet for the first time since last season's Big Ten Tournament Semifinals. Penn State took down the Hoosiers, 77-73, to advance to the Nittany Lions' first Big Ten Tournament championship game since 2011.
- Indiana owns a 23-3 advantage in home games against the Nittany Lions. Penn State will be looking for its first win in Bloomington since Feb. 12, 2014 (66-65).
ROAD DUB
- Penn State turned in its best defensive performance of the season to pick up the first true road win of Mike Rhoades' tenure Wednesday night as the Nittany Lions took down Rutgers 61-46 at Jersey Mike's Arena.
- The Penn State defense forced 20 Rutgers turnovers and held the Scarlet Knights to a 34.0 percent (17-50) clip from the field and 5.9 percent (1-17) mark from 3-point range.
- With leading scorer Kanye Clary out due to injury, Ace Baldwin Jr. orchestrated all night long, finishing with a team-high 15 points, 10 assists, five rebounds and five steals for his first double-double in a Penn State uniform and third-career double-double. D'Marco Dunn stepped up with 14 points and seven rebounds, while Qudus Wahab finished with nine points, a game-high 11 rebounds and two blocks.
TURN UP THE PRESSURE
- The Nittany Lions have forced their opponents into 15.86 turnovers per game, a mark that leads the Big Ten and ranks 15th in the nation. Penn State's +4.9 turnover margin ranks 10th in the country.
- The Nittany Lions have scored a Big Ten-best average of 16.9 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 Saturday's game averaging 75.5 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.
GOT AN ACE UP OUR SLEEVE
- Senior point guard Ace Baldwin Jr. is stuffing the stat sheet, averaging 13.2 points per game, a team-best 5.1 assists per contest and a Big Ten-best 2.86 steals per game. His 2.86 steals per game ranks sixth in the nation.
- Baldwin Jr. currently owns career marks of 1,107 points, 523 assists and 243 steals. He 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. His 243 career steals rank fourth amongst active Division I players.
DO IT ALL
- Ace Baldwin Jr. has proven to be one of the most dynamic players in the conference. He is coming off a 15-point, 10-assist, 5-rebound, 5-steal performance Wednesday night in Penn State's road win at Rutgers. He is the first Big Ten player since at least the 2010-11 season (13 years) to notch a 15+ point/10+ assist/5+ rebound/5+ steal game.
- 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.
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 +16.2 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.
- Five-foot-eleven Clary's 18.4 points per game is the highest scoring output by any power conference player under six-foot tall this season. Clary is the fifth-highest scoring sophomore in the country. Clary's 19.4 points per Big Ten game ranks fifth amongst conference players, while his 18.4 points per game overall ranks sixth in the conference.
KERN COMING ON
- Nick Kern Jr. has turned it up a notch as of late, scoring in double figures in six of the last eight contests.
| Nick Kern Jr. | Last 8 | First 13 |
| Points per game | 11.1 | 5.8 |
| FG% | 57.9% | 49.1% |
UP NEXT
- The Nittany Lions return home Thursday night to take on Iowa inside the Bryce Jordan Center on Faculty and Staff Appreciation Night. Tipoff is slated 7 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.
The 2023-24 Penn State men's basketball season is presented by Highmark Health.