Breathe. Penn State’s seven-game losing streak, the team’s longest since the 2018-19 season, has been snapped with a 89-72 win over Nebraska on Wednesday night at the Bryce Jordan Center. Mike Rhoades’ program went just under a month without a victory, and, prior to facing the Cornhuskers, had lost 11 of its previous 12 games.
Yanic Konan Niederhauser and Zach Hicks each scored 19 points, D’Marco Dunn tallied 17 points and Ace Baldwin Jr. contributed 10 points, eight assists and five steals, spearheading a unit that tallied 16 points off of 16 forced turnovers to claim a double-digit win for the first time since Dec. 29 against Penn.
Despite the win, Penn State remains in last place of the Big Ten standings. With a strong finish over the final four games of the regular season, however, the Nittany Lions have the opportunity to earn a bid to the 15-team Big Ten Tournament, which is set to tip off from Indianapolis on March 12.
The Nittany Lions broke away early, taking a 12-point lead just five minutes into the game. By the end of the first half, the advantage grew to 23 points. Penn State never looked back, maintaining a 27-20 edge over Nebraska in the rebounding column, scoring 11 second-chance points off of seven offensive rebounds and finishing with a strong 61% from the field.
In attendance for Wednesday’s game was four-star point guard Kayden Mingo, the Nittany Lions’ highest-rated recruit in program history. He watched his future team blowout Nebraska alongside his younger brother, Dylan, a five-star recruit ranked as the No. 9 overall prospect in the class of 2026. He has yet to make a college decision.
Penn State will next hit the road for a clash at Minnesota (14-12) on Saturday and Indiana (15-11) next Wednesday.
