UNIVERSITY PARK — The Penn State Nittany Lion men’s basketball team suffered a difficult, close loss at Rutgers on Dec. 10, 2024, but since then the Lions have more than rebounded with three straight double-digit wins.
First was a 99-51 romp over Coppin State at home on Dec. 14, 2024, then the Lions traveled to Philadelphia for a gritty 75-64 victory over Drexel at the Daskalakis Athletic Center on Dec. 21, 2024.
On Dec. 29, 2024, the Lions returned home and made it three in a row with a strong second-half performance against the Penn Quakers.
The two teams basically traded baskets in the first half with the Lions taking a three-point, 34-31 at halftime.
Penn State, however, saved its best for the second half, and the Lions piled up 52 points and steadily pulled away from Penn in an 86-66 win.
Ace Baldwin had a monster game for Penn State with 23 points, including 12-for-12 from the line, 10 assists and eight rebounds.
It was Baldwin’s 3-pointer with four minutes to play that gave Penn State a 77-56 lead and essentially put the game in the win column.
Baldwin’s jumper was followed with a layup by Nick Kern, and then two foul shots by Baldwin made it 80-56 with just three minutes left.
Center Yanic Konan Niederhauser had a double-double of his own with 19 points and 15 rebounds, while Kern (13 points), Freddie Dilone V (11) and Puff Johnson (11) were also in double figures.
Penn State led for a majority of the game and outmanned the Quakers inside by outsourcing them 52-20 in the paint.
The Lions went just 4-for-18 from beyond the arc, but they made up for it with going 22-for-26 from the line.
With the win, the Lions finished non-conference play with a 10-1 record, and the team is now 11-2 overall.
The win was also the 400th career head coaching victory for Mike Rhoades.
“Just proud of our guys, especially in the second half,” Rhoades said after the game. “We had to sweat out the Christmas gravy and we finally got ourselves going in the second half. They (Penn) stretched us and gave us some issues, which was good because that’s something we have to work on. I thought some of our seniors played really well, so a lot of guys contributed and it gets real on Thursday (Jan. 2) in the Big Ten. That’s why we’re here and that’s the fun of it. So we have a lot of work to do this week to get ready for Northwestern.”
As the coach indicated, the Lions will now get back into Big Ten play with a home game against Northwestern on Thursday, Jan. 2, and then a showdown against Indiana in Philadelphia on Monday, Jan. 6.
