Head coach Mike Rhoades earned the 400th win of his career as Penn State remained undefeated at home and finished 10-1 in nonconference play after defeating Penn 86-66.
The Nittany Lions were led by Ace Baldwin Jr. who had a 23-point, 10-assist double-double. Four other Nittany Lions scored double digits with Yanic Konan Niederhauser (19 points and career-high 15 rebounds), Nick Kern Jr. (13 points), Puff Johnson (11 points), and Freddie Dilione V (11 points) combining for 54.
Michael Zanoni was the leading scorer for the Quakers with a career-high 27 points and seven 3s. Nick Spinoso had 13 points, eight rebounds and four assists.
Overall, Penn State shot 45% from the field and 22% from three-point line. Penn was held to 39% field goal shooting and 33% three-point shooting.
Yanic Konan Niederhauser opened the game with consecutive buckets for Penn State, but the Nittany Lions missed seven straight shots afterward.
Inconsistency was the theme of the opening half as neither team could find a rhythm. Penn was able to stay close, though, with Michael Zanoni hitting three 3’s and scoring a career-high 15 points.
Following Zanoni’s second 3 of the game, he was charged with a technical, leading to a Penn State 6-0 run. Zanoni ended that Quaker scoring drought with a top-of-the-key, and-one 3, surpassing his career-high 11 points.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.A Puff Johnson layup capped off an ensuing 7-0 run for PSU, forcing a Penn timeout.
The Quakers would go on to make back-to-back buckets to cut the lead down to one (32-31), but Konan Niederhauser threw down an alley-oop to give Penn State a three-point lead heading into the locker room.
Neither team shot above 40 percent from the field in the first half, going a combined 22-of-62. Konan Niederhauser had a near double-double in the first 20 minutes with 12 points and seven rebounds.
To start the second, Freddie Dilione V scored six of Penn State’s first nine points by the under-16 media timeout.
Two free throws by Baldwin at the 12:43 mark gave PSU its first double-digit lead. The next 4:18 were all Penn State, as Baldwin once again found himself at the charity strip to give the Nittany Lions a 14-point lead (60-46). Then, Johnson made Penn State’s first 3 at the 6:29 mark to make it a 21-point game, putting the game out of reach.
With nonconference play finished, Penn State will take on the rest of the Big Ten starting Thursday against Northwestern at the Bryce Jordan Center.
