UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men’s basketball team shot 60.7 percent from the field and never trailed in a dominant 89-72 win over Nebraska Wednesday night inside the Bryce Jordan Center.
The Nittany Lions were strong from start to finish, as Penn State took a double-digit lead less than six minutes into the game and never looked back. The Nittany Lions scored 52 of their 89 points in the paint and finished the game shooting 60.7 percent (34-56) from the field.
Yanic Konan Niederhauser and Zach Hicks led six Nittany Lions in double figures with 19 points apiece. Konan Niederhauser scored 15 points in the first half alone while Hicks drilled five 3-pointers in the game. D’Marco Dunn posted 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting. Freddie Dilione V added 12 points, while Ace Baldwin Jr. and Nick Kern Jr. tallied 10 apiece. Baldwin Jr. added team-best marks of eight assists and six steals, while Kern Jr. added seven assists and six rebounds.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Nittany Lions raced out to a 14-2 lead as Penn State forced six Nebraska turnovers in the first nine Husker possessions and Yanic Konan Niederhauser scored six points to give Penn State the early double-digit edge just over five minutes into the game.
- Penn State started the game 9-for-13 from the field and used 18 points in the paint to work its lead to 15 at 23-8 with 10:23 left on the first-half clock.
- The Nittany Lions kept their momentum going as Zach Hicks drilled a triple at the 4:05 mark the pushed Penn State’s lead to 20 at 39-19. The Penn State defense limited Nebraska to a 33.3 FG% (6-18) with nine turnovers through the first 16 minutes of play.
- The Huskers heated up from deep to pull within 16, but Penn State spent the final 2:30 of the opening stanza on a 9-2 run to give the Nittany Lions a 50-27 advantage heading into halftime.
- Nebraska used an 11-2 run over a two-minute stretch early in the second half to cut the Penn State lead to 16 at 56-40 with 16:28 to play.
- D’Marco Dunn canned a trey to snap the Husker streak and ignite a 14-4 Penn State response over the next three and a half minutes. Dunn scored eight points during the run as Penn State took a 26-point lead, it’s largest lead yet, at 70-44 with 12:03 left on the clock.
- Penn State stayed on cruise control and had an answer for nearly every Nebraska push as the Huskers wouldn’t get closer than 17 the rest of the way and the Nittany Lions closed out the 89-72 win.
GAME NOTES
- Penn State snapped its seven-game skid and improved to 11-3 at home in the Bryce Jordan Center this season.
- Penn State shot 60.7 percent from the field against the Cornhuskers. The Nittany Lions hadn’t converted better than 60 percent of their field goals in a game since Nov. 11, 2019 against Bucknell and it had not done so in a Big Ten game since shooting 64 percent against Michigan State on Jan. 3, 2007.
- The Nittany Lions scored 50 points in the first half on 66.7 percent shooting. It was Penn State’s first time scoring 50-plus in the first half of a game since it did so on December 14 when it posted 52 points in the opening frame against Coppin State.
- Six Nittany Lions finished in double figures for the first time since Dec. 14 vs. Coppin State.
- Ace Baldwin Jr. tallied his 800th career assist with his first dime of the game. The Nittany Lion guard also posted a season-high six steals for the second consecutive game. He is now up to 330 in his career and is tied for 21st on the NCAA’s all-time steals list. He added ten points, eight assists, and two rebounds to his final line.
- D’Marco Dunn registered 17 points on an outstanding 7-for-9 effort from the field, including three triples. It is his fifth double-figure scoring effort in his last seven games.
- Yanic Konan Niederhauser scored 19 points, converting seven of his 10 attempts from the field along with five free throws. The big man tallied his first 10 points in the first ten minutes of the game on a five-for-five effort from the floor and arrived at the halftime break with 15.
- Zach Hicks posted 19 points thanks to a season-high-tying five 3-pointers made. Eleven of his 19 came in the second half as his three triples in the final eight minutes of regulation helped Penn State maintain its substantial lead over Nebraska.
UP NEXT
- The Nittany Lions are back on the road to face Minnesota at 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT Saturday afternoon on Big Ten Network.
The 2024-25 Penn State men’s basketball season is presented by Highmark Health.