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UNIVERSITY PARK -- The Penn State men's basketball team opened the Mike Rhoades era with a dominant 79-45 victory over Delaware State in the Nittany Lions' season opener Monday night inside the Jordan Center.
It was a wire-to-wire win for the Nittany Lions. Penn State earned the 34-point victory by way of a 49.1 percent field goal percentage and 12 made 3-pointers.
The Penn State defense forced 23 Delaware State turnovers and held the Hornets to a 28.8 percent clip from the field.
"I was really proud of our team, proud of our approach," Rhoades said. "There were definitely some first-game jitters, but I was really proud of the guys trying to play the right way. It was a good first game but a lot of big steps still to take for us."
Penn State was led by the sophomore duo of Kanye Clary (22 points) and Jameel Brown (20 points) who both posted career-best marks.
"Put all your attention on defense. You dont have to make a shot to stay in the game, you have to play defense," Rhoades said when asked about his thoughts on Brown's night. "His specialty is he can really shoot. People are going to have to cover him but I am so proud of him because of his defense. Kanye … he was dynamic with the ball and we love that."
Brown drained six triples and Clary added seven boards in the duo's strong overall night. Qudus Wahab snagged 13 rebounds and added seven points in his first game as a Nittany Lion, while Zach Hicks rounded out the double-digit scorers with 12 points.
Penn State won the opening tip and earned a 2-0 starting advantage on a Clary floater to begin the 2023-24 season. The Nittany Lions were able to use their opening score to extend a 14-4 run through nearly 10 minutes of play while holding Delaware State scoreless for a span of 6:46.
A Delaware State jumper made it 14-6 but Penn State responded immediately with a 12-0 spurt, taking a 26-6 lead with 7:05 left to play in the opening half.
The teams traded buckets for the next four minutes before back-to-back triples from Zach Hicks put the Nittany Lions up 37-14 at the 3:33 mark of the frame.
The defenses held strong the rest of the half, with each team scoring just two points in the final three minutes. The Nittany Lions took a 39-18 lead into the locker room at the break. Jameel Brown led all scorers in the opening half with 11 points, including three triples.
Penn State opened the second half on an 8-2 streak, highlighted by 3-pointers from Clary and Hicks, before extending its lead to 47-20 at the 17:28 mark of the second half.
The Nittany Lions never gave way, pushing their lead all the way to 34 points with just over five minutes to play in the game. Penn State was able to carry its 34-point advantage through the final horn, taking down the Hornets by a final score of 79-45.
"It doesnt matter who we play, where we play. We've got to take care of the ball. We've got to shore that up," Rhoades said. "We have guys who can get to the lane. We want to get off a shot every time we come down the court. We have to play defense."
Recruiting trail
Before the game, Rhoades added some size to his 2024 recruiting class, thanks in part to four-star center Miles Goodman, who chose the Nittany Lions over Washington.
Goodman, who is a native of Washington, took an official visit to Penn State in September. TCU and Washington also hosted the 6-foot-10, 205-pound center.
Goodman also received offers from California, Georgetown, Montana, San Diego State, Seattle, Texas Tech and UNLV. He is the No. 120 recruit in the 2024 class according to 247Sports and the No. 109 recruit in the nation according to the industry-generated 247Sports Composite rankings.
Penn State's 2024 recruiting class is now up to three commits, as Goodman joins Dominick Stewart, a three-star combo guard and Jahvin Carter, a two-guard, in the class. Goodman and Stewart are teammates at Southern California Academy for their senior season.
DELAWARE ST. (0-1): Andrews 1-5 2-2 4, Stone 1-5 0-0 2, Muniz 1-6 0-0 2, Perkins 4-7 1-1 9, Robinson 4-10 1-2 9, Staten 3-14 0-0 7, K.Johnson 1-3 0-0 2, Somerville 1-4 0-0 2, Tavarez 1-6 0-0 2, Oba 1-2 0-0 2, Stitt 1-4 2-2 4, Shepherd 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-66 6-7 45.
PENN STATE (1-0): Hicks 4-9 0-0 12, Wahab 3-3 1-2 7, Baldwin 1-8 3-4 5, Clary 7-11 7-9 22, Kern 1-2 2-4 4, Brown 7-9 0-0 20, Dunn 1-4 0-0 3, Mitchell 0-2 0-2 0, O'Boyle 1-5 0-0 2, Lilley 1-1 0-0 2, Gudmundsson 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 27-55 13-21 79.
Halftime_Penn St. 39-18. 3-Point Goals_Delaware St. 1-16 (Staten 1-7, Stone 0-1, Tavarez 0-1, Muniz 0-2, Perkins 0-2, Stitt 0-3), Penn St. 12-32 (Brown 6-8, Hicks 4-9, Clary 1-2, Dunn 1-3, Kern 0-1, Mitchell 0-1, Baldwin 0-4, O'Boyle 0-4). Rebounds_Delaware St. 33 (Andrews 8), Penn St. 38 (Wahab 13). Assists_Delaware St. 7 (Muniz 3), Penn St. 13 (Baldwin 5). Total Fouls_Delaware St. 16, Penn St. 14. A_7,345 (15,261).