MINNEAPOLIS – The Penn State men’s basketball team used a strong defensive effort to pick up a gutsy 69-60 road win at Minnesota Saturday afternoon.
The Nittany Lions trailed by nine midway through the first half, but used stellar defense to battle back and lead by as much as 14 in the second. Penn State limited Minnesota to a 33.9 FG% (20-59) and a 21.7 3FG% (5-23).
Yanic Konan Niederhauser led the Nittany Lions with a Big Ten career-best 24 points, seven rebounds and five blocks. Ace Baldwin Jr. tallied 10 points and seven assists, while Freddie Dilione V added 10 points and six rebounds.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Gophers started the game 3-for-3 from deep to take an early 13-6 lead four minutes into the contest.
- The Nittany Lion defense held Minnesota scoreless for over three minutes and D’Marco Dunn scored five-straight points, capped by a 3-pointer at the 11:36 mark, as Penn State pulled within two at 17-15.
- Minnesota responded with seven-straight points to go up nine at 24-15.
- Kachi Nzeh tossed in a layup at the 7:55 mark that sparked a 13-2 Penn State run to close the half. The Nittany Lion defense didn’t allow a single Minnesota field goal during the stretch as a Freddie Dilione V conventional three-point play tied the score at 26-26 and a pair of Yanic Konan Niederhauser free throws gave Penn State a 28-26 edge heading into halftime. After starting the first half 7-for-14 from the field, the Penn State defense limited Minnesota to just 1-for-16 in the final 10 minutes of the term.
- The first three-plus minutes of the second half saw four tie scores and two lead changes before Penn State regained momentum and the Nittany Lion defense once again fueled a big run in the form of 13-straight points. The Gophers were held scoreless for over six minutes, while Penn State made six of seven field goal attempts and the Nittany Lions took a 46-35 advantage with just under 12 minutes to play.
- Nick Kern Jr. threw down a monster dunk at the 8:26 mark that made it a 17-2 run for Penn State and forced a Minnesota timeout as the Nittany Lions stretched their edge to 50-37 with 8:26 left on the clock.
- Penn State’s lead was as much as 14 following a Jahvin Carter triple at the 7:44 mark before Minnesota responded with the next five points to pull within nine at 53-44 and forced a Nittany Lion timeout at the 6:37 mark.
- The Nittany Lions held onto a nine-to-12 point lead until the Gophers used eight-straight points from 3:34 to 1:44 to suddenly pull within three at 60-57 with under two minutes to play.
- Penn State staved off the comeback with strong free-throw shooting down the stretch, making all seven of its attempts over the final 1:31 of play. Baldwin Jr. made all four his attempts, while Kern Jr. converted each of his two freebies. Konan Niederhauser put an exclamation point on the win with a 3-point play on a dunk and a free throw with 11 seconds remaining in the game.
GAME NOTES
- Penn State has now won two-straight games.
- The Nittany Lions earned their first Big Ten road win of the season.
- The Nittany Lions earned just their fifth-ever win at Willilams Arena.
- Yanic Konan Niederhauser scored a Big Ten career-best 24 points, while adding seven rebounds and five blocks. It marked his third 20-point effort of the season.
- Ace Baldwin Jr. entered the game ranked fourth in the nation in free-throw percentage. With his perfect 8-for-8 showing against the Gophers, he is now shooting 93.8 percent (136-145) from the line.
- Freddie Dilione V scored in double-digits for the third-consecutive game and the 15th time overall this season.
- With his nine points against Minnesota, D’Marco Dunn is now averaging 11.2 points over the last 11 games.
UP NEXT
- The Nittany Lions head to Bloomington, Ind. to take on the Hoosiers Wednesday night at 8:30 p.m. on Big Ten Network.
The 2024-25 Penn State men’s basketball season is presented by Highmark Health.