Penn State men’s basketball (8-9, 2-4 Big Ten) lost to No. 1 Purdue (15-2, 4-2 Big Ten) 95-78 in a blowout in West Lafayette. The game was over before it started, as the Nittany Lions had little chance coming into the game, and the Boilermakers rode a 27-2 run in the first half to win by 17.

Kanye Clary totaled 16 points while, despite scoring only seven points, Ace Baldwin Jr. totaled 12 assists and five steals. Nick Kern Jr. added 14 points and four rebounds and drilled his first three of the year in the loss.

How It Happened

The starting lineup remained the same for the Nittany Lions as Qudus Wahab lost the tip against the reigning National College Player of the Year Zach Edey. An early turnover by Purdue led to Clary drilling his first shot, a mid-range jumper, for the game’s first bucket.

On the ensuing Boilermaker possession, Lance Jones drilled a long three for Purdue’s first make of the game. Baldwin tied things up after drawing a foul and going one for two from the line. Trey Kaufman-Renn drilled a pair of free throws after being fouled by Zach Hicks, but D’Marco Dunn entered the scorebook with a driving layup for his first bucket.

The two teams traded three-point makes with Jones drilling his second of the game and Clary answering him with his first three to tie things at eight all heading into the first media break.

Out of the timeout, Baldwin picked up a steal and found Kern, who picked up an and-one layup but missed the free throw. On the other end, Camden Heide drilled a triple to retake the lead for Purdue and Edey grew that lead with a dunk for his first make.

Edey drilled a pair of free throws after being fouled by Dunn and after Leo O’Boyle missed three, Edey continued his self-scoring run picking up an and-one layup and free throw for his seventh consecutive point.

O’Boyle finally ended the Edey run with a layup, however, Braden Smith answered back with a long three-pointer. Things kept getting worse for the Nittany Lions’ as, after a missed three by Dunn, Mason Gillis drilled his first three to make it 24-12 Purdue, forcing Mike Rhoades to call his first timeout.

After the break, the Boilermakers continued the scoring run, as Smith grabbed a steal and found Edey wide-open for a slam dunk. Smith continued the attack drilling another three-point to increase the Purdue lead to 17.

Things went from bad to worse for the Nittany Lions as the Purdue scoring run continued. Edey slammed another dunk, and Fletcher Loyer joined in on the fun and drilled his first three of the game. Edey hit one of two free throws to make it 35-15 Purdue.

After not scoring for nearly four minutes, Penn State finally got a shot to fall as Clary drilled a contested three-pointer. The Boilermakers didn’t stop their attack as Foyer went right down the floor and drove through the lane for a layup. Caleb Furst added to the lead with his first jumper, to make it 39-15 Purdue.

With under eight minutes to play in the half, Clary picked up one of two free throws, however, Loyer added two more with a pair of free throws of his own. Jameel Brown checked into the game and drilled his first three-pointer of the game.

Kaufman-Renn made one of two foul shots, and Clary and Myles Colvin traded two-point makes. On the following offensive possession, Brown drilled another three to cut the deficit back down to 20 points. After a layup by Kaufman-Renn, Brown and Kern drilled back-to-back three-pointers to make it 46-30 Purdue and finally got a run going for Penn State.

That run didn’t last long as Colvin drilled a three of his own, however, Clary answered back with a driving layup as the Nittany Lions went into the final media break of the first half down 17.

With under four minutes to play Edey picked up two more points with a pair of free throws and after a Kern missed three, Edey continued his hot first half with a hook shot. Wahab picked up a pair of free throws of his own after Edey fouled him to get the deficit back down to 19.

After Edey went one for two from the line, he added another layup after Smith missed a jumper to finish the first half with 19 points. With the final seconds of the half ticking down Baldwin drove to the rim and threw up a circus shot that dropped in just as time expired on the half, as Purdue led 56-36 after the first 20 minutes.

At the start of the second half, things picked up right where they left off — Penn State missed a three and Edey rolled to the rim for a dunk. After Smith was called for a travel, Clary drilled a stepback three in Smith’s face. Dunn followed that three up with an and-one layup and a free throw to get the game back to a 16-point contest.

Purdue answered back with a run of its own with Edey knocking down a hook shot, Loyer making a fast break layup and Jones drilling a long three for seven points in 45 seconds.

Puff Johnson finally scored for the first time in the game, making one of two free throws and following that up with his first field goal of the game on the next possession. However, the Boilermaker didn’t stop their attack with Loyer knocking down a mid-range jumper, Edey scoring another hook shot, and Jones driving to the rim for a layup.

After a media timeout, Demetrius Lilley slammed a dunk for his first bucket of the game. Gillis followed that dunk up with an and-one three-pointer and picked up the free throw as well. Down 75-47, Kern scored back-to-back-to-back layups for six consecutive points putting Penn State back down 22.

With just over 12 minutes to play, Heide drilled a three-pointer and Lilley answered back with a layup. After another timeout, Heide picked up a foul on a three-pointer and made two of three shots, however, Edey grabbed the rebound after the third miss and slammed a putback dunk.

Hicks finally drilled his first shot in the game with a three-pointer, but Purdue answered back as Jones made an and-one layup and free throw. Penn State wasn’t turning over yet as Kern picked up an and-one layup and free throw of his own and Baldwin grabbed a steal and drove to the rim for a layup.

The Nittany Lions continued to fight with Wahab throwing down a dunk to make it 85-65. On the other end, however, Wahab fouled Edey who knocked down both free throws, but Baldwin was fouled on the other end and knocked down both of his shots. Edey was fouled again and hit one of two and was taken out of the game, finishing with 30 points and 20 rebounds.

Kern kept scoring for Penn State driving to the rim with a layup, however, Purdue kept its attack coming with Furst hitting a second-chance layup. Hicks drilled his second three of the afternoon, although Furst followed that up with a hook shot, and after a steal by Ethan Morton, Colvin made a layup to make it 95-72 Purdue.

With under three minutes to play, Kern knocked down a pair of free throws to cut the deficit back to 21. Penn State kept attacking trying to make the game look competitive with Brown hitting a layup after a steal by Hicks.

Brown drilled another layup with 17 seconds remaining in the game, however, Purude was able to dribble out the clock and win 95-78.

Takeaways

• It was no secret that this game was going to be a challenge for the Nittany Lions who, coming into the game, had not beaten a No. 1 team in the history of the program. Unfortunately for Penn State, they got a pissed-off Boilermaker squad that was coming off a loss against Nebraska. Purdue outshot Penn State 58.2% to 44.6% from the field as the Nittany Lions had no answer for Zach Edey who totaled 30 points and 20 rebounds.
• It was by far the best game Kern has played this season for the Nittany Lions. After dropping 14 the other night versus Northwestern, Kern dropped a career-high 18 points and added four rebounds. He seemed like one of the only players throughout the game who could knock down a shot.
• The three-point shooting woes continued for Penn State as the Nittany Lions shot an embarring 9-28 (32.1%) from beyond the arc. Not being able to shoot once again led to Penn State being unable to stay in it with the Boilermakers.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions will return home to the BJC to take another ranked team in No. 15 Wisconsin. The game is set to tip off at 9 p.m. on Tuesday, January 16, and can be watched on the Big Ten Network.