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UNIVERSITY PARK -- Ace Baldwin Jr. scored 25 points and distributed 11 assists and Yanic Konan Niederhauser recorded a double-double and Penn State beat Purdue Fort Wayne 102-89 on Wednesday night.
Konan Niederhauser scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, Zach Hicks scored 17 points, reserve Nick Kern Jr. 13 and Freddie Dilione V and Puff Johnson and 11 apiece.
Undefeated Penn State (5-0) shot 34 of 61 (55.7%) distributing 25 assists.
Jalen Jackson scored a career-high 31 points, reserve Corey Handnot II scored a career-high 20 and Eric Mulder 12 on 6-of-8 shooting while grabbing 11 rebounds for the Mastodons.
Fort Wayne (3-2) made 12 of 28 (42.9%) from 3-point range.
Baldwin's 3-pointer with 13 minutes remaining gave the Nittany Lions a 64-62 lead and they led for the remainder. Hicks' 3 with 8:21 left gave Penn State its first double-digit advantage of the game at 81-69.
Fort Wayne built a 47-36 lead late in the second half when it outscored the Nittany Lions 16-7 in just under three minutes. Quinton Morton-Robertson buried a 3 and Baldwin sank a pair of free throws to reduce the deficit and Fort Wayne led 47-41 at halftime.
The Nittany Lions are 5-0 for the first time since the 2019-20 season. Penn State is 2-0 all-time against Fort Wayne.
The only other meeting came on Dec. 28, 2005, a 74-59 Penn State win inside the Bryce Jordan Center.
Game notes: Penn State is 5-0 to start the season for the first time since the 2019-20 campaign. … Penn State has now recorded three 100-plus point games this season. It's just the second time in program history that the Nittany Lions have put up 100+ in three games in the same season. The 1954-55 team scored 100+ on three occasions. … With the 102-point effort, the Nittany Lions have now scored 80-plus points in five-straight games for the first time in program history (108 vs. Binghamton, 103 vs. UMBC, 92 vs. St. Francis, 86 vs. Virginia Tech and 102 vs. Purdue Fort Wayne). … The Nittany Lions are now averaging 98.2 points per game through five games this season. … Baldwin Jr. tallied his second-consecutive double-double with 25 points, 11 assists, seven rebounds and two steals. It marks his first 20-plus point game of the season. … Hicks buried five 3-pointers for the second-straight game, finishing with 17 points. He's shooting 50 percent (19-38) from 3-point range through five games this season while averaging 3.8 made 3s per game.
The Lions play Fordham on Monday in Daytona Beach, Florida in the Sunshine Slam Tournament. Game time is 4 p.m.
PURDUE FORT WAYNE (3-2): Mulder 6-8 0-0 12, Nelson 2-4 0-0 6, Bello 3-9 0-1 7, Jackson 10-21 10-12 31, Morton-Robertson 2-6 2-2 8, Hadnot 6-10 3-4 20, Cuthrell 0-7 0-0 0, Elisee 1-1 0-0 2, Lewis 1-3 0-0 3, Morgan 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 31-70 15-19 89.
PENN STATE (5-0): Hicks 5-11 2-2 17, Konan Niederhauser 6-9 4-8 16, Baldwin 7-9 7-8 25, Dilione 3-8 5-5 11, Johnson 4-8 3-4 11, Kern 5-6 2-2 13, Dunn 1-5 0-0 3, Nzeh 3-3 0-1 6, Carter 0-1 0-0 0, Stewart 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 34-61 23-30 102.
Halftime--Fort Wayne 47-41. 3-Point Goals--Fort Wayne 12-28 (Hadnot 5-8, Nelson 2-4, Morton-Robertson 2-5, Bello 1-2, Lewis 1-2, Jackson 1-4, Morgan 0-1, Cuthrell 0-2), Penn St. 11-25 (Hicks 5-9, Baldwin 4-5, Kern 1-1, Dunn 1-3, Carter 0-1, Johnson 0-2, Dilione 0-4). Rebounds--Fort Wayne 28 (Mulder 11), Penn St. 34 (Konan Niederhauser 10). Assists--Fort Wayne 16 (Morton-Robertson 8), Penn St. 25 (Baldwin 11). Total Fouls--Fort Wayne 23, Penn St. 18. A--6,547