Lions’ balance knocks off No. 8
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From Mirror, wire reports
UNIVERSITY PARK -- Ace Baldwin Jr. scored 17 points, Freddie Dilione V added 14 and Penn State pulled away from No. 8 Purdue for an 81-70 victory in the Big Ten opener for both teams on Thursday night.
Puff Johnson had 13 and four steals, and Nick Kern Jr. had 12 points and three steals off the bench for the Nittany Lions (8-1, 1-0 Big Ten).
It was Penn State's first win over an AP Top 10 team since 2019, prompting fans to storm the court at the Bryce Jordan Center. The Nittany Lions also snapped an eight-game losing streak to the Boilermakers and continued their best start in a decade with their defense and transition offense.
"When you are in college, you want to create memories and events, pictures on your phone that you can have forever. today our basketball program made memories and that is what we are trying to do here. Our students showed up and they were loud," Penn State coach Mike Rhoades said.
Trey Kaufman-Renn and Fletcher Loyer each had 15 for the Boilermakers (7-2, 0-1).
Takeaways
Purdue: The Boilermakers were off all night. They committed 14 of their 24 turnovers in the first half. Penn State's opportunistic offense potted 32 points off their mistakes.
Penn State: After losing to Clemson on Nov. 26, the Nittany Lions rebounded against the Boilermakers to add a quality win to their record.
Key moment
After trailing 9-7, Penn State pulled away with an 11-0 run and never trailed again. The Boilermakers cut it to 25-18, but the Nittany Lions outscored them 15-6 over the final 6:05 to take a 16-point lead into halftime.
"Tonight was the best half of defense we have played since I've been here," Rhoades said. "That is the standard of defense that I want to have here. If you take that kind of defense on the road, you will have a chance. And it just wasn't one or two guys, it was like eight or nine guys."
Key stat
Rhoades said before the season he wants to average over 90 points per game. So far, Penn State's averaged 91 per game and has scored more than 80 in every game but its loss to Clemson.
"Great game. It was an unbelieveable team, program effort to get ready for one of the flagship programs in our conference. That is where we want to get some day and today was a first step in that direction," Rhoades said.
Up next
Purdue hosts Maryland on Sunday, and Penn State visits Rutgers on Tuesday. The Scarlet Knights are 5-3 this season, coming off a loss at Texas A&M.
PURDUE (7-2): Heide 0-2 0-0 0, Kaufman-Renn 5-8 4-7 15, Colvin 2-3 0-0 6, Loyer 3-10 8-8 15, Smith 3-5 0-0 6, Cox 5-8 0-2 12, Harris 2-5 0-0 5, Burgess 2-4 0-0 4, Berg 0-0 0-0 0, C.Furst 1-1 0-0 2, Waddell 1-1 2-2 5. Totals 24-47 14-19 70.
PENN ST. (8-1): Hicks 3-6 3-4 11, Konan Niederhauser 2-3 2-3 6, Baldwin 2-5 12-12 17, Dilione 6-11 0-0 14, Johnson 4-9 4-4 13, Kern 4-6 4-5 12, Dunn 1-3 3-4 6, Carter 1-2 0-0 2, Nzeh 0-1 0-0 0, Stewart 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-47 28-32 81.
Halftime--Penn St. 40-24. 3-Point Goals--Purdue 8-21 (Colvin 2-3, Cox 2-5, Kaufman-Renn 1-1, Waddell 1-1, Harris 1-3, Loyer 1-4, Heide 0-1, Smith 0-1, Burgess 0-2), Penn St. 7-18 (Dilione 2-3, Hicks 2-5, Dunn 1-2, Baldwin 1-3, Johnson 1-5). Rebounds--Purdue 22 (Loyer, Berg 4), Penn St. 26 (Kern 8). Assists--Purdue 17 (Smith 5), Penn St. 14 (Baldwin 6). Total Fouls--Purdue 22, Penn St. 20.