Penn State men’s basketball’s 2024-25 conference schedule has been released. It includes some intriguing contests, including a multi-game trip to the West Coast.
Here’s a look at the full Big Ten slate for the Nittany Lions, who will begin the second year of the Mike Rhoades era on Nov. 4 with a non-conference game against Binghamton.
The opener
Penn State will open its conference schedule on Dec. 5 against Purdue at the Bryce Jordan Center. The Boilermakers are coming off a season in which they fell in the National Championship. They lost leading scorer Zach Edey this offseason, but return key playmakers such as Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer.
Pair of meetings with revamped Rutgers
It doesn’t get easier after Purdue. The Nittany Lions will hit the road on Dec. 10 for a meeting at Rutgers, led by two five-star recruits in small forward Ace Bailey and guard Dylan Harper. Penn State will host the Scarlet Knights a month later on Jan. 20.
West Coast trip
The expanded Big Ten means more travel for the Nittany Lions. They’ll head to Los Angeles on Feb. 8 for a game at UCLA and play at USC, now led by former Arkansas head coach Eric Musselman, on Feb. 11.
Penn State will host Oregon on Jan. 12 and Washington on Feb. 15.
Other notable matchups
The Nittany Lions will return to The Palestra in Philadelphia on Jan. 5 for a matchup against Indiana, and will rematch the Hooisers on the road on Feb. 26. Three days later, on Jan. 8, Penn State will travel to Illinois. The Nittany Lions will also play at Michigan State on Jan. 15.
Everything else
Minnesota is the third team, along with Rutgers and Indiana, that Penn State will play twice this season. The Nittany Lions will host the Golden Gophers on Feb. 4 and face them on the road on Feb. 22.
Other teams Penn State will host at the Bryce Jordan Center include Northwestern on Jan. 2, Ohio State on Jan. 30, Nebraska on Feb. 19 and Maryland on March 1.
The Nittany Lions will also hit the road for contests against Iowa on Jan. 24 and Michigan on Jan. 27 before concluding the conference slate at Wisconsin on March 8.
Team outlook
Rhoades will return much of the corps from his debut Penn State season, a year in which his team finished with a 16-17 record. This year’s squad is once again set to be headlined by Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Ace Baldwin Jr., as well as returning contributors D’Marco Dunn, Nick Kern Jr., Zach Hicks and Puff Johnson.
The Nittany Lions also added four transfers — former Tennessee guard Freddie Dilione V, former Xavier center Kachi Nzeh, former Nebraska forward Eli Rice and former Northern Illinois center Yanic Niederhauser — and five freshmen. Two of the team’s first-year additions, center Miles Goodman and small forward Hudson Ward, were four-star recruits.
