UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The 6-0 Penn State men’s basketball team has a trophy on the line Tuesday afternoon when the Nittany Lions face Clemson in the Sunshine Slam championship game at 4 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.
FOLLOW ALONG
- TICKETS: Tickets
- TV: CBS Sports Network – Jake Marsh (pxp) & Mike O’Donnell (analyst)
- RADIO: Penn State Sports Network – Steve Jones (pxp) & Dick Jerardi (analyst)
- LIVE STATS: StatBroadcast
- GAME NOTES: Penn State | Clemson
OPENING TIPS
- Penn State is off to its first 6-0 start to a season in 25 years and the Nittany Lions will face Clemson in the Sunshine Slam championship game Tuesday afternoon.
- Penn State defeated Fordham 85-66 in the Sunshine Slam semifinal round Monday afternoon to punch its ticket to the championship game.
- Five Nittany Lions are averaging double-digit points, led by Zach Hicks' 15.8 points per game.
IF PENN STATE BEATS CLEMSON
- Penn State would start the season 7-0 for the first time in 29 years (since the 1995-96 season).
- The Nittany Lions would win their first in-season tournament title since the 2000-01 team won the two-game ECAC Holiday Classic in New York City.
- Penn State would beat Clemson for the first time since Dec. 1, 1999.
SCOUTING THE TIGERS
- The Tigers are 5-1 on the young season and punched their ticket to the Sunshine Slam championship game by way of a 70-55 win over San Francisco Monday night.
- Clemson is coming off a 2023-24 season that saw the Tigers advance to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament and finish 24-12 overall.
- The Tigers' lone loss this season came on the road at Boise State on Nov. 17, a 71-84 decision.
- Chase Hunter leads the team with 16.3 points per game, while Ian Schieffelin is averaging 12.8 points and a team-best 10.8 rebounds per contest.
AGAINST CLEMSON
- Penn State and Clemson meet for the sixth time in program history and the first time at a neutral site.
- The Tigers own a 4-1 advantage in the all-time series, with Penn State's lone win coming back in 1999.
- Penn State and Clemson last met in the 2022 Big Ten/ACC Challenge when the Tigers handed Penn State a 101-94 double-overtime loss on Nov. 29, 2022. The Nittany Lions rallied from a seven-point deficit in the final 51 seconds of regulation and Andrew Funk banked in a game-tying 3-pointer to force overtime, but the Tigers pulled out the double-overtime victory.
TROPHY ON THE LINE
- Penn State looks to win its first in-season tournament title since the 2000-01 team won the two-game ECAC Holiday Classic in New York City when the Nittany Lions match up with Clemson in the 2024 Sunshine Slam championship game Tuesday afternoon.
- The Nittany Lions are 6-0 for the first time in 25 years and eyeing their first 7-0 start to the season in 29 years (since the 1995-96 season).
- Penn State took down Fordham 85-66 in Monday afternoon's Sunshine Slam semifinal round. The Nittany Lions led wire-to-wire, shooting 52.6 percent from the field. Nick Kern Jr. led Penn State with his first career double-double, scoring a game-high 20 points and pulling down a career-best 13 rebounds. Zach Hicks followed with 16 points, while Puff Johnson added 15. Ace Baldwin Jr. finished with 12 points, seven assists and four rebounds, while Yanic Konan Niederhauser tallied 12 points and seven rebounds in just 14 minutes of action.
- Clemson punched its ticket to Tuesday's championship game by way of a 70-55 win over San Francisco Monday night. The Tigers were down 29-24 after the opening stanza, but exploded for 46 second-half points, which included a 25-4 run that spanned 7:05 in the second period to fuel the victory. Ian Schieffelin led Clemson in points (18), rebounds (13) and assists (5) against The Dons.
REWRITING HISTORY…ALREADY
- The Nittany Lions have accomplished the following Penn State milestones through just the first six games of the season:
- Started a season 6-0 for the first time in 25 years (since the 1999-2000 season).
- Scored 100+ points in back-to-back games for the first time in program history (108 vs. Binghamton, 103 vs. UMBC).
- Scored 80+ points in six-consecutive games for the first time in program history.
- Scored 100+ in three games in the same season for just the second time in program history. The 1954-55 team scored 100+ on three occasions.
DOMINATION
- The Nittany Lions have played 240 minutes of basketball this season and trailed for just 10 minutes and 8 seconds.
- Penn State is one of just 36 Division I teams that remains unbeaten (through games on Nov. 25).
- Penn State is outscoring its opponents by an average of 29.2 points per game, a mark that ranks top 10 in all of Division I. All six of Penn State's wins have come by at least 13 points.
HIGH OCTANE
- Penn State is averaging 96.0 points per game through the first six games of the season, a mark that ranks top-five in the country.
- The Nittany Lions have scored 85-plus points in all six of their games this season, marking the first time in program history that Penn State has scored 80+ in six consecutive games.
- The Nittany Lions are shooting 52.4% from the field, which ranks within the top 15 in Division I.
TURNING DEFENSE INTO OFFENSE
- Penn State ranks in the top 10 in Division I in steals per game (12.3) and top 15 in both turnovers forced per game (18.3) and turnover margin (7.0)
- The Nittany Lions have owned a 142-64 advantage in points scored off turnovers, an 107-56 edge in second-chance points and 98-55 advantage in fast-break points through the first six games of the season.
BALANCED ATTACK
- Nine of the 13 players that have dressed in Penn State's first six games of the season have scored in double figures, with four different players recording 20-plus point games, in the Nittany Lions' balanced offensive attack.
- Five different players are averaging double-digit points through the first six games of the season.
ONE OF ONE
- Graduate student Ace Baldwin Jr. is the ONLY active Division I player with 1,000+ career points (1,391), 600+ career assists (664) and 250+ career steals (285).
- Baldwin Jr. is Division I's active career leader in steals (285) and his 664 career assists are second amongst active Division I players.
ZACH ATTACK
- Senior Zach Hicks leads the Big Ten and ranks top 20 in Division I with 3.7 3-pointers made per game. He's shooting triples at a stellar 51.2% (22-43) clip.
- Hicks has scored in double figures in five of six games this season and is averaging a team-best 15.8 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.2 blocks per game while shooting 55.9% (33-59) from the field.
FUTURE LOOKS BRIGHT
- Head Coach Mike Rhoades has inked the highest-ranked recruiting class in program history and the 20th-ranked class in the country as three highly-touted prospects signed to join the Nittany Lions during the November early signing period.
- Penn State's three-member class ranks 20th in the nation per 247 Sports. The three-member class is comprised of Mason Blackwood (Rochester, N.Y.), Justin Houser (Camp Hill, Pa.) and Kayden Mingo (Farmingdale, N.Y.). The three new Nittany Lions join the program as the Class of 2029 and bring accomplished athletic and academic pedigrees to Penn State.
LIONS IN THE LEAGUE
- Penn State is well represented in NBA and G League organizations this season:
- Jalen Pickett '23 - Denver Nuggets - second season
- Seth Lundy '23 - Atlanta Hawks - second season
- Calvin Booth '98 - General Manager - Denver Nuggets
- Izaiah Brockington '21 - Birmingham Squadron (New Orleans Pelicans)
- Andrew Funk M'23 - Grand Rapids Gold (Denver Nuggets)
- Josh Reaves '19 - Rio Grand Valley Vipers (Houston Rockets)
- Lamar Stevens '20 - Motor City Cruise (Detroit Pistons)
- Andrew Jones '11 - Head Coach - Raptors 905 (Toronto Raptors)
The 2024-25 Penn State men’s basketball season is presented by Highmark Health.