UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men’s basketball team opens Big Ten play Thursday night when the Nittany Lions host #8 Purdue in a 6:30 p.m. showdown inside the Bryce Jordan Center. The game will air nationally on FS1.
FOLLOW ALONG
- TICKETS: Tickets
- PROMOTIONS: Free t-shirts for students
- TV: FS1 – Jeff Levering (pxp) & LaPhonso Ellis (analyst)
- RADIO: Penn State Sports Network – Steve Jones (pxp) & Dick Jerardi (analyst)
- NATIONAL RADIO: Sirius XM Ch. 372 & SXM App. Ch. 372
- LIVE STATS: StatBroadcast
- GAME NOTES: Penn State | Purdue
OPENING TIPS
- Penn State is off to a 7-1 start to the season, its best start to a season since the 2019-20 campaign, and opens Big Ten play Thursday night against #8 Purdue.
- The Nittany Lions rank in the top 10 in the country in points per game (91.3 ppg - 3rd), field goal percentage (52.2% - 5th) and steals per game (10.8 - 10th).
- Five Nittany Lions are averaging double-digit points, led by Ace Baldwin Jr.'s 14.9 ppg.
IF PENN STATE BEATS #8 PURDUE
- The Nittany Lions would beat a team ranked in the top 10 of the AP Poll for the first time since Dec. 10, 2019 when Penn State defeated #4 Maryland, 78-61.
- Penn State's 8-1 start to the season would be its best since the 2014-15 team started 12-1.
SCOUTING THE BOILERMAKERS
- The eighth-ranked Boilermakers are 7-1 on the season and ride a three-game win streak into Thursday's Big Ten opener.
- Purdue's only loss this season came on the road at #15 Marquette, 76-58, on Nov. 19.
- The Boilermakers have earned two ranked wins thus far this season against #2 Alabama (87-78) and #23 Ole Miss (80-78).
- Trey Kaufman-Renn leads the Boilers with 19.1 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. Fletcher Loyer is averaging 13.8 points per game, while Braden Smith is averaging 12.8 points and a Big Ten-best 9.1 assists per contest.
- Purdue is coming off a 2023-24 season that saw them advance to the 2024 NCAA Tournament National Championship game and be crowned Big Ten regular-season champions.
AGAINST PURDUE
- Penn State hosts Purdue in Happy Valley for the first time since Jan. 8, 2022 when the Boilermakers come to the Bryce Jordan Center Thursday for the 2024-25 Big Ten opener.
- Purdue owns a 47-13 advantage in the all-time series, but 10 of Penn State's 13 all-time wins vs. the Boilermakers have come in Happy Valley.
- The two teams met just once last season, a 95-78 win for the top-ranked Boilermakers in Mackey Arena.
B1G TIME
- Big Ten play begins Thursday night for the Nittany Lions as Penn State hosts #8 Purdue inside the Bryce Jordan Center. Penn State finished tied for ninth in the conference standings a season ago at 9-11, as Mike Rhoades guided the Nittany Lions to the second-most Big Ten wins by a first-year head coach in program history.
- The Nittany Lions open Big Ten play at home for just the fifth time in the last 16 years.
7-1
- The Nittany Lions are off to a 7-1 start to the season, their best start since the 2019-20 team began the year 7-1. Penn State started the season 6-0 for the first time in 25 years before suffering its first loss of the season to 2024 Elite Eight team Clemson in the Sunshine Slam Championship game on Nov. 26.
- Penn State is eyeing its first 8-1 start since the 2014-15 season when the Nittany Lions host #8 Purdue Thursday.
- The Nittany Lions rank top 10 in the country in points per game (91.3 ppg - 3rd), field goal percentage (52.2% - 5th) and steals per game (10.8 - 10th).
REWRITING HISTORY…ALREADY
- The Nittany Lions have accomplished the following Penn State milestones through just the first eight 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.
NATIONAL NUMBERS
- The Nittany Lions currently rank in the top 25 in the country in a number of statistical categories through games on Dec. 2:
|
Team Stat |
Value |
National Rank |
|
Points per game |
91.3 |
3 |
|
Field goal percentage |
52.2% |
5 |
|
Steals per game |
10.8 |
10 |
|
Scoring margin |
+23.8 |
11 |
|
Effective FG% |
.592 |
12 |
|
Turnovers forced/game |
17.25 |
14 |
|
Assists per game |
19.0 |
16 |
|
Turnover margin |
5.3 |
20 |
|
Individual Stat |
Value |
National Rank |
|
Assists/game – Ace Baldwin Jr. |
8.4 |
4 |
|
FG% - Yanic Konan Niederhauser |
69.4% |
10 |
|
3FG% - Zach Hicks |
50.0% |
16 |
DOMINATION
- The Nittany Lions have played 320 minutes of basketball this season and trailed for just 37 minutes and 36 seconds.
- Penn State is outscoring its opponents by an average of 23.8 points per game, a mark that ranks 11th in all of Division I. All seven of Penn State's wins have come by at least 13 points.
HIGH OCTANE
- Penn State is averaging 91.3 points per game through the first eight games of the season, a mark that ranks third in the country.
- The Nittany Lions have scored 85-plus points in seven of their eight 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.
- The Nittany Lions are shooting 52.2% from the field, which ranks fifth in Division I.
TURNING DEFENSE INTO OFFENSE
- Penn State ranks in the top 10 in Division I in steals per game (10.8 - 10th) and top 20 in both turnovers forced per game (17.25 - 14th) and turnover margin (5.3 - 20th).
- The Nittany Lions have owned a 174-92 advantage in points scored off turnovers, a 118-70 edge in second-chance points and 112-78 advantage in fast-break points through the first eight games of the season.
BALANCED ATTACK
- Nine of the 13 players that have dressed in Penn State's first eight games of the season have scored in double figures, with five 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 eight games of the season: Ace Baldwin Jr. (14.9 ppg), Yanic Konan Niederhauser (14.3 ppg), Zach Hicks (13.4 ppg), Nick Kern Jr. (11.8 ppg) and Puff Johnson (10.3 ppg).
ONE OF ONE
- Graduate student Ace Baldwin Jr. is the ONLY active Division I player with 1,000+ career points (1,416), 600+ career assists (685) and 250+ career steals (290).
- 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 (290) and his 685 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.
- Baldwin Jr. currently ranks fourth in the country with his 8.4 assists per game. He is averaging stellar marks of 14.9 points, 8.4 assists, 3.1 rebounds and 2.4 steals per game. He's notched three points-assists double-doubles through eight games this season and has tallied double-digit assists in as many games (4) as he did all of last season.
- 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. 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 as season ago.
BIG FELLA BURSTING ONTO THE SCENE
- Yanic Konan Niederhauser, Penn State's mobile and versatile seven-foot forward, leads the Big Ten and ranks 10th in the country with his 69.4% (43-62) field goal percentage. Konan Niederhauser is averaging 14.3 points and team-best marks of 6.5 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game. He notched his first double-double in the Blue & White with 16 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks against Purdue Fort Wayne and is coming off a career high-tying 27-point effort Sunday vs. Buffalo.
- The Switzerland native transferred to Penn State ahead of the 2024-25 season following two years at Northern Illinois.
|
Konan Niederhauser |
PSU (2024-25) |
NIU (2022-24) |
|
Points per game |
14.3 ppg |
5.1 ppg |
|
Field goal percentage |
69.4% |
51.4% |
|
Rebounds per game |
6.5 rpg |
3.2 rpg |
ZACH ATTACK
- Senior Zach Hicks ranks 16th in the country and second in the Big Ten in 3-point shooting percentage (50.0%). His 3.00 triples per game leads the conference.
- Hicks has scored in double figures in five of eight games this season and is averaging 13.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.4 steals and 0.9 blocks per game while shooting 55.2% (37-67) 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.