Penn State Heads to Rutgers for Wednesday Night Road TestPenn State Heads to Rutgers for Wednesday Night Road Test
Penn State Athletics

Penn State Heads to Rutgers for Wednesday Night Road Test

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's basketball team hits the road for a midweek battle at Rutgers Wednesday night at 8:30 p.m. on Big Ten Network.
 
FOLLOW ALONG

 
OPENING TIPS

  • The Nittany Lions are on the road for back-to-back games this week, beginning with a Wednesday night showdown at Rutgers.
  • Penn State sits 3-6 in Big Ten play with conference wins over Ohio State, Michigan and #11 Wisconsin.
  • Kanye Clary is averaging a team-best 18.4 points per game, while Ace Baldwin Jr. has contributed 13.2 points, a team-best 4.9 assists and a Big Ten-best 2.75 steals per game. Baldwin Jr.'s 2.75 steals per game ranks seventh in the country.

 
IF PENN STATE BEATS RUTGERS

  • Penn State would beat Rutgers in Piscataway for the first time since March 6, 2019.
  • The Nittany Lions would earn the first true road win of the Mike Rhoades era.

 
SCOUTING THE SCARLET KNIGHTS

  • The Scarlet Knights are 10-9 on the season and 2-6 in conference play.
  • Rutgers' two Big Ten wins have both come at home against Indiana (66-57) and Nebraska (87-82 OT).
  • Rutgers has lost its last two games, a road game at Illinois on Jan. 21 and a home contest against #2 Purdue on Jan. 28.
  • Aundre Hyatt leads Rutgers with 12.4 points per game, while Cliff Omoruyi follows with 10.9 points and 9.2 rebounds per contest.

 
AGAINST RUTGERS

  • Penn State and Rutgers meet for the only time this season Wednesday night.
  • The Nittany Lions own a 45-36 advantage in the all-time series, but Rutgers has won each of the last three matchups.
  • Penn State will be looking for its first road win in Piscataway since March 6, 2019, a 66-65 Nittany Lion win.
  • The Scarlet Knights won both of last season's meetings. Rutgers earned a 65-45 home win on Jan. 24, 2023 before rallying back from a 19-point deficit for a 59-56 win in Happy Valley on Feb. 26, 2023.

 
TURN UP THE PRESSURE

  • The Nittany Lions have forced their opponents into 15.65 turnovers per game, a mark that leads the Big Ten and ranks 18th in the nation. Penn State's +5.0 turnover margin ranks 10th in the country.
  • The Nittany Lions have scored a Big Ten-best average of 17.0 points off turnovers per game thus far this season, while Penn State's opponents have only scored 10.4 points per game off Nittany Lion turnovers.

 
FIRST-YEAR OFFENSE

  • Penn State enters Wednesday's game averaging 76.3 points per game in Mike Rhoades' debut season.
  • That mark is on track to be Penn State's best offensive output since the 2000-01 team averaged 76.8 points per game en route to a Sweet 16 appearance.
  • It is also on pace to be Penn State's best offensive output under a first-year head coach since 1954-55 when the Nittany Lions put up 78.7 ppg under John Egli.

 
SOPHOMORE LEAP

  • Sophomore guard Kanye Clary has seen the second-highest PPG increase by a Division I player from last season to this season. Clary's +14.7 ppg increase in scoring production trails only SIU's Xavier Johnson's +16.0 ppg difference. 
  • The Virginia Beach, Va. native played limited minutes as a freshman behind Penn State's veteran 2022-23 backcourt that included two 2023 NBA Draft picks and five 1,000-point scorers.
Clary Stat 2023-24 2022-23 Increase
Points per game 18.4 3.7 +14.7
FG% 46.5% 43.4% +3.1%
Rebounds per game 3.2 0.9 +2.3
Assists per game 2.8 0.7 +2.1

 
 
GOT AN ACE UP OUR SLEEVE

  • Senior point guard Ace Baldwin Jr. has stuffed the stat sheet through his first 20 games as a Nittany Lion, averaging 13.2 points per game, a team-best 4.9 assists per contest and a Big Ten-best 2.75 steals per game. His 2.75 steals per game ranks seventh in the nation.
  • Baldwin Jr. has proven to be one of the most dynamic players in the conference. He is the first Big Ten player to have a 25+ point game (vs. VCU & Michigan), 13+ assist game (at Purdue) and 8+ steal game (vs. Northwestern) in a single season since Michigan State's Mateen Cleaves during the 1997-98 season.
  • Baldwin Jr. scored his 1,000th career point on Dec. 29 in Penn State's win over Rider and notched his 500th career assist in his 13-assist performance at Purdue on Jan. 13. His 238 career steals rank fourth amongst active Division I players.
  • Baldwin Jr. is on track to be one of only two active Division I players with 1,000+ points, 500+ assists and 250+ steals once he records his 250th career steal.

 
KERN COMING ON

  • Nick Kern Jr. has turned it up a notch as of late, scoring in double figures in six of the last seven contests.
Nick Kern Jr. Last 7 Games First 13 Games
Points per game 12.0 5.8
FG% 58.5% 49.1%

 
UP NEXT

  • The Nittany Lions travel to Indiana Saturday for a noon tip against the Hoosiers on FS1.

 
The 2023-24 Penn State men's basketball season is presented by Highmark Health.