UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men’s basketball team looks to keep its hot start going Friday night when the Nittany Lions host UMBC inside the Bryce Jordan Center. Tipoff is slated for 6 p.m. and the game will air nationally on Big Ten Network.
FOLLOW ALONG
- TICKETS: Tickets
- PROMOTIONS: Discounted basketball game tickets for football game ticket holders available at the BJC ticket office and at this link.
- TV: Big Ten Network – Wayne Randazzo (pxp) & Myles Dread (analyst)
- RADIO: Penn State Sports Network – Steve Jones (pxp) & Dick Jerardi (analyst)
- NATIONAL RADIO: SiriusXM Ch. 372 & SXM App Ch. 372
- LIVE STATS: StatBroadcast
- GAME NOTES: Penn State | UMBC
KNOW BEFORE YOU GO
- PARKING: Parking for all athletic events requires a valid university permit or payment of an applicable parking fee. Parking can be purchased in advance via ParkMobile prepayment, or on the day of via HONK (zone PSUCR). Parking for men's basketball can be found at Jordan East, Stadium West, or Porter North lots.
- MOBILE TICKETING: All Penn State Athletics tickets are once again mobile tickets. Fans can access Penn State Athletics mobile ticket guide HERE. Make sure to have the updated Nittany Lions App downloaded on your phone to easily access and manage your mobile tickets. Download the app on the App Store and Google Play.
- CLEAR BAG POLICY: The Bryce Jordan Center has a clear bag policy. Bags that are clear plastic, vinyl or PVB and are 12" x 6" x 12" or smaller are permitted. Small clutches or wristlets that are 4" x 6" x 1" are also permissible, as well as one-gallon clear plastic freezer bags. All clear bags and patrons are subject to metal detection and/or bag inspection upon entering the venue. Bag policy details can be found here.
OPENING TIPS
- Penn State continues its season-opening homestand Friday night when the Nittany Lions host UMBC inside the Bryce Jordan Center.
- The Nittany Lions are coming off a 108-66 season-opening win over Binghamton Monday night. It was Penn State’s first 100-plus point game since 2017 (3OT), and first 100-plus point effort in a regulation game since 2009.
IF PENN STATE BEATS UMBC
- Penn State would start the season 2-0 for the third-straight year and seventh time in the last eight years.
- The Nittany Lions would improve to 5-0 all-time vs. UMBC.
SCOUTING THE RETRIEVERS
- UMBC enters its fourth season under head coach Jim Ferry. Ferry was Penn State's interim head coach during the 2020-21 season after serving as an assistant coach on the Nittany Lion staff from 2018-2020.
- The Retrievers are 1-0 on the young season after a 95-66 win over Penn State York in their season opener Monday night. Marcus Banks Jr. led UMBC with 27 points behind seven made 3-pointers. Tim Eze (14 points), Daylon Dickerson (13), Marlon Short (12) and Louie Jordan (10) also scored in double figures.
- UMBC was picked to finish fifth in the 2024-25 America East preseason poll and is coming off an 11-21 season in 2023-24. Banks Jr. was selected to the America East Preseason All-Conference Team after averaging 15.1 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game a season ago.
AGAINST UMBC
- Penn State and UMBC meet for the fifth time in program history Friday night.
- The Nittany Lions are 4-0 all-time vs. UMBC, with the most recent meeting coming in the form of a 74-52 Penn State win on Dec. 29, 2018 in Happy Valley. The Nittany Lions shot 50.0% from the field and 47.6% from 3-point range and closed the first half on a 17-4 run to take down the Retrievers.
HOT START
- Penn State kicked off the season with a 108-66 drubbing of Binghamton Monday night in the 2024-25 season opener.
- Penn State’s 108 points were tied for the fourth-most in a single-game in program history. It marked Penn State’s first 100-plus point game since 2017 when the Nittany Lions scored 102 in triple overtime at Indiana and was Penn State's first 100-plus point effort in a regulation game since 2009.
- The 42-point margin of victory was the seventh-largest in program history.
BALANCED ATTACK
- Six different Nittany Lions scored in double figures in Monday's night's season-opening win vs. Binghamton, marking the first time since Dec. 6, 2020 that Penn State had six double-digit scorers.
- Zach Hicks led the way with 22 points behind a 9-for-12 effort from the field. Yanic Konan Niederhauser (16), Ace Baldwin Jr. (15), D'Marco Dunn (12), Freddie Dilione V (10) and Dominick Stewart (10) also finished in double figures.
DEFENSE INTO OFFENSE
- Penn State collected 16 steals in Monday night's season opener, its most since tallying 18 steals on Nov. 28, 2020.
- The Nittany Lions scored 31 points off 21 Binghamton turnovers. Penn State owned a 30-9 edge in second-chance points behind 16 offensive rebounds. The Nittany Lions also controlled a 25-8 advantage in fastbreak points.
BRING ‘EM BACK
- The Nittany Lions bring back five of their top seven scorers from a season ago in reigning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Ace Baldwin Jr., honorable mention All-Big Ten pick Nick Kern Jr., honorable mention All-Big Ten pick Zach Hicks, Puff Johnson and D'Marco Dunn.
|
Stat |
% returning in 2024-25 |
|
Points |
58.9% (1,459/2,478) |
|
Rebounds |
48.3% (514/1,065) |
|
Assists |
73.4% (306/417) |
|
Steals |
65.1% (179/275) |
|
Minutes |
60.7% (4,038/6,650) |
NEW FACES IN NEW PLACES
- The Nittany Lions added four highly-touted transfers and a five-man freshman class that ranked 29th in the country (per 247Sports) over the offseason to comprise the 2024-25 roster.
- Transfers (previous school)
- Freddie Dilione V (Tennessee)
- Yanic Konan Niederhauser (Northern Illinois)
- Kachi Nzeh (Xavier)
- Eli Rice (Nebraska)
- Freshmen (hometown)
- Jahvin Carter (Alcoa, Tenn.)
- Miles Goodman (Seattle, Wash.)
- Joe Sedora (York, Pa.)
- Dominick Stewart (Ocean Springs, Miss.)
- Hudson Ward (Leduc, Alberta, Canada)
- Transfers (previous school)
ONE OF ONE
- Graduate student Ace Baldwin Jr. is the ONLY active Division I player with 1,000+ career points (1,312), 600+ career assists (622) and 250+ career steals (274).
- Baldwin Jr. is Division I's active career leader in steals (274) and his 622 career assists are second amongst active Division I players.
GOT AN ACE UP OUR SLEEVE
- Ace Baldwin Jr. earned a spot on the Naismith Trophy Men's College Player of the Year Watch List this preseason, in addition landing on the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Top 20 Preseason Watch List and being named a Preseason All-Big Ten selection.
- The point guard is coming off a senior season in which he was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, a Naismith National Defensive Player of the Year Semifinalist, a Lefty Driesell Defensive Player of the Year Finalist, an NABC Second Team All-District 7 selection, a third-team All-Big Ten (coaches & media) pick and a Big Ten All-Defensive Team honoree.
- Baldwin Jr. wrapped up his first season in the Blue & White leading the Nittany Lions with 14.2 points, 6.0 assists and 2.7 steals per game in 2023-24. He was one of just four Big Ten players since 1992-93 (31 years) and the first since 2011-12 to finish a season averaging 14.0+ points per game, 6.0+ assists per game and 2.0+ steals per game.
ZACH ATTACK
- Senior Zach Hicks shined in Monday night's season opener, finishing with 22 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals. He was 9-for-12 from the floor and 4-for-6 from deep.
- Hicks earned honorable mention All-Big Ten selection a season ago and returns for his second season at Penn State. He led the Nittany Lions with 67 made 3-pointers and ranked second on the team in rebounds (130) and free throw percentage (81.3%). Hicks averaged 12.2 points per game while shooting 41.3 percent (33-80) from 3-point range over the final 12 games of the season.
ON THE RIGHT RHOADES
- Head Coach Mike Rhoades enters his second season at the helm of the Nittany Lions in 2024-25. Here's a look at what he and his staff accomplished during their first season in Happy Valley:
- Two wins over top-15 ranked teams in #12 Illinois and #11 Wisconsin.
- Win over #11 Wisconsin was the highest-ranked win under a first-year head coach in program history.
- Nine Big Ten wins were the second-most by a first-year head coach in program history.
- Engineered the highest-scoring offense under a first-year head coach at Penn State since 1954-55 (75.1 ppg).
- Penn State led the Big Ten in steals per game (8.3), turnover margin (+3.6) and three-point percentage defense (30.3%).
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.