Penn State returns home on Sunday to host Buffalo – Penn State

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men’s basketball team returns home to the Bryce Jordan Center to host Buffalo on Sunday at 2 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.

FOLLOW WITH

TIPS FOR OPENING

• Penn State is off to a 6-1 start to the season and returns home Sunday to host Buffalo in the Nittany Lions’ final non-conference game before Big Ten play begins in early December.
• The Nittany Lions started the season 6-0 for the first time in 25 years before suffering their first loss of the season to Clemson, 67-75, in the Sunshine Slam championship game on Tuesday.
• Five Nittany Lions average double-digit points, led by Ace Baldwin Jr.’s 16.3 ppg.

WHEN PENN BEATS STATE BUFFALO

• Penn State’s 7-1 start to the season would be its best since it started the 2019-20 season at 7-1.
• The Nittany Lions would win their eighth straight home game since last season.
• Penn State would improve to 7-2 all-time against Buffalo.

Looking for the cops

• The Bulls are 4-3 this season and head to Happy Valley on a two-game winning streak.
• Buffalo won against NC A&T (82-81), Morgan State (82-73), Fredonia (87-78) and Old Dominion (83-82). The Bulls lost to Notre Dame (77-86), Bryant (64-87) and Vermont (67-78).
• Ryan Sabol leads the Bulls with 18.6 points per game.
• Tyson Dunn follows with 13.3 points, 6.1 rebounds and 7.0 assists per contest.
• Buffalo is coming off a 2023-24 season in which the Bulls finished 4-27 overall and 2-16 in MAC play in head coach George Halcovage III’s first season at the helm.

AGAINST BUFFALO

• Penn State and Buffalo will meet for the ninth time in program history and first since 2004 when the Bulls come to Happy Valley on Sunday.
• The Nittany Lions hold a 6-2 lead in the all-time series, which dates back to 1921.
• The last meeting between the two teams was on December 21, 2004, when Buffalo won a narrow 72-70 win in State College.

6-1

• The Nittany Lions started the season 6-1. Penn State started the season 6-0 for the first time in 25 years before suffering its first loss of the season to 2024 Elite Eight team Clemson in the Sunshine Slam championship game on Tuesday.
• Penn State will look for its first 7-1 start since the 2019-20 season when the Nittany Lions face Buffalo on Sunday.
• The Nittany Lions rank in the top 10 in the country in points per game (91.9 points per game), steals per game (11.3) and field goal percentage (51.6%).

WRITE HISTORY… ALREADY

• The Nittany Lions have achieved the following Penn State milestones in the first seven games of the season alone:
  • For the first time in 25 years (since the 1999-2000 season), he started a season 6-0.
  • Scored more than 100 points in consecutive games for the first time in program history (108 vs. Binghamton, 103 vs. UMBC).
  • Scored more than 80 points in six consecutive games for the first time in program history.
  • Scored more than 100 points in three games in the same season for the second time in program history. The 1954-55 team scored more than 100 points three times.

NATIONAL NUMBERS

• The Nittany Lions currently rank in the top 25 in the country in several statistical categories as of November 28 games:

Domination

• The Nittany Lions have played 280 minutes of basketball this season and trailed by just 37 minutes and 36 seconds.
• Penn State outscores its opponents by an average of 23.9 points per game, a mark that ranks 15th in all of Division I. All six of Penn State’s wins have come by at least 13 points.

HIGH OCTANE

• Penn State is averaging 91.9 points per game through the first seven games of the season, ranking fifth nationally.
• The Nittany Lions scored more than 85 points in each of their first six games this season, marking the first time in program history that Penn State scored more than 80 points in six consecutive games.
• The Nittany Lions are shooting 51.6% from the field, ranking ninth in Division I.

Turn defense into offense

• Penn State ranks in the top 10 in Division I in steals per game (11.3) and in the top 15 in both turnovers forced per game (17.57) and turnover margin (5.4).
• The Nittany Lions had a 151-80 advantage in points scored from turnovers, a 112-62 advantage in second-chance points and a 100-70 advantage in fast-break points through the first seven games of the season.

BALANCED ATTACK

• Nine of the 13 players who appeared at Penn State in the first seven games of the season scored in double figures in the Nittany Lions’ balanced offensive attack, with four different players scoring more than 20 points in games.
• Five different players are averaging double-digit points in the first seven games of the season.

ONE OF ONE

• Graduate student Ace Baldwin Jr. is the ONLY active Division I player with more than 1,000 career points (1,411), more than 600 career assists (675) and more than 250 career steals (287).
• Baldwin Jr. is the Division I active career leader in steals (287) and his 675 career assists ranks him second among active Division I players.

ZACH ATTACK

• Senior Zach Hicks leads the Big Ten and ranks in the top 40 in Division I with 3.29 3-pointers made per game. He shoots triples at an outstanding rate of 48.9% (23-47).
• Hicks has scored in double figures in five of seven games this season and is averaging 14.6 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.0 blocks per game while shooting 55.4% (36). -65) shoots from the field.

We have an ace up our sleeve

• Ace Baldwin Jr. earned a spot on the Naismith Trophy Men’s College Player of the Year Watchlist this preseason, also landed on the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Top 20 Preseason Watchlist and was named a Preseason All-Big Ten selection appointed.
• Baldwin Jr.’s 8.1 assists per game currently ranks fourth in the country. He is averaging outstanding marks of 16.3 points, 8.1 assists, 3.1 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game while shooting 43.8 percent (32-73) from the field, 38.7 percent (12). -31) from 3-point range and 90.5 percent (38-73) shooting. 42) from the free throw line. He has recorded double-doubles with three points and assists in Penn State’s games against Virginia Tech, Purdue Fort Wayne and Clemson in seven games this season.

The big guy storms onto the stage

• Yanic Konan Niederhauser, Penn State’s agile and versatile 6-foot-1 forward, has caught the eye in his first seven games in the Blue & White.
• Konan Niederhauser is averaging 12.4 points and a team-best 7.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game while shooting 67.4 percent (31-46) from the field. He recorded his first double-double in the Blue & White with 16 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks against Purdue Fort Wayne.

The future looks bright

• Head coach Mike Rhoades signed the top-ranked recruiting class in program history and the 20th ranked class in the country as three highly touted prospects who signed to join the Nittany Lions during the early signing period in November.
• Penn State’s three-member class ranks 20th nationally in 247 sports. The three-member class consists of Mason Blackwood (Rochester, NY), Justin Houser (Camp Hill, Pennsylvania), and Kayden Mingo (Farmingdale, NY). The three new Nittany Lions join the program as the Class of 2029 and bring outstanding athletic and academic pedigrees to Penn State.

Lions in the league

• Penn State is well represented in the NBA and G League organizations this season:
  • Jalen Pickett ’23 – Denver Nuggets – Second Season
  • Seth Lundy ’23 – Atlanta Hawks – Second Season
  • Calvin Booth ’98 – General Manager – Denver Nuggets
  • Izaiah Brockington ’21 – Birmingham Squadron (New Orleans Pelicans)
  • Andrew Funk M’23 – Grand Rapids Gold (Denver Nuggets)
  • Josh Reaves ’19 – Rio Grand Valley Vipers (Houston Rockets)
  • Lamar Stevens ’20 – Motor City Cruise (Detroit Pistons)
  • Andrew Jones ’11 – Head Coach – Raptors 905 (Toronto Raptors)

The 2024-25 Penn State men’s basketball season is presented by Highmark Health.