Penn State men’s basketball (5-0) narrowly defeated Purdue Fort Wayne (3-2) on Wednesday night inside the Bryce Jordan Center.

Ace Baldwin Jr. led the way for the Nittany Lions with 25 points and 11 assists. Zach Hicks added 17 points on five made three-pointers in the victory.

How It Happened

Coming off a dominating win against Virginia Tech in the Hall of Fame Series in Baltimore, Maryland, Mike Rhoades rolled out the same starting five as usual against the Mastodons. Yanic Konan Niederhauser started the scoring for the Nittany Lions with an easy layup. Eric Mulder responded with two points of his own for Purdue Fort Wayne.

A few possessions later, Konan Niederhauser flushed home a one-handed dunk off an offensive rebound to extend the Nittany Lions’ lead. Kachi Nzeh fouled the Mastodons going for a defensive rebound and Penn State held an 8-4 advantage at the first media timeout.

Out of the under-sixteen timeout, Jalen Jackson drove to the basket and made the layup to make it a one-score game. Nick Kern Jr. extended the blue and white’s lead on the next possession with a triple as the shot clock expired. Puff Johnson got in on the scoring action with a tough floater in the paint but Corey Hadnot II tied it at 13 with a three-pointer on the next possession.

The Nittany Lions and Mastodons traded buckets out of the second media timeout to tie it at 21. Konan Niederhauser broke the deadlock at the foul line with one made shot. Jackson retook the lead for Purdue Fort Wayne with another layup before going into the under-eight timeout. Zach Hicks made both foul shots out of the timeout and the Nittany Lions led once again.

Jackson drilled a top-of-the-arc triple and the Mastodons retook the lead 25-24. Baldwin turned it over driving to the rim but turned defense into offense on the next possession to get an easy steal and lay in for the Nittany Lions. Konan Niederhauser kept the momentum rolling with an impressive block on the defensive end to deny the Mastodons.

Mulder slammed in a dunk out of the last media timeout of the half and Purdue Fort Wayne led 36-30. Baldwin stepped up for Rhaodes and the Nittany Lions and responded with fade-away and-one to cut the lead in half. Jackson hit his second triple of the evening for the Mastodons and the lead returned to six.

Konan Niederhauser missed both shots at the line on the next possession and Jackson went the other way for a runaway dunk. Quinton Morton-Robertson drilled a three-pointer from the left wing and just like that with a little over a minute to play in the first half the Mastodons led 47-36. Hicks got the triple back for the Nittany Lions out of a Rhoades timeout but Purdue Fort Wayne still went into the break with a 47-41 advantage.

Baldwin started the second half hot with a three-pointer to cut the lead in half. A Konan Niederhauser steal got the ball back for Penn State and Baldwin did his thing again and hit another triple. Baldwin kept it going by hitting an and-one three-pointer to fire up the Bryce Jordan Center and give the Nittany Lions the lead.

Freddie Dilione V went coast to coast for another and-one conversion for the blue and white and the momentum was back in the home team’s hands. Mulder and Hicks traded big-time shots from there for each team as both sides settled into the second half. Penn State took a 59-56 lead into the first media timeout of the second half.

Nzeh laid in an easy two points out of the break to extend the lead. Jackson got going again for the Mastodons and three straight buckets gave Purdue Fort Wayne the lead 62-61. Baldwin once again proved to be the go-to man with another triple and D’Marco Dunn followed it up with a three-pointer of his own to extend the lead to 69-62.

Jackson drew a third personal foul on Hicks out of the under-twelve timeout and made both shots a the free-throw line for the Mastodons. Hicks responded with his third made triple of the evening. Maximus Nelson hit a three to cut into the lead but Baldwin and Kern made back-to-back shots to retake the momentum. Rhoades implored the Nittany Lion students and fans in attendance to make some noise before Kern forced another turnover on the defensive end.

Penn State went on a 9-0 run from there to build the lead to double digits. The Nittany Lions led 83-69 at the under-eight timeout. Hicks kept the shots falling out of the break with another triple from in front of his own bench. Purdue Fort Wayne never stopped fighting, Rasheed Bello finished a tough shot for an and-one opportunity with over five minutes left to keep the score within striking distance.

Kern showed off his athleticism in transition with a windmill dunk that got the crowd off its feet. Dilione did his best Kern impression with a baseline drive and dunk and the Nittany Lions never looked back.

WINDMILL pic.twitter.com/6YcGynsRe3

— Onward State (@OnwardState) November 21, 2024

After a shaky first half, the offense settled in and took care of business. A final few highlights from Konan Niederhauser and Johnson sealed the victory. Penn State reached the 100-point mark with another dunk in transition from Kern. The Nittany Lions defeated the Mastodons 102-89.

Takeaways

• Poor defense plagued the Nittany Lions in the first half. Rhoades can’t be pleased with the effort or results defensively in the first half especially. The Nittany Lions only forced three first-half turnovers.
• Ace Baldwin Jr. once again why he is the best player on the court night in and night out. It took the point guard over 10 minutes to score his first points of the night but he finished with 25 points, 11 assists, and seven rebounds.
• Zach Hicks is shooting the rock extremely well. Hicks made five triples in the win in his 17-point outing. He came into the game as the Nittany Lions’ leading scorer.

What’s Next?

Penn State will travel to Daytona Beach, Florida to take on Fordham at 4 p.m. on Monday, November 25. The game is a part of the Sunshine Slam and will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network.