Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1530530
J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 5 4 5 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M THREE STARS 1. Ace Baldwin Jr. | G | Gr. Points are always available to Baldwin, who has dramatically improved his proficiency from beyond the arc this year (36.6 percent). And yet, it's his consistency as a facilitator that has un- locked the Nittany Lions' scoring barrage. Logging double-digit assists in four games already, with three good for double-doubles, Baldwin is living up to every bit of his billing. 3. Freddie Dilione V | G | R-So. Dilione showed flashes of potential early while at times struggling to settle in. By December, though, that dynamic had changed. Building his minutes weekly, Dilione popped off against Purdue, dropping 14 points while hitting a pair of three-pointers to go along with 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals in his most efficient shooting performance of the season. 3. Yanic Konan Niederhauser | F | Jr. The concerning development for the Nittany Lions' transfer big man is his penchant for get- ting into foul trouble. When he's not on the bench, though, Konan Niederhauser has been transformative on both ends of the floor. His 27 points against Buffalo, including 7 dunks, marked a season-high. KEY MOMENT When the final buzzer sounded on Penn State's 81-70 upset of No. 8 Purdue on Dec. 5, an en- ergized crowd of 8,830 fans and students was hungrily waiting in the wings. The Bryce Jordan Center hardwood was ripe for a court-storm and the students obliged. Mike Rhoades reveled in it all. Surrounded by fans, the Lions' second-year head coach cele- brated with them, smiling for selfies before grab- bing the public address microphone from across the scorer's table. "This is what we're going to do," Rhoades told the crowd. "Sweat with us. These are the memo- ries we're going to make at Penn State. I love you all. Thank you so much. Keep coming back. This is what we're going to do." BEST HIGHLIGHT Against Purdue, Penn State's players followed the lead of Baldwin, who spent much of the night locking down Braden Smith. The Boilermaker guard had been averaging 12.8 points per game, but against Penn State he managed only 6 and had 3 turnovers in 35 minutes. Combined with 5 turnovers from Fletcher Loyer and a game-high 7 from Trey Kaufman-Renn, Purdue's best players were completely sidetracked by the Nittany Lions' constant blitz. In all, the Boilermakers turned the ball over 13 times in the first half, while the Nittany Lions pushed it upcourt after turnovers and misses. They scored 15 points off the turnovers and owned an 11-4 edge in fastbreak points, building a 40-24 advantage that wouldn't be threatened the rest of the way. BOLD PREDICTION I've seen enough. Penn State is going back to the NCAA Tournament. Having welcomed five core players back from last year's team while bringing in a combination of transfers and true freshmen, the Nittany Lions had reason to believe they would be highly com- petitive this year. Externally, though, the dearth of quality in the nonconference schedule made it difficult to discern how far the team had come. Would the scoring output carry through against better defensive opponents and contrasting styles of play? Rhoades himself was eager to find out prior to the team's Big Ten appetizer in early De- cember against Purdue and Rutgers. Now we know. Penn State can compete with the best programs in the country, including its conference foes in an expanded Big Ten. The in- gredients are all in place. — Nate Bauer MEN'S BASKETBALL SUPERLATIVES N O V . 2 0 - D E C . 1 0 Through their first 10 contests, junior forward Yanic Konan Niederhauser was leading the Nittany Lions in rebounds at 5.9 per game and was third in scoring with a 12.4-point average. PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS