Only three players, Kayne Clary, Jameel Brown, and Demetrius Lilley returned to the Penn State men's basketball program this offseason following the departure of Micah Shrewsbery to Notre Dame.
Perhaps in a way, it was poetic that it was two of those returnees who had the biggest impact in the first game of the Mike Rhoades era.
On Monday night in the Nittany Lions' 2023-2024 season opener, it was Clary and Brown leading the way for Penn State against Delaware State.
Together the two guards combined for 42 of Penn State's 79 points in a 79-45 win over the Delaware State Hornets to open up the 2023-2024 season for the Nittany Lions.
Klary was terrific throughout the game for Penn State totaling 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field and 7-of-9 shooting at the free throw line. Brown, was equally as terrific, unstoppable from beyond the arc, hitting 6-of-8 free throw attempts en route to a 20-point night, eclipsing the 11 points he scored the entirety of his true freshman season with the Nittany Lions.
Temple transfer Zach Hicks had 12 points of his own, all from three-point attempts, shooting 4-of-9 from deep while Georgetown transfer center Qudus Wahab led the way on the board with 13 rebounds including four offensive rebounds for the Nittany Lions.
The Nittany Lions would never trail in Saturday's matchup. After taking a 3-2 lead on a Kanye Clary free throw attempt at the 17:33 mark of the first half, the Nittany Lions would remain in the lean for the remainder of the game.
After taking a 10-4 lead at the 14:34 mark, the Nittany Lions would go on a 19-5 run to take a demanding 26-6 lead. The run was strongly assisted by a trio of three-pointers by Jameel Brown over the course of a 45-second stretch. The big run for Penn State would allow them to take a 39-18 lead into halftime.
In the first half, the Nittany Lions shot 44.8% from the field including 13-of-29 from the field.
In the second half, it was once again Penn State domination, with the Nittany Lions coming out of the break hitting five of their first eight shots including a pair of three-point attempts from Zach Hicks.
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Much like their first-half performance, the Nittany Lions were strong from the field in the second half, shooting an even better 53.8% from the field to cap off a strong night for the Nittany Lions.
Beyond their strong night shooting-wise, the Nittany Lions were able to garner 41 total rebounds in the game while collecting 13 assists. A suffocating defensive effort kept Delaware State to just a 29% field goal percentage including 1-for-16 from three-point range while forcing 23 turnovers including 11 steals.
Next Up:
Penn State will be back on the court on Friday night as they take on the Lehigh Mountain Hawks at 7:30 p.m.. The game will be televised on B1G+.
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