Nittany Lions Fall 92-67 at USCNittany Lions Fall 92-67 at USC
USC Athletics

Nittany Lions Fall 92-67 at USC

Freshman Dominick Stewart scores career-high 13 points

Box Score

LOS ANGELES – The Penn State men’s basketball team fell 92-67 on the road at USC Tuesday night at the Galen Center.

Ace Baldwin Jr. led four Nittany Lions in double figures with 15 points, while freshman Dominick Stewart followed closely behind with a career-best 13 points. D’Marco Dunn and Zach Hicks rounded out Penn State’s double-digit scorers with 10 points apiece.

HOW IT HAPPENED

  • The Nittany Lion defense forced five USC turnovers in the first four minutes, but the Trojans were able to get out to an early 10-6 lead at the first media timeout.
  • The USC lead was at 13-8 at 14:58 before a pair of D’Marco Dunn free throws and a Jahvin Carter 3-pointer helped Penn State score five of the next seven points and pull within 15-13 a minute later.
  • The Trojans answered with a 16-1 run over the next five minutes as USC pulled ahead 31-14 with 7:20 left on the first-half clock.
  • The Nittany Lions snapped right back with a 9-0 streak that was capped off by back-to-back triples from Zach Hicks and Dominick Stewart as Penn State quickly found itself back within eight at 31-23 at the 4:10 mark.
  • USC momentarily stretched its lead back to 13 at 36-25, but Penn State scored eight of the final 12 points of the half to narrow the Trojan edge to 40-31 heading into halftime.
  • The Trojans were hot to start the second half as USC started the term 12-for-12 from the field and 5-for-5 from deep to stretch its lead to 22 at 71-49 with just under 10 minutes to play.
  • The Nittany Lions used a 7-0 run to pull within 71-56 with 8:20 left on the clock, but it would be as close as Penn State would get the rest of the way as USC took home the 92-67 victory.

GAME NOTES

  • USC finished the game shooting 67.3 percent (33-49) from the field and a blistering 75.0 percent (12-16) from 3-point range, compared to Penn State’s marks of 42.9 percent (21-49) from the field and 26.9 percent (7-26) from deep.
  • Freshman Dominick Stewart scored a career-best 13 points, besting his previous career high of 10 points.
  • D’Marco Dunn finished in double figures for the third time in the last five games and the eighth time overall this season.
  • Zach Hicks tallied his 14th double-digit scoring game of the season.
  • Yanic Konan Niederhauser returned from a two-game injury layoff, but was hindered by foul trouble against the Trojans and finished with three points and two rebounds in 12 minutes of action.

UP NEXT

  • The Nittany Lions return home Saturday to host Washington in Penn State’s annual THON game at 2 p.m. inside the Bryce Jordan Center.

The 2024-25 Penn State men’s basketball season is presented by Highmark Health.