Penn State’s men’s basketball team has been showing off a hot offensive flair this season, and it needed it in a big way Wednesday evening. Penn State trailed Purdue Fort Wayne at halftime but put together a big second-half to pull out a 102-89 victory to improve to 5-0.
[autotag]Ace Baldwin Jr.[/autotag] led the way with 25 points and 11 assists with seven rebounds and two steals. He played a huge factor in the second half with 15 of his point coming after halftime as Penn State worked its way back from what was a double-digit deficit late in the first half. [autotag]Zach Hicks[/autotag] hit five 3-pointers in the game as he continues to give the Nittany Lions a threat beyond the arc. Hicks had 17 points in the win.
Penn State is 5-0 for the first time since the start of the 2019-20 season, a season in which Penn State appeared to be on track to reach the NCAA Basketball Tournament before the COVID-19 pandemic shut the tournament down. This was Penn State’s third game scoring at least 100 points, a feat that has occurred just one other time in program history (1954-55).
Penn State was picked to finish 17th in the 18-team Big Ten according to an unofficial Big Ten preseason media poll, but Penn State’s good start to the season has led to some questions about whether or not this team is legitimately better than anticipated. It’s true Penn State’s strength of schedule hasn’t been the most intimidating so far, and the bigger challenges still await the team moving forward. But the way this season has started has been encouraging to see.
Penn State will now head to Daytona Beach, Florida for next week’s Sunshine Slam tournament. Penn State is scheduled to face Fordham on Monday afternoon and will play either Clemson or San Francisco on Tuesday afternoon.
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