UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Nittany Lion seniors combined for 65 points to lead the way as the Penn State men's basketball team used a strong second half to pull away for an 85-69 win over Maryland Sunday night on Senior Night inside the Bryce Jordan Center.
Penn State shot 60 percent in the second half to turn a four-point halftime lead into a 16-point victory. The Nittany Lions owned a 47-26 rebound advantage and scored 42 points in the paint to wrap up the regular-season conference slate with nine Big Ten victories, a mark that has been reached just seven previous times in Penn State's 32-year history in the Big Ten.
Graduate student Qudus Wahab led Penn State with a monster double-double, scoring a season-high 19 points and collecting a game-high 15 rebounds. Senior Ace Baldwin Jr. also registered a double-double in another masterful performance with 17 points and a game-high 11 assists. Graduate student RayQuawndis Mitchell tallied 14 points, while senior Puff Johnson scored 13 and junior Nick Kern Jr. rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Five points from D'Marco Dunn and four from Qudus Wahab helped Penn State get out to an early 11-6 lead just over four minutes into the game.
- The Penn State defense held Maryland without a field goal from the 18:10 mark to the 13:06 mark as the Nittany Lions surged ahead 17-10.
- The Nittany Lions held onto the lead for the next 10 minutes until the Terps used an 8-0 stretch over a 1:02 span to pull in front at 27-24 with 5:19 left in the first half.
- Penn State tied the score at 29 following a Wahab three-point play. The Terps made the next basket, but Penn State closed the term on a 7-1 run capped off by a Nick Kern Jr. layup to take a 36-32 lead into halftime.
- Maryland opened the second half with a 3-pointer, but back-to-back layups from Kern Jr. and a basket from Wahab provided an immediate response as the Nittany Lions jumped ahead by seven at 42-35 to force a Maryland timeout just two minutes into the term.
- The Terps narrowed the Penn State edge to two at 44-42 three minutes later before RayQuawndis Mitchell drilled a triple to spark a 10-0 Nittany Lion streak. Baldwin Jr. nailed a 3-pointer to cap the run that put Penn State up 54-42 with 13:36 to play.
- The Nittany Lion streak reached 15-2 a minute later following another three from Mitchell and Wahab's 15th point of the game to give the Nittany Lions a 15-point cushion at 59-44.
- Maryland wouldn't get closer than 12 the rest of the way as Penn State kept its foot on the gas en route to the 85-69 win.
GAME NOTES
- The Nittany Lions earned their ninth Big Ten win of the season, a mark that has been reached just seven previous times in Penn State's 32-year history in the conference.
- The Nittany Lions beat Maryland in Happy Valley for the seventh-straight time.
- Penn State's 85 points marked the eighth conference game in which the Nittany Lions scored 80 or more points. Eight 80-plus point games in Big Ten play is a Penn State record.
- The Nittany Lions pulled in a season-best 47 rebounds. It's Penn State's first 45-plus rebound performance since the Nittany Lions hauled in 45 boards on Feb. 25, 2022 against Northwestern.
- The duo of Ace Baldwin Jr. and Qudus Wahab became the first Penn State teammates to record double-doubles in the same game since John Harrar (19 pts/10 reb) and Seth Lundy (17 pts/11 reb) did so on Jan. 31, 2022 against Indiana. Wahab notched his fifth double-double of the season, while Baldwin Jr. recorded his third.
- Baldwin Jr. recorded his 600th career assist in the first half and now sits at 606 career helpers. He is one of only 19 active Division I players with 600 or more career assists.
- RayQuawndis Mitchell posted his second double-figure scoring game of the season, netting 14 points on senior night.
- All seven Penn State seniors saw playing time.
FROM THE SOURCE
Head Coach Mike Rhoades
Ace Baldwin Jr. & Qudus Wahab
HIGHLIGHTS
UP NEXT
- The Nittany Lions now turn their attention to the 2024 Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament at the Target Center in Minneapolis. Penn State will open tournament action as the 11 seed against 14th-seeded Michigan on Wednesday at approximately 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT on Peacock. The winner advances to Thursday's second round to take on sixth-seeded Indiana.
The 2023-24 Penn State men's basketball season is presented by Highmark Health.