By Danielle Daniels

1 30 2025

GAME NOTES

https://gopsusports.com/documents/63c6719f-5afb-46a8-a84c-0b7b6402160a.pdf

KNOW BEFORE YOU GO

• WEAR WHITE!

OPENING TIPS

• The Nittany Lions return to their roots Thursday night when Penn State hosts Ohio State inside Rec Hall, the original home of the Penn State basketball teams.
• The Nittany Lions rank top 20 in the nation in points per game (83.2), field goal percentage (48.8%) and turnovers forced per game (15.48).
• Six Nittany Lions are averaging double-digit points, led by Ace Baldwin Jr.‘s 14.3 ppg.

IF PENN STATE BEATS OHIO STATE

• The Nittany Lions would improve to 11-1 when playing in Happy Valley this season.
• Penn State would win its fourth game against Ohio State in the last five meetings.
• The Nittany Lions would move to 518-184 all-time in Rec Hall.

RETURN TO REC

• Penn State returns to its roots Thursday night as the Nittany Lions host Ohio State in the Return to Rec game. Rec Hall, which is the current home of Penn State’s men’s and women’s volleyball and men’s and women’s gymnastics and wrestling teams, was the longtime home of both the men’s and women’s basketball teams until a 1996 move to the Bryce Jordan Center.
• Men’s basketball returns to Rec Hall for the the second-straight year. Since moving into the Bryce Jordan Center during the 1996 season, Penn State has played at Rec Hall on four occasions – Dec. 14, 2013 vs. Princeton (L, 79-81 OT), Dec. 10, 2015 vs. Canisius (W, 81-67), Dec. 12, 2015 vs. Louisiana Monroe (W, 54-50) and Feb. 21, 2024 vs. #12 Illinois (W, 90-89).

BACK TO THE ROOTS

• The Nittany Lions defeated Wisconsin, 79-50, in their final Rec Hall game on Jan. 7, 1996, before moving to their current home in the 15,261-seat Bryce Jordan Center the following game on Jan. 11, 1996. Rec Hall gained a reputation as one of the toughest places to play in the nation when it served as the home of the Nittany Lions from 1929-96. That reputation was built on boisterous crowds who packed the arena to the rafters and a student section that was right on top of the floor.
• Rec Hall had a final listed capacity of 6,846 for basketball, but more than 8,000 fans jammed into the iconic building for a basketball game six times in the building’s history, including a record 8,600 fans for a contest vs. Virginia on Dec. 5, 1973.
• The Lions compiled a stellar 514-183 (.737) record in Rec Hall from 1929-96, including a 45-game win streak from 1951-55. That era saw the Nittany Lions reach the program’s only NCAA Final Four in 1954 behind All-American Jesse Arnelle and coach Elmer Gross. Arnelle is among a long list of Penn State greats to have made their mark on the Rec Hall floor, including names like John Amaechi, Freddie Barnes, John Barr, Ron Brown, Monroe Brown, Carver Clinton, Dan Earl, Mark Dumars, Gene Harris, Deron Hayes, Tom Hovasse, Mike Lang, Pete Lisicky and Bob Weiss.
• Penn State was led by nine different head coaches during the Rec Hall era, including longtime NBA coaches Dick Harter (1979-83) and John Bach (1969-78), the Lions’ all-time wins leader John Egli (1955-68), Helm’s Foundation Hall of Fame inductee John Lawther (1937-49) and Bruce Parkhill (1984-95).

SCOUTING THE BUCKEYES

• The Buckeyes are 12-8 on the season and 4-5 in Big Ten play
• Ohio State has won each of its last two games, earning a 73-70 road win at Purdue on Jan. 21 and 82-65 home victory against Iowa on Jan. 27.
• Bruce Thornton leads Ohio State with 17.0 points and 4.25 assists per game. Devin Royal (13.8 ppg), John Mobley Jr. (12.3 ppg) and Micah Parrish (11.5 ppg) follow.

AGAINST OHIO STATE

• Penn State and Ohio State meet for the only time this regular season Thursday night inside Rec Hall.
• The Nittany Lions have won three of the last four meetings with the Buckeyes and 11 of Penn State’s 22 all-time wins vs. Ohio State have come in Happy Valley.
• The two teams split last year’s regular-season series, with Penn State earning an 83-80 home win on Dec. 9, 2023 and Ohio State claiming a 79-67 home victory on Jan. 20, 2024.

FRONT LOADED

• Penn State’s Big Ten schedule has been frontloaded with teams that have emerged at the top of the league standings through the first half of the conference slate.
• The nine teams that Penn State has already played in Big Ten action are a combined 50-35 (.588) in conference play, while the eight teams Penn State has left to face in the remainder of its conference slate are a combined 32-43 (.427) in Big Ten play.

REWRITING HISTORY

• The Nittany Lions have accomplished the following Penn State milestones through the first 21 games of the season:
  • Finished non-conference play at 10-1, marking just the sixth time since Penn State joined the Big Ten in 1992-93 that the Nittany Lions have finished regular-season non-conference action with one or fewer losses.
  • Big Ten-opening win over #8 Purdue was Penn State’s first win over a team ranked in the top 10 of the AP Poll since Dec. 2019.
  • Started the season 6-0 for the first time in 25 years (since the 1999-2000 season). Started the season 8-1 for the first time in 10 years (since the 2014-15 season).
  • Scored 100+ points in back-to-back games for the first time in program history (108 vs. Binghamton, 103 vs. UMBC).
  • Scored 80+ points in six-consecutive games for the first time in program history.
  • Scored 100+ in three games in the same season for just the second time in program history.

NATIONAL NUMBERS

• The Nittany Lions currently rank in the top 25 in the country in a number of statistical categories through games on Jan. 28:

HIGH OCTANE

• Penn State is averaging 83.2 points per game, a mark that ranks 20th in the country.
• The Nittany Lions have scored 80-plus points in 14 of their 21 games this season.
• Penn State’s 83.2 points per game currently tracks to best the program record for single-season scoring average of 78.7 ppg that was set by the 1994-95 team.

BALANCED ATTACK

• Six different Penn State players are averaging double-digit points: Ace Baldwin Jr. (14.3 ppg), Nick Kern Jr. (13.0) , Yanic Konan Niederhauser (12.3), Zach Hicks (11.7), Puff Johnson (10.2) and Freddie Dilione V (10.1).
• Nine players have scored in double figures, with six different players recording 20-plus point games, in the Nittany Lions’ balanced offensive attack.

TURNING DEFENSE INTO OFFENSE

• Penn State ranks 25th in Division I in turnovers forced per game (15.5) and 31st in steals per game (9.0).

CLOSE LOSSES

• Penn State has been within four points in the final two minutes of seven of its eight losses this season.

ONE OF ONE

• Graduate student Ace Baldwin Jr. is the ONLY active Division I player and one of just nine Division I players since the 1947-48 season (77 years) with 1,500+ career points (1,583), 700+ career assists (776) and 300+ career steals (313).
• Baldwin Jr. is Division I’s active career leader in steals (313) and his 776 career assists are second amongst active Division I players.

GOT AN ACE UP OUR SLEEVE

• Ace Baldwin Jr. currently ranks fourth in the country with his 7.9 assists per game and sixth in free throw percentage (93.1%). He’s notched five points-assists double-doubles and has tallied double-digit assists in more games (6) than he did all of last season (4), including a single-game school record 16 helpers on Dec. 14 vs. Coppin State.

CONSISTENCY FOR KERN

• Senior Nick Kern Jr. has scored in double figures in 16 of the last 17 games, including two 20-plus point efforts. He leads the Nittany Lions with 17 double-digit scoring efforts this season and is currently Penn State’s leading scorer in Big Ten play, averaging 14.2 points per conference game.
• He has shot 60.1 percent (104-173) from the field this season while averaging 13.0 points, 5.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.2 steals per game.

BIG FELLA BURSTING ONTO THE SCENE

• Yanic Konan Niederhauser, Penn State’s mobile and versatile seven-foot forward, is averaging 12.3 points per game, a team-best 6.2 rebounds per game and a Big Ten-best 2.1 blocks per game. The Switzerland native transferred to Penn State ahead of the 2024-25 season following two years at Northern Illinois.

ZACH ATTACK

• Senior Zach Hicks leads Penn State in 3-point shooting percentage (41.6%) and his 2.48 triples per game ranks third in the conference. Hicks is averaging 12.1 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game in conference play.

READY FREDDIE

• Freddie Dilione V has turned it up a notch since the first month of the season:

FUTURE LOOKS BRIGHT

• Head Coach Mike Rhoades has inked the highest-ranked recruiting class in program history and the 21st-ranked class in the country as three highly-touted prospects signed to join the Nittany Lions during the November early signing period.
• Penn State’s three-member class ranks 21st in the nation per 247 Sports. The three-member class is comprised of Mason Blackwood (Rochester, N.Y.), Justin Houser (Camp Hill, Pa.) and Kayden Mingo (Farmingdale, N.Y.). The three new Nittany Lions join the program as the Class of 2029 and bring accomplished athletic and academic pedigrees to Penn State.

The 2024-25 Penn State men’s basketball season is presented by Highmark Health. 

COURTESY PENN STATE ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS