Penn State Returns to Philadelphia to Host Michigan in Sold-Out Palestra SundayPenn State Returns to Philadelphia to Host Michigan in Sold-Out Palestra Sunday
PSU Athletics/Selders

Penn State Returns to Philadelphia to Host Michigan in Sold-Out Palestra Sunday

PHILADELPHIA – The Penn State men's basketball team makes its return to Philadelphia Sunday to host Michigan in a Big Ten battle inside the historic Palestra on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania. Tipoff is slated for noon on the Big Ten Network. General public tickets for the highly-anticipated event sold out within hours in early November.
 
FOLLOW ALONG

 
KNOW BEFORE YOU GO

  • WEAR WHITE!
  • Palestra Bag Policy: All guests and their belongings are subject to search by security personnel upon entry and within the facility. All bags must be in accordance with the following guidelines: bags should be smaller than 16" x 16" x 8", no large bags, such as duffel or equipment bags. In an effort to expedite the security process upon entry, all guests are expected to comply with The Palestra bag policy. More information on the Palestra bag policy can be found HERE.
  • Mobile Ticketing: Penn Athletics has implemented a mobile-first ticketing strategy. A mobile-first strategy will ensure safe, secure, and efficient entry for all fans. Your tickets will be sent to the email address used when purchasing tickets and be available to download to any Apple or Android device. Tickets will also be available through Print-At-Home format as well, which can be printed on an 8.5"x11" sheet of paper prior to attending the game. Please note that Print-At-Home tickets will not scan from a mobile device. Penn Athletics' mobile ticketing guides can be found HERE.
  • Parking: Game day parking is available near The Palestra including the Penn Museum garage, Chestnut 34 garage and Penn Park. The cost of parking on game day is $20. Information on alternate parking options can be found HERE.

 
OPENING TIPS

  • The Nittany Lions return to the City of Brotherly Love and a sold-out Palestra Sunday for a Big Ten clash against Michigan.
  • Penn State is coming off a road loss at Michigan State Thursday night. The Nittany Lions are 7-7 on the season and 1-2 in Big Ten play.
  • Kanye Clary is averaging a team-best 18.4 points per game, while Ace Baldwin Jr. has contributed 12.8 points and a Big Ten-best 2.5 steals per game. Qudus Wahab leads the Nittany Lions with 8.8 rebounds per game to go along with 9.8 points per contest.

 
THE PALESTRA GAME

  • Penn State makes its return to the historic Palestra on Sunday when the Nittany Lions host Michigan in the City of Brotherly Love. Tickets for the contest sold out within hours in early November.
  • The Nittany Lions have hosted three Big Ten games inside the "Cathedral of College Basketball", defeating Michigan State in 2017 and Iowa in 2020 and falling to top-ranked Purdue in 2023. Penn State has played 61 total games in The Palestra dating back to 1927.
  • The 2023-24 Nittany Lion roster features several student-athletes with Philadelphia-area ties including Jameel Brown (Philadelphia, Pa.; Westtown School), Demetrius Lilley (Philadelphia, Pa.; Lower Merion) and Zach Hicks (Camden, N.J.; Camden Catholic/Temple). The Penn State-Michigan game at The Palestra also features a father-son coaching battle as Nittany Lion assistant coach Jimmy Martelli will face his father in Michigan associate head coach and former longtime Saint Joseph's head coach Phil Martelli.

 
PENN STATE AT THE PALESTRA

  • The historic Palestra, on the University of Pennsylvania campus in Philadelphia, opened on Jan. 1, 1927. The Palestra has hosted more games, more visiting teams and more NCAA tournaments than any other facility in college basketball. At the time of its construction, it was one of the world's largest arenas.
  • Penn State played its first game at the Palestra on Jan. 27, 1927, less than a month after the building's opening.
  • Rec Hall, the longtime home for Penn State basketball, was designed by the same architect, Charles Klauder, responsible for The Palestra. The groundbreaking for Rec Hall started in January 1927 and opened two years after The Palestra, in January 1929.
  • The Nittany Lions have a 24-37 record when playing in the Palestra with a 14-9 mark in  games played vs. teams other than Penn. Penn State has won four of its last five contests in The Palestra and 13 of its last 21 games played in the historic venue.
  • The Penn State-Michigan State matchup in 2017 was the first regular-season league game to take place in the City of Brotherly Love, with the Nittany Lions earning a 72-63 win. The #21 Nittany Lions took down #23 Iowa in a thriller on Jan. 4, 2020. Penn State held a 37-31 halftime lead over #1 Purdue in the Nittany Lions' most recent Palestra game on Jan. 8, 2023, but the top-ranked Boilermakers battled back for a 76-63 win.
  • Sunday's game will count as an alternate-site home game for Penn State and will be counted as a Nittany Lion home game in the NET rankings calculations.

 
SCOUTING MICHIGAN

  • The Wolverines enter Sunday's game at 6-8 overall and 1-2 in conference play.
  • Michigan has dropped its last three games, including a 71-73 home loss to Minnesota in their most recent contest Thursday night.
  • The Wolverines' lone conference win came on the road at Iowa on Dec. 10, a 90-80 Michigan victory. Michigan has dropped Big Ten games to Indiana (75-78) and Minnesota (71-73).
  • Dug McDaniel leads the team with 18.3 points and 5.1 assists per game. Olivier Nkamhoua follows with 17.1 points and a team-best 7.6 rebounds per game.

 
AGAINST THE WOLVERINES

  • The Nittany Lions and Wolverines meet for the only time this regular season Sunday afternoon in Philadelphia.
  • Michigan owns a 39-15 advantage in the all-time series, but the last six meetings have been an even 3-3 split.
  • The home team won each of last season's matchups with Michigan earning a 79-69 win in Ann Arbor on Jan. 4, 2023 and Penn State earning a dominant 83-61 win in Happy Valley on Jan. 29, 2023. Penn State's 22-point victory on Jan. 29 was its largest win over the Wolverines in program history.

 
PHILLY PHILLY

  • The Philly to Penn State pipeline runs deep. Since Penn State first moved a Big Ten game to the Palestra in 2017, the Palestra game has always been meant as a homecoming game for Penn State's Philadelphia-area players.
  • In addition to the current members of the squad that hail from the City of Brotherly Love, the Nittany Lions have a long list of successful alum from Philadelphia area. Some of the most notable recent Philadelphia-area alum who have suited up in past Penn State Palestra games are listed below:
    • Lamar Stevens - current Boston Celtic
    • Seth Lundy - current Atlanta Hawk
    • Tony Carr - 2018 NBA Draft pick
    • Andrew Funk - current NBA G-League player
    • Izaiah Brockington - current NBA G-League player

 
TURN UP THE PRESSURE

  • The Nittany Lions have forced their opponents into 16.5 turnovers per game, a mark that leads the Big Ten and ranks 14th in the nation. Penn State forced a season-high 29 turnovers in its win over Morehead State on Nov. 17.
  • The Nittany Lions have scored an average of 17.4 points off turnovers per game thus far this season, while Penn State's opponents have only scored 11.5 points per game off Nittany Lion turnovers. Penn State's +4.8 turnover margin ranks 11th in the country.

 
SOPHOMORE LEAP

  • Sophomore guard Kanye Clary has seen the largest increase in scoring production by any Big Ten player between last season and this season. 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's 18.4 points per game leads the team and ranks fifth in the Big Ten. He has scored in double figures in 11 games this season, including eight 20-plus point efforts, while leading the team in scoring in 12 of Penn State's 14 games.
Clary Stat 2023-24 2022-23 Increase
Points per game 18.4 3.7 +14.7
FG% 50.8% 43.4% +7.4%
Rebounds per game 3.3 0.9 +2.3
Assists per game 2.9 0.7 +2.2
Minutes per game 30.5 10.4 +20.1

 
GOT AN ACE UP OUR SLEEVE

  • Senior point guard Ace Baldwin Jr. has stuffed the stat sheet through his first 14 games as a Nittany Lion, averaging 12.8 points per game, 4.4 assists per contest and a Big Ten-best 2.5 steals per game. His 2.5 steals per game ranks 16th in the nation.
  • Baldwin Jr. has come up clutch as of late. He made a pair of game-tying free throws with four seconds to play to force overtime on the road at Maryland on Dec. 6. The guard then scored both the game-tying and go-ahead baskets in the final minute of Penn State's 83-80 comeback victory over Ohio State on Dec. 9. Baldwin Jr. then came up with a clutch steal with 13 seconds left in regulation to help force overtime against Georgia Tech on Dec. 16. He scored his 1,000th career point on Dec. 29 in Penn State's win over Rider.

 
UP NEXT

  • The Nittany Lions return to the Bryce Jordan Center Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. to host Northwestern.

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