60/50/89.
Normally, two-game sample sizes tend to be noisy, but those shooting splits for Ace Baldwin Jr. are just a microcosm of his best season as a college player.
After Wednesday night’s 102-89 win over Purdue-Fort Wayne, heโs now averaging a career-high in points (16.4) and assists (7.8) while converting at a career-best 47 percent from the field and 43.5 percent from 3.
This type of production demonstrates remarkable growth from the graduate student on an individual level.
On a team level, Baldwinโs performance has almost been necessary for Penn State to win.
While the final boxscores from the past two games have kept PSU’s scoring margin in double digits (31.2, 11th in the nation), Baldwin’s leveling up in the second half put the games out of reach.
Against Virginia Tech, Ace put up 12 points, five assists and two steals in the final 20 minutes. Against Purdue-Fort Wayne, Baldwin ย came out of halftime and went on a personal 10-0 run to give Penn State the lead. He finished with 25 points (15 in the second half), 11 assists (9 in the second) and made all four of his 3s in the second half.
But while Baldwin is firing on all cylinders, will he be overburdened as the season continues?
MAKE THE CASE, ACE
Baldwin was one of 50 players to be named to the Naismith Player of the Year Watchlist.
Ace Baldwin Jr. Lands on Watchlist for Naismith Player of the Year
After five games, he has a strong case to be one of the finalists by the end of the year.
Compared to the other 50 players on the list, Baldwin is:
- tied for second in assists per game (7.8)
- third in total assists (39)
- tied for third in steals per game (2.6)
- tied for second in total steals (13)
- 10th in 3-point percentage (43.5 percent)
- 10th with 1 win share (an estimate of the number of wins contributed by a player due to their offense and defense)
- tied for 11th in total points (82)
- 18th in points per game (16.4)
In major statistical categories, Ace Baldwin is top-20. If the last two games are any indication of what he can do in his final year of eligibility, he could add another prestigious award to his already illustrious career.
HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH FOR BALDWIN?
During the preseason, head coach Mike Rhoades lauded his team’s versatility.
Most notably he talked about the additions of more “handlers” and better “passers”.
โI think we have multiple handlers now, more than we did at this time last year, and better passers,” Rhoades said in October.
“[T]hereโs different ways we can play and, you know, take some things off of Ace, even if he’s out there. Other guys bringing it up, other guys handling it, putting different guys in the actionโฆโ
Although usage rate (an estimate of the number of team plays used by a player when they are on the floor) has been pretty equally spread, Baldwin ranks first out of the six players with at least 100 minutes played for Rhoades.
He also tops the team with a 36.4 percent assist rate, ranking him seventh in the nation among 100-minute players.
Over the last two games, as things were close at certain moments, Rhoades benched his freshman guards (Dominick Stewart and Jahvin Carter combined for five total second-half minutes) in favor of more Ace Baldwin.
And he should have.
Baldwin is the leader of this team and the best player. But it’s worrisome that he seems to be the only source of creation when things get stuck in the mud.
Sure, Penn State has had success turning opponents over and getting out in transition, but what happens when the game slows down?
Against Purdue-Fort Wayne specifically, PSU couldn’t turn the Mastodons over in the first half. Penn State only had two points off turnovers and recorded zeroย fastbreak points, two things that have fueled its success this season.
The second half was a much different story (PSU had 20 points off turnovers and 14 fastbreak points), but it started with Ace picking up the pace (apologies for the rhyme).
“I just said to him if you don’t play with pace, what do you think your teammates are going to do?” Rhoades said postgame.
“We ask him to do a lot. He’s guarding the other team’s best player. He’s pressing, he’s getting pressed, and then when the clocks getting down, we ask him to go make a play.”
While Baldwin has shown that he is more than capable of accomplishing those requests, is it too much to put on him as the season goes on?
Will he be able to maintain his efficient production? Will it be enough to win conference games? And what does it mean for Penn State if the answer is no to both of those questions?
