After Tuesday’s blowout win over Saint Francis, Ace Baldwin told reporters he wanted to make a statement against Virginia Tech. Baldwin and the Nittany Lions made a statement alright, popping the Hokies in their mouth early and never looking back. Penn State led for all but 32 seconds in their 86-64 win Friday night.
Coming into the night, Penn State hadn’t played a single team ranked in the top 250 in KenPom rankings, leaving questions about just how good Mike Rhoades’ squad is. Dominating a Virginia Tech team that entered the day ranked in the top 100 in KenPom at least partially answers those questions.
Defensive Masterpiece
In his second year at VCU, Coach Rhoades’ defense finished in the top 15 in the country in KenPom’s defensive efficiency ratings. Currently ranked 26th, Penn State’s defense has been firing on all cylinders this year.
Organized chaos is the only way to describe this Penn State defense. They held Virginia Tech to just 64 points while forcing 24 turnovers. “Never did I think we’d turn over Virginia Tech 24 times,” Coach Rhoades told reporters following the game, “but I just thought we had multiple guys really guard the ball in the backcourt hard.” The Penn State head coach also added how vital the full-court press is to their defensive game plan.
Offense Continues Humming
Penn State followed up two 100+ point games and a 90+ point game by scoring 86 against a power five opponent. They started the game 4-5 from the field and 2-2 from beyond the arc. Baldwin had ten assists to go with his 19 points, which was tied with Zach Hicks for most in the game. Nick Kern and Freddie Dilione were also both in double figures scoring-wise.
Part of what made Penn State’s offense so difficult to guard was the variety of ways they scored. The Nittany Lions scored 38 points in the paint, 28 points off turnovers, hit 22 free throws, and added on another eight three-pointers. They did this all with Yanic Konan Niederhauser spending much of the game in foul trouble and not scoring a single point.
Looking Forward
On Wednesday night, the Nittany Lions will host Purdue Fort-Wayne, one of the more skilled low-major units and a team comparable to Virginia Tech. They’ll then travel to Daytona Beach for the Sunshine Slam, where they’ll meet Fordham and one of Clemson or San Francisco. These will be their last difficult tests of the season before hosting a few weaker opponents and beginning conference play.
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