UNIVERSITY PARK — When Penn State men’s basketball head coach Mike Rhoades was hired back in March, his goal was pretty simple.
“You’ve got to go and win,” Rhoades told this reporter.
On Dec. 9, Rhoades got his first signature win as the head coach of the Nittany Lions.
His squad was resilient, putting together a comeback for the ages in an 83-80 win over previously once-beaten Ohio State before a nice crowd in the Bryce Jordan Center.
The Nittany Lions shot 61% from the field in the second half as they erased an 18-point second-half deficit.
It was a victory worth celebrating. After many handshakes as he exited the court, Rhoades danced his way into the locker room, where his squad showered him with water — no celebratory beers in collegiate athletics, although this one was worthy of a cold one.
At times, Penn State looked dead in the water. Down 41-29 at the intermission, the BJC was like a morgue. I’m sure many in the crowd thought: “Can Penn State beat Ohio State in anything?”
As it turns out, yes. Yes, it can.
Penn State was on fire in the second half. It began chipping away at Ohio State’s big lead, shooting 61% from the field. Ace Baldwin Jr. — a big-time player Rhoades brought with him from VCU — hit a huge trey with 32.3 seconds left to give the Nittany Lions their very first lead of the game.
It about blew the roof off the BJC.
But it wasn’t just Baldwin. The Nittany Lions landed five players in double figures. Kanye Clary led the way with 19. D’Marco Dunn chipped in with a career-high 16. Penn State’s answer to Ed Sheeran — Leo O’Boyle — was on fire from 3-point land and finished with 15.
Zach Hicks (11) and Qudus Wahab (10) also hit double digits for the Nittany Lions.
Team effort? You bet.
The best part of the win was the fact that there was a buzz as fans left the BJC. “Can you believe that?” “What a win!” Those were just some of the comments heard on the concourse. Satisfied customers, indeed.
Just think: Rhoades has now tied James Franklin in home wins over Ohio State. Franklin has been here a decade. Rhoades has been here nine months.
Here’s what Rhoades told the CCG back in May:
“Everywhere I’ve been, when we were winning, more people showed up. More people talked about it. You get people to jump on the wagon and stay on the wagon for good,” Rhoades said.
If this team can string together some more wins like the one on Dec. 9, the wagon might start to fill up rather quickly.
There is a long season ahead, of course. And there are too many games to count until March, but it certainly looks like the Nittany Lions have the right man for the job.
Things are looking up in Happy Valley.
Chris Morelli is the managing editor of The Centre County Gazette.
