UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Big Ten play resumes for the Penn State men’s basketball team Thursday night when the Nittany Lions host Northwestern inside the Bryce Jordan Center. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. and the game will air on Peacock.
FOLLOW ALONG
- TICKETS: Tickets
- PROMOTIONS: Kids 12 and under get in free using this purchase link
- TV: Peacock – Jac Collinsworth (pxp) & Stephen Bardo (analyst)
- RADIO: Penn State Sports Network – Steve Jones (pxp) & Dick Jerardi (analyst)
- NATIONAL RADIO: Sirius XM Ch. 85 & SXM App. Ch. 85
- LIVE STATS: StatBroadcast
- GAME NOTES: Penn State | Northwestern
OPENING TIPS
- Penn State is 11-2 on the season, 1-1 in Big Ten play, and resumes conference action Thursday night when Northwestern visits Happy Valley.
- Penn State ranks top 10 in the country in points per game (88.2), assists per game (18.8), turnovers forced per game (17.23) and scoring margin (+21.2).
- Five Nittany Lions are averaging double-digit points, led by Ace Baldwin Jr.'s 14.8 ppg.
IF PENN STATE BEATS NORTHWESTERN
- Penn State would win its 12th-straight home game dating back to last season and move to 9-0 inside the Bryce Jordan Center this year.
- The Nittany Lions would improve to 12-2 overall, their best start since 2019-20.
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
- The Wildcats are 10-3 on the season, 1-1 in Big Ten play, and ride a four-game win streak into Happy Valley Thursday night.
- Northwestern suffered an 80-79 road loss at Iowa in its first Big Ten game of the season on Dec. 3, but bounded back with a 70-66 overtime win over Illinois at home on Dec. 6.
- The Wildcats' only two other losses this season were at Dayton (66-71) and against Butler (69-71).
- The duo of Nick Martinelli and Brooks Barnhizer lead the Wildcats with 20.2 and 20.1 points per game, respectively. Barnhizer leads the team with 9.4 rebounds per contest. Jalen Leach (14.1 ppg) is the only other Wildcat averaging double-digit points.
AGAINST NORTHWESTERN
- Penn State and Northwestern meet for the only time this season as Big Ten play resumes Thursday night.
- The Nittany Lions own a 38-22 advantage in the all-time series, including a 19-7 edge when playing the Wildcats in Happy Valley.
- The last seven meetings between the two teams have been decided by an average of just four points.
- Penn State has won five of the last seven matchups, but the Wildcats swept last year's regular-season series.
BACK TO B1G
- The Nittany Lions resume conference action Thursday night when Penn State hosts Northwestern.
- Penn State is 1-1 in conference play following a pair of early-December contests. The Nittany Lions took down then eighth-ranked Purdue 81-70 in the Big Ten opener on Dec. 5. Penn State led the Boilermakers by as much as 27, including holding a 20-point lead with two minutes to play. Penn State then dropped a tough 80-76 road game at Rutgers on Dec. 10. The Nittany Lions trimmed a 17-point deficit down to two in the final minutes, but weren't able to complete the comeback.
- Penn State finished conference play at 9-11 a season ago, as Mike Rhoades guided the Nittany Lions to the second-most Big Ten wins by a first-year head coach in program history.
HOME SWEET HAPPY VALLEY
- Penn State is a perfect 8-0 at home this season and has won 11-straight home games dating back to last season.
|
Stat |
PSU avg. in home games in 2024-25 |
|
Points per game |
94.8 |
|
FG% |
52.4% |
|
3FG% |
37.6% |
|
Assists per game |
20.9 |
|
Turnovers forced per game |
18.3 |
|
Steals per game |
11.0 |
11-2
- The Nittany Lions are off to an 11-2 start to the season, their best record through the first 13 games of the season since the 2019-20 campaign.
- The Nittany Lions rank top 10 in the country in points per game (88.2 - 6th), turnovers forced per game (17.23 - 7th), assists per game (18.8 - 9th), turnover margin (5.9 - 10th) and scoring margin (+21.2 - 10th).
REWRITING HISTORY…ALREADY
- The Nittany Lions have accomplished the following Penn State milestones through just the first 13 games of the season:
- Finished non-conference play at 10-1, marking just the sixth time since Penn State joined the Big Ten in 1992-93 that the Nittany Lions have finished regular-season non-conference action with one or fewer losses.
- Big Ten-opening win over #8 Purdue was Penn State's first win over a team ranked in the top 10 of the AP Poll since Dec. 2019.
- Started the season 6-0 for the first time in 25 years (since the 1999-2000 season).
- Started the season 8-1 for the first time in 10 years (since the 2014-15 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.
NATIONAL NUMBERS
- The Nittany Lions currently rank in the top 25 in the country in a number of statistical categories through games on Dec. 30:
|
Team Stat |
Value |
National Rank |
|
Points per game |
88.2 |
6 |
|
Turnovers forced per game |
17.23 |
7 |
|
Assists per game |
18.8 |
9 |
|
Turnover margin |
5.9 |
10 |
|
Scoring margin |
+21.2 |
10 |
|
Steals per game |
10.1 |
16 |
|
FG% |
50.4% |
17 |
|
Assist to turnover ratio |
1.67 |
21 |
|
Individual Stat |
Value |
National Rank |
|
Assists/game – Ace Baldwin Jr. |
8.6 |
3 |
|
FT% - Ace Baldwin Jr. |
94.5% |
6 |
|
FG% - Yanic Konan Niederhauser |
65.0% |
12 |
400
- Peter & Ann Tombros Endowed Head Coach Mike Rhoades earned his 400th career head coaching victory in Penn State's most recent game on Dec. 29 vs. Penn. Rhoades is in his 21st season as a head coach and owns a 400-208 career record, a .658 winning percentage, seven NCAA Tournament appearances and nine national postseason appearances.
HIGH OCTANE
- Penn State is averaging 88.2 points per game, a mark that ranks sixth in the country.
- The Nittany Lions have scored 80-plus points in 10 of their 13 games this season, including their first six games, which marked the first time in program history that Penn State scored 80+ in six consecutive games.
DOMINATION
- Penn State is outscoring its opponents by an average of 21.2 points per game, a mark that ranks 10th in all of Division I. All 11 of Penn State's wins have been double-digit victories. The Nittany Lions own three 40-plus point victories this season.
- Penn State has played 520 minutes of basketball this season and trailed for just 87 minutes and 9 seconds.
BALANCED ATTACK
- Five different Penn State players are averaging double-digit points: Ace Baldwin Jr. (14.8 ppg), Yanic Konan Niederhauser (13.5 ppg), Zach Hicks (12.0 ppg), Nick Kern Jr. (11.8 ppg) and Puff Johnson (10.6 ppg), with Freddie Dilione V nearly reaching the double-digit mark (9.9 ppg).
- Nine of the 13 players that have dressed this season have scored in double figures, with five different players recording 20-plus point games, in the Nittany Lions' balanced offensive attack.
TURNING DEFENSE INTO OFFENSE
- Penn State ranks seventh in Division I in turnovers forced per game (17.23) and 16th in steals per game (10.1). The Nittany Lions have owned a 276-134 advantage in points scored off turnovers through the first 13 games of the season.
ONE OF ONE
- Graduate student Ace Baldwin Jr. is the ONLY active Division I player with 1,000+ career points (1,490), 700+ career assists (730) and 250+ career steals (298).
- When Baldwin Jr. passes the career marks of 1,500 points/700 assists/300 steals, he will just the ninth Division I player since the 1947-48 season (77 years) and the first since Richmond's Jacob Gilyard (2017-22) to do so.
- Baldwin Jr. is Division I's active career leader in steals (298) and his 730 career assists are second amongst active Division I players.
GOT AN ACE UP OUR SLEEVE
- Ace Baldwin Jr. currently ranks third in the country with his 8.6 assists per game and sixth in free throw percentage (94.5%). He is averaging stellar marks of 14.8 points, 8.6 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game. He's notched five points-assists double-doubles and has tallied double-digit assists in more games (6) than he did all of last season (4), including a single-game school record 16 helpers on Dec. 14 vs. Coppin State.
- The reigning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, 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.
BIG FELLA BURSTING ONTO THE SCENE
- Yanic Konan Niederhauser, Penn State's mobile and versatile seven-foot forward, is averaging 13.5 points and team-best marks of 6.6 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game. The Switzerland native transferred to Penn State ahead of the 2024-25 season following two years at Northern Illinois.
|
PSU (2024-25) |
NIU (2022-24) |
|
|
Points per game |
13.5 ppg |
5.1 ppg |
|
FG% |
65.0% |
51.4% |
|
Rebounds per game |
6.6 rpg |
3.2 rpg |
BEST SHOOTER IN THE B1G
- Senior Zach Hicks leads the Big Ten in both 3-point shooting percentage (44.3%) and 3-pointers made per game (2.69).
KERN COMING ON
- Senior Nick Kern Jr. has scored in double figures in each of the last 10 games. He has shot 65.9 percent (60-91) from the field this season while averaging 11.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.4 steals per game.
FUTURE LOOKS BRIGHT
- Head Coach Mike Rhoades has inked the highest-ranked recruiting class in program history and the 21st-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 21st 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
- 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.