PHILADELPHIA — The Penn State men’s basketball team nearly came all the way back against Indiana on Sunday, Jan. 5, at the historic Penn Palestra in Philadelphia.
Playing the Big Ten Hoosiers in a conference game at the neutral site on the Penn campus, the Nittany Lions trailed by double digits most of the second half and by as many as 15 points heading into the final 10 minutes of the game.
But led by Nick Kern, Freddie Dilione V, Zach Hicks and Ace Baldwin, the Lions inched their way back until a layup by Baldwin, a free throw by Kern and a clutch 3-pointer by Hicks off a pass from Baldwin brought them to within 73-71 with 1:43 remaining on the clock.
From there, though, the long-range shots refused to fall as PSU was 0-for-4 from beyond the arc the rest of the way, and Indiana managed to survive, 77-71.
The Hoosiers’ final 4 points came from the line on shots by Myles Rice and Mackenzie Mgbako as Indiana improved its record to 12-3 with the win.
In all, Kern finished the game with 21 points — 15 in the second half — while Baldwin scored 12 and Dilione V had 11.
Baldwin also handed out seven assists, but Penn State finished the game shooting just 3-for-21 from three-point range and 10-for-17 from the line.
“That (playing at the Palestra) was a fun college environment, just not happy with the result,” Penn State head coach Mike Rhoades said.
“For most of the game, they took it to us. I love my team; I love our fight. We just didn’t trust enough in what we do and how we do it with enough urgency. We were playing from behind and digging a hole and shooting ourselves in the foot.
“You can’t do that. There were too many plays where we beat ourselves on both ends of the court against a good, disciplined team.
“I loved our fight at the end. We talk about late in the game being solid on defense and taking care of the ball and making our free throws. We just didn’t do enough of that today.”
Three days before, however, the Nittany Lions were better in all of those areas in a stirring, 84-80 Big Ten victory at home over Northwestern.
In a game that had 11 tie scores and 14 lead changes, Penn State took an 80-75 lead with three minutes to play after a layup by Baldwin and a 3-point play by Hicks.
The Wildcats hung in, however, with a foul shot by Matt Nicholson and a layup by Brooks Barnhizer that made it 80-78 with just under two minutes left.
The Lions immediately countered with a perfect alley-hoop pass by Baldwin that was slammed home by Kern, and they were back up by four points, 82-78.
From here, the Lion defense held Northwestern without another field goal and just two foul shots by Nick Martinelli.
And with time running out and the Lions ahead by two, Baldwin iced the game with two from the line and set the final score at 84-80.
Hicks led PSU with 20 points, while Baldwin had 17, Puff Johnson, 11 and Dilione V, 10.
The win was Penn State’s 12th of the year against two losses and it improved the team’s conference record to 2-1.
“Great Big Ten win for us,” Rhoades said after the game. “I love our guys, and I love the resolve we have. It wasn’t pretty, but it was a gut check. So many different guys stepped up at different times that helped us get a Big Ten win.
“It was a team effort and I’m really proud of our guys. It was one of those games in league play where you have to find a way to win and we did that. This time last year we weren’t ready to do that, but these guys were ready to do that today.”
Penn State was 36-for-45 at the line and outscored Northwestern 36-18 from there.
The victory put Penn State at 12-2, the best starting record since 2019-20, and the team is now 9-0 at the Jordan Center. The Lions have now won 12 straight games there.
Baldwin scored his 1,500th career point in the game, and, according to the Penn State website, he is just the ninth Division 1 player in 77 years to score over 1,500 points with 700 assists and 300 steals.
Next up for the Lions will be a trip to No. 22 Illinois followed by a first-time-ever home Big Ten game against Oregon on Sunday, Jan. 12, at 4 p.m.
