Penn State men’s basketball (13-12, 3-11 Big Ten) was blown out by USC (14-10, 6-7 Big Ten) 92-67 in Los Angeles Tuesday night. The Nittany Lions also lost big against UCLA on Saturday night and were outscored 170-121 while on the West Coast.

Penn State’s offense was stagnant for most of the night as Ace Baldwin Jr. led with 15 points, shot 3-for-8 from the field, and shot 8-for-9 from the free throw line.

As for USC, Chibuzo Agbo made a career-high seven three-pointers as he led the Trojans with 21 points.

How It Happened

Yanic Konan Niederhauser got the start after missing the past two games with a sprained ankle. Baldwin, D’Marco Dunn, Nick Kern Jr., and Zach Hicks filled out the rest of the starting five.

USC won the jump ball and started the scoring with a layup by Saint Thomas. Hicks turned it over on Penn State’s first possession but Thomas did the same moments later and it led to a hook shot off the glass by Kern.

A steal by Baldwin resulted in a Dunn layup and Konan Niederhauser got a block the next time the Trojans had the ball. However, USC took the lead after Desmond Claude was fouled on his made layup and converted the free throw moments later.

Hicks committed another turnover as it turned into a layup by Jalen Shelley but the Nittany Lions answered with a hook shot by Kachi Nzeh at the other end. The game caught a snag after two USC turnovers and one Penn State turnover resulted in no points for either side until Thomas made a three-pointer for the Trojans.

Baldwin drew a shooting foul and made both free throws to cut the USC lead to 10-8. Claude hit a three on the Trojans’ next possession and Dunn drew a foul at the other end where he later made both free throws.

Rashaun Agee threw down a dunk but a held ball after Konan Niederhauser’s missed shot kept the possession with Penn State and it led to a three by freshman guard Jahvin Carter to make it 15-13 USC.

Hey now @JahvinCarter

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— Penn State Men’s Basketball (@PennStateMBB) February 12, 2025

However, Carter later committed a shooting foul and Wesley Yates III went 1-for-2 from the line. An empty Penn State possession led to a layup by Claude and Agbo followed with a three to make it a 6-0 run.

Yates continued the scoring with a three and Josh Cohen made it an 11-0 run with a layup as Penn State used a timeout down 26-13. A shooting foul drawn by Freddie Dilione V got Penn State on the board after over five minutes of game time but he only made one shot.

USC continued its impressive scoring run as Cohen drew and made an and-one and Matt Knowling made a dunk off a fast break to make it a 16-1 run. The Nittany Lions later made two free throws after Baldwin drew a foul.

Moments later, Baldwin drew another foul and made just one this time. However, Penn State’s field goal drought eclipsed eight minutes until Hicks made a three after Baldwin forced a steal. Dominick Stewart followed with a three of his own to make it an eight-point game but Shelley answered with a three for USC.

.@zhicks1231 for three

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— Penn State Men’s Basketball (@PennStateMBB) February 12, 2025

Clark Slajchert was fouled by Dunn and he made both foul shots, but Baldwin was fouled on his made layup a possession later and converted the and-one with a made free throw. Dunn drew a foul moments later and went 1-for-2 to make it 36-27.

Dunn made a layup and Claude made one in return. With seconds left in the first half, Claude was fouled by Baldwin and he made both free throws but Hicks made a last-second layup after Stewart’s missed three to make it a 40-31 game at halftime.

Ending the half on a good note @zhicks1231

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— Penn State Men’s Basketball (@PennStateMBB) February 12, 2025

Agbo started the second half with a three and Kern began the scoring for Penn State with a layup. Cohen was the next to score with a layup and Hicks answered with a three. Agbo then hit a three moments later but so did Baldwin to make it 16 points scored between both teams to start the final half.

Claude was fouled and went 1-for-2 from the line and Agee made a layup on USC’s next possession. Kern made a layup and drew the and-one foul but missed the free throw. Agbo hit a three in return as Stewart drew a foul but made just one foul shot.

Claude dropped in a layup and a shooting foul by Stewart turned it into a three-point play as Claude made the free throw. Yates made it an 18-point game with a three, Hicks dropped in a layup, and Agbo also hit a three.

Dilione drew a foul and made both shots but USC stayed hot as Yates and Thomas each made a layup as Penn State used another timeout down 67-46.

Hicks made a layup after the break but so did Thomas. Konan Niederhauser was fouled and made 1-of-2 free throws but he fouled out shortly after that. Cohen scored a layup soon after but Penn State scored five straight with a three from Dunn and two made free throws from Baldwin.

Baldwin then made a layup and so did Cohen but he was fouled and made the free throw to convert the and-one. Agbo hit his sixth three of the night and Yates followed with a layup to make it 79-56 as this one reached the final minutes.

Stewart made a short jumper but Agbo drained a career-high seventh three in response. Stewart then hit a three and Kern drew a foul as he went 1-for-2 from the charity stripe.

Agee and Claude each drew fouls and made both free-throw attempts. Agee’s layup made it a 6-0 run for USC until Stewart hit another short jumper and later made a layup at 88-66.

This one ended with Yates making a layup, one made free throw from Carter, and a dunk by Shelley as Penn State fell 92-67.

Takeaways

• The middle of the first half killed Penn State and it never recovered. The Nittany Lions went over eight minutes without scoring a field goal while USC went on a 16-1 run.
• The first half was rough but the start of the second half was even worse. USC shot 12-for-12 from the field and 5-for-5 from three until the 9:58 mark. The Trojans ended the game shooting 67.3% from the field and 75% from three.
• Turnovers were a problem for Penn State, again. Against UCLA, the Nittany Lions committed 18 turnovers, and against USC, they committed 15 more.
• It was Konan Niederhauser’s first game back from his injury and he played poorly. He had three points, two rebounds, four turnovers, and fouled out while playing only 12 minutes.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions will return home to face Washington for the annual THON Game at the Bryce Jordan Center at 2 p.m. on Saturday, February 15. The game will air on the Big Ten Network.