UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's basketball team plays its final road game of the regular season when the Nittany Lions head to Minnesota Saturday. Tipoff on the Big Ten Network is slated for 3:15 p.m. ET/2:15 p.m. CT.
OPENING TIPS
- TV: Big Ten Network – Cory Provus (pxp) & Bruce Weber (analyst)
- RADIO: Penn State Sports Network – Steve Jones (pxp) & Dick Jerardi (analyst)
- NATIONAL RADIO: Sirius XM Ch. 388 & SXM App Ch. 978
- LIVE STATS: StatBroadcast | Live Stats
- GAME NOTES: Penn State | Minnesota
IF PENN STATE BEATS MINNESOTA
- The Nittany Lions would earn a road win in Minneapolis for just the fifth time in program history.
- Penn State would earn its third win in the last four games.
SCOUTING THE GOPHERS
- The Gophers are 17-11 on the season and 8-9 in Big Ten play. Minnesota is 15-3 when playing in Williams Arena this season, including a 6-2 mark in home conference games.
- Minnesota has lost its last two games, both road games, at Nebraska (55-73) and Illinois (97-105).
- Dawson Garcia leads a balanced Gopher offensive attack with 17.8 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. Cam Christie (11.6 ppg), Mike Mitchell Jr. (10.5 ppg) and Pharrel Payne (10.0 ppg) follow.
AGAINST MINNESOTA
- Penn State and Minnesota meet for the second time this season Saturday afternoon in Minneapolis.
- The Gophers won the season's first meeting, 83-74, on Jan. 27 in Happy Valley. The Nittany Lions owned a 45-31 halftime lead, but Minnesota shot 58.6 percent from the field in the second half en route to the 83-74 win. Ace Baldwin Jr. led Penn State with 16 points and six assists. Qudus Wahab finished with 15 points and five boards.
- The Nittany Lions have won three of the last five meetings with the Gophers.
- Penn State is 4-22 all-time in road games at Minnesota. The Nittany Lions won last season's road contest against the Gophers, Penn State's first win in Minneapolis since 2015.
ON THE RIGHT RHOADES
- First-year head coach Mike Rhoades inherited a Penn State team that returned just 5.0% of its scoring production from a 2022-23 season that saw the Nittany Lions advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Notable accomplishments so far in Rhoades' first year at the helm include:
- Eight Big Ten wins (with two games left to play) are the second-most by a first-year head coach in program history.
- Owns two wins over top-15 ranked teams (#12 Illinois & #11 Wisconsin).
- Defeated #11 Wisconsin on Jan. 16 - the highest-ranked win under a first-year head coach in program history.
- Earned regular-season sweep of Indiana for just the second time in program history and the first time since 2009. Defeated Indiana at Assembly Hall for the first time under a first-year head coach in program history and the first time overall since 2014.
- Won consecutive Big Ten road games (at Rutgers & at Indiana) by 12-plus points for the first time in program history.
- Wins over Wisconsin (Jan. 16), Michigan (Jan. 7) and Ohio State (Dec. 9) marks the first time that the Nittany Lions have beaten all three of those teams in the same season since the 1999-2000 campaign.
- On track to have the highest-scoring offense under a first-year head coach at Penn State since 1954-55.
- Signed top-40 recruiting class in the country.
80+
- Penn State has scored 80 or more points 10 times this season, seven of which have come in Big Ten play. If the Nittany Lions score 80+ once more in conference play, it'll break the school record in B1G era. The only other time Penn State has scored 80+ seven or more times in Big Ten play was in the 2020-2021 season.
- Penn State has scored 80+ in each of its last three games, marking the first time since Penn State joined the Big Ten (1992-93 season; 32 years) that the Nittany Lions have scored 80+ in three-straight B1G games.
| Penn State offense in last three games | ||
| Opponent | PSU Points | PSU FG% |
| #12 Illinois | 90 | 53.8% |
| Indiana | 83 | 45.3% |
| at Iowa | 81 | 45.1% |
| Average over last three games | ||
| 84.7 ppg | 48.1 FG% | |
FIRST-YEAR OFFENSE
- Penn State enters Saturday's game averaging 75.8 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.
- Penn State's 74.9 points per Big Ten game tracks to be the second-highest in Penn State's 32 seasons in the Big Ten, behind only the 2000-01 PSU team's 75.4 points per Big Ten game.
DPOY RESUME
- Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Watchlist honoree Ace Baldwin Jr. has a strong case to be the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year:
- Leads the Big Ten and ranks second in the country in steals (81) and fourth in the country in steals per game (2.79). His 2.79 steals per game rank first amongst Power Six conference players.
- His 2.83 steals per Big Ten game tracks to be the most by a Big Ten player in a single season in the last 33 years (since 1991 - Pat Baldwin (Northwestern) 2.89 steals per Big Ten game).
- His 2.79 steals per game overall tracks to be the most by a Big Ten player in a single season in the last 31 years (since 1993 - Pat Baldwin (Northwestern) 2.96 steals per game).
- Forces 33% turnover rate in pick-and-roll - ranks first in B1G w/ at least 50 possessions.
- Leader of a Penn State defense that leads the Big Ten in turnovers forced, steals & turnover margin.
- One of 15 players in the country named to the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Watchlist in February.
- Statistical Matchup Comparisons:
| Points per game comparison | ||
| PPG vs. PSU | PPG vs. all other B1G teams | |
| Baldwin Jr.'s primary matchup | 11.5 ppg | 14.3 ppg |
| Turnovers per game comparison | ||
| TO vs. PSU | TO vs. all other B1G teams | |
| Baldwin Jr.'s primary matchup | 2.7 TO/game | 1.8 TO/game |
| Baldwin Jr.'s primary defensive matchups in Big Ten play: Simpson (Rutgers), Hawkins (Minnesota), Cupps (Indiana), Perkins (Iowa), Walker (MSU), McDaniel (Michigan), Klesmit (Wisc.), Thornton (OSU), Smith (Purdue), Buie (NW), Domask (Illinois), Tominaga (Neb.), Young (Maryland) | ||
GOT AN ACE UP OUR SLEEVE
- Ace Baldwin Jr. is stuffing the stat sheet, averaging 14.1 points per game, a team-best 5.8 assists per contest and a Big Ten-best 2.79 steals per game. His 2.79 steals per game ranks fourth in the nation.
- Should he finish the season averaging 14.0+ points per game, 5+ assists per game and 2+ steals per game, Baldwin Jr. would be one of just four Big Ten players to do so since 1992-93 (31 years) and the first since former Nittany Lion standout Tim Frazier did so in 2011-12:
- 2023-24: Ace Baldwin Jr. (PSU) - 14.1/5.8/2.79
- 2011-12: Tim Frazier (PSU) - 18.8/6.2/2.4
- 1997-98: Mateen Cleaves (MSU) - 16.1/7.2/2.4
- 1992-93: Tracy Webster (WIS) - 14.1/6.4/2.4
- Baldwin Jr. is one of only two currently active Division I players with 1,000+ career points (1,237), 500+ career assists (587) and 250+ career steals (264). His 264 career steals rank second amongst active Division I players, while his 587 assists rank 17th.
HICKS HEATING UP
- Zach Hicks has turned it up a notch as of late, scoring in double figures in seven of the last eight games.
| Zach Hicks | Last 8 Games | First 21 Games |
| Points per game | 13.4 ppg | 6.2 ppg |
| 3FG% | 43.1% | 29.3% |
BIG Q
- Veteran big man Qudus Wahab is having the most efficient season of his five-year collegiate career, shooting a career-best 62.8 percent (108-172) from the field.
- He owns career marks of 1,305 points and 956 rebounds. His 956 rebounds rank 16th amongst active Division I players and he is one of just 25 active Division I players with upwards of 1,000 career points and 900 career rebounds.
KERN COMING ON
- Nick Kern Jr. has been one of Penn State's most productive players in conference play, averaging 10.4 points per Big Ten game while shooting 57.3 percent from the field.
UP NEXT
- The Nittany Lions have a midweek bye before closing out the regular season Sunday evening at 7:30 p.m. vs. Maryland on Senior Night Presented by the Penn State Alumni Association.
The 2023-24 Penn State men's basketball season is presented by Highmark Health.