Just one night after the No. 1 and No. 2 teams fell, the Nittany Lions upset No. 8 Purdue, 81-70, in the team’s Big Ten opener.
Penn State had only beaten the Boilermakers once in their past 18 matchups, which included eight straight wins for Matt Painter’s squad heading into this matchup.
But the script flipped tonight in State College, as this game was never even close.
The Nittany Lions jumped out to a 40-24 lead at the break, capitalizing on Purdue’s 14 first-half turnovers. The Boilermaker’s wouldn’t pull within 10 for the remainder of the game. Last year’s national runner-up trailed by as much as 27 midway through the second half.
“WE ARE PENN STATE!” 🗣️ @PennStateMBB demolishes No. 8 Purdue in Happy Valley! pic.twitter.com/6VwG2kd814
— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) December 6, 2024
Ace Baldwin Jr. paced PSU in scoring, tallying 17 points and six assists, going a perfect 12-12 from the charity stripe. The Nittany Lions had four players with two or more steals, totaling 32 points off Purdue’s 24 turnovers.
Penn State (8-1, 1-0 Big Ten) will look to carry this momentum into another conference matchup on the road against Rutgers next Tuesday.
Purdue (7-2, 0-1 Big Ten) suffers its second loss of the season, and it will look to get back on track against Maryland on Sunday.
