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Lions host Golden Gophers Tuesday

UNIVERSITY PARK – The Penn State men’s basketball team returns to the Bryce Jordan Center Tuesday night to take on Minnesota at 7 p.m. on Big Ten Network.

FOLLOW ALONG

TICKETS: Tickets

PROMOTIONS: Academic Achievement Night & Faculty Appreciation Night

TV: Big Ten Network – Jason Horowitz (pxp) & Austin Johnson (analyst)

RADIO: Penn State Sports Network – Steve Jones (pxp) & Dick Jerardi (analyst)

NATIONAL RADIO: Sirius XM Ch. 372 & SXM App. Ch. 372

OPENING TIPS

The Nittany Lions are back in the Bryce Jordan Center Tuesday night to host Minnesota in the first of two meetings with the Gophers in the next 20 days.

The Nittany Lions rank top 30 in the nation in points per game (82.3), field goal percentage (48.7%) and turnovers forced per game (15.23).

Five Nittany Lions are averaging double-digit points, led by Ace Baldwin Jr.’s 14.1 ppg.

IF PENN STATE BEATS MINNESOTA

The Nittany Lions would improve to 11-1 when playing inside the Bryce Jordan Center this season.

Penn State would snap its three-game losing streak.

SCOUTING MINNESOTA

The Gophers are 11-11 on the season and 3-8 in Big Ten play.

Minnesota is 1-4 in road games this season, with its one road win coming at Iowa on Jan. 21, a 72-67 victory for the Gophers.

The Gophers started Big Ten play 0-6 before embarking on a three-game win streak from Jan. 16-25 with wins over Michigan (84-81, OT), Iowa (72-67) and Oregon (77-69). Minnesota has since lost its last two games at Michigan State (73-51) and at home against Washington (71-68) Saturday.

Dawson Garcia leads the Gophers with 20.1 points and 7.1 rebounds per game, while shooting 51.2 percent from the field. Mike Mitchell Jr. (10.8 ppg) and Lu’cye Patterson (10.5) are also averaging double-digit points.

AGAINST THE GOPHERS

Penn State and Minnesota meet for the first of two times in 20 days Tuesday night in Happy Valley.

Fourteen of Penn State’s 19 all-time wins against the Gophers have come in Happy Valley.

Minnesota swept last season’s series, earning a 75-70 win in Minneapolis on March 2 and an 83-74 victory in State College on Jan. 27. Penn State had won the previous three meetings between the two teams.

FRONT LOADED

Penn State’s Big Ten schedule has been frontloaded with teams that have emerged at the top of the league standings through the first half of the conference slate.

The 10 teams that Penn State has already played in Big Ten action are a combined 59-48 (.551) in conference play, while the seven teams Penn State has left to face in the remainder of its conference slate are a combined 34-40 (.459) in Big Ten play.

REWRITING HISTORY

The Nittany Lions have accomplished the following Penn State milestones through the first 22 games of the season:

Finished non-conference play at 10-1, marking just the sixth time since Penn State joined the Big Ten in 1992-93 that the Nittany Lions have finished regular-season non-conference action with one or fewer losses.

Big Ten-opening win over #8 Purdue was Penn State’s first win over a team ranked in the top 10 of the AP Poll since Dec. 2019.

Started the season 6-0 for the first time in 25 years (since the 1999-2000 season). Started the season 8-1 for the first time in 10 years (since the 2014-15 season).

Scored 100+ points in back-to-back games for the first time in program history (108 vs. Binghamton, 103 vs. UMBC).

Scored 80+ points in six-consecutive games for the first time in program history.

Scored 100+ in three games in the same season for just the second time in program history.

NATIONAL NUMBERS

The Nittany Lions currently rank in the top 30 in the country in a number of statistical categories through games on Feb. 1:

Team Stat

Value

National Rank

Field goal percentage

48.7%

24

Points per game

82.3

26

FT made per game

17.2

26

Turnovers forced per game

15.23

27

Individual Stat

Value

National Rank

Assists per game – Ace Baldwin Jr.

7.8

4

FT% – Ace Baldwin Jr.

93.3%

5

Blocks – Yanic Konan Niederhauser

46

18

FT made – Ace Baldwin Jr.

112

24

HIGH OCTANE

Penn State is averaging 82.3 points per game, a mark that ranks 26th in the country.

The Nittany Lions have scored 80-plus points in 14 of their 22 games this season.

Penn State’s 82.3 points per game currently tracks to best the program record for single-season scoring average of 78.7 ppg that was set by the 1994-95 team.

BALANCED ATTACK

Five different Penn State players are averaging double-digit points: Ace Baldwin Jr. (14.1 ppg), Nick Kern Jr. (12.9), Yanic Konan Niederhauser (12.7), Zach Hicks (11.8), and Puff Johnson (10.2).

Nine players have scored in double figures, with six different players recording 20-plus point games, in the Nittany Lions’ balanced offensive attack. Six different players have led Penn State in scoring in a game this season.

TURNING DEFENSE INTO OFFENSE

Penn State ranks 27th in Division I in turnovers forced per game (15.23) and leads the Big Ten with 8.7 steals per game.

The Nittany Lions have owned a 409-275 advantage in points scored off turnovers through the first 22 games of the season.

CLOSE LOSSES

Penn State has been within four points in the final two minutes of seven of its nine losses this season.

ONE OF ONE

Graduate student Ace Baldwin Jr. is the ONLY active Division I player and one of just nine Division I players since the 1947-48 season (77 years) with 1,500+ career points (1,593), 700+ career assists (782) and 300+ career steals (313).

Baldwin Jr. is Division I’s active career leader in steals (313) and his 782 career assists are second amongst active Division I players.

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