Pennsylvania State University (PSU) was founded in 1855 when James Irvin, a U.S. Congressman donated 200 acres of land in Centre County to the newly established Farmer’s High School of PA. In 1862 it was renamed the Agricultural College of Pennsylvania. In 1863 the Morill Land-Grant Acts passed by the US Congress allowed PA to select the school to be the state’s sole land grant college
Today PSU has 7343 acres small city acres (22,484 statewide), enrollment of 46,723 in University Park (89,816 statewide), 39,809 undergrads (74,446 statewide), $4.5 Billion endowment, USN&WR No. 60, WSJ No. 46
2011 ‘Pedophile U’ Scandal – PSU officials were alleged to have covered up incidents of child sexual abuse by former DC Jerry Sandusky. AD Tim Curley, Sr VP Finance Gary Schultz were indicted for perjury. Legendary coach Joe Paterno was complicit in the coverup and fired in disgrace, president Graham B. Spanier was forced to resign. Sandusky was convicted in June 2012 on 45 counts of abuse. The feckless NCAA issued sanctions but repealed them after government intervention.
Famous alumni include actor & dancer Gene Kelly, Days of Our Lives actor John Aniston (father of Jennifer), Modern Family actor Ty Burrell, journalist/sportscaster Jimmy Cefalo, writer/director Anchorman: Legend of Ron Burgundy, Talladega Nights: Ballad of Ricky Bobby, The Landlord, Chewbacca in Star Wars: the Force Awakens - Joonas Suotmo, actor/director Oscar nominee Bruce Davison, 10x Tony Award winning scenic designer Oliver Smith, Civil War governor of PA Andrew Curtin, Manhattan Project team member & father of Los Alamos Neutron Science accelerators Lou Rosen, Aharanov-Bohm effect/Bohm diffusion/ Bohm interpretation quantum physicist David Bohm, 1973 Director of the Army National Guard Maj General Donald Burdick, Medal of Honor recipient Navy SEAL Michael P Murphy, USAF Space Command commander C. Robert Kehler, former US Joint Forces Command and NATO Supreme Allied Commander Harold Gehmanm, engineer Samuel Kurtz Hoffman developer of the F-1 engines that powered Saturn V rocket, first African-American in space Guion Bluford, Space Lab astronaut Paul J Weitz, Space Shuttle astronauts Robert Cenker & James Pawelczyk, Fisher-Price co-founder Herman Fisher, Slinky inventor Richard T James, AccuWeather founder Joel N Myers, former Commerce Secretary Barbara Hackman Franklin, Gov. of Alaska Territory B. Frank Heintzleman, Heisman winner and LA Ram John Cappelletti, ESPN reporter Lisa Salters, imprisoned darknet market Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht, Nebraska football coach Matt Rhule, LA Ram Fearsome Foursome DT & actor Rosey Grier, Buffalo Bills / Buffalo Sabres owner Terry Pegula, 4X Super Bowl winner & NFL exec Matt Millen, 6 NFL HOF’rs (Jack Ham, Franco Harris , Mike Michalske, Lenny Moore, Mike Munchak, Dave Robison), former Dodger player & Angels manager Mike Scioscia, model Samantha Hoopes
PSU Athletics: 83 NCAA team championships (13 wrestling, 13 men/women fencing,12 gymnastics, 11 soccer, 8 women volleyball, 5 boxing, 5 lacrosse, 3 women fencing, 2 football, 2 volleyball, 2 women gymnastics, 2 women field hockey, 3 cross-country, 2 women’s XC, 1 men’s basketball, 1 men’s soccer, 1 men’s volleyball, 1 women soccer, 1 men’s indoor track, women bowling); plus 176 individual champions, 219 conf titles (128 Big Ten titles, 72 Atlantic-10, 19 misc non-B1G titles), 74 Olympic medals–20 Gold, 18 Silver, 36 Bronze,
Colors – Blue & White, nickname Nittany Lions/Lady Lions, mascot – Nittany Lion, originated in 1907 at a baseball game vs Princeton, fight song: Fight On, State
Basketball started in 1896 (1560-1257, .555), 1954 Final Four, 2 Elite Eight, 4 Sweet Sixteen (last 2001), 10 NCAA tourneys (last 2023), 3 AA’s (Jesse Arnelle, Jalen Pickett, Bo Ryan),14 NBA draft picks (0 1st rd, 5 2nd rd, last 2023 Jalen Pickett, Seth Lundy), 1 current NBA player Jalen Pickett (Nuggets)
Winningest coaches: John Egli 187-135, .581, Bruce Parkhill 181-169, .517, John Lawther 150-93, .617
Current Mike Rhoades – 2nd yr, 2019 Atlantic 10 COY (VCU)
Currently: 13-11 (3-10) – W: Binghamton, UMBC, Saint Francis, VA Tech, Purdue Ft Wayne, Fordham, Rutgers, Coppin St, Drexel, Penn, Northwestern, Rutgers; L: Clemson, Buffalo, #8 Purdue, Indiana, #13 Illinois, Oregon, #12 MSU, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio State, Minnesota, UCLA
All-time: PSU leads SC 2-0, (last 2014 PSU 63-61 win, Katin Reinhardt 14 pts)
PSU NET 63, KenPom 57, SC NET 70, KenPom 60
PSU Scores: 80.3 ppg (+7.5), 47.7% FG, 33.9% 3FG, 7.1 3’s/g, 75.1% FT. Rebounds 34.4 pg (+0.4); Assists 16.1 pg; TOs 12.1 pg (+2.5); Steals 8.3 pg; Blks 4.0 pg
PSU Leaders:
Scoring: Ace Baldwin Jr 13.7 ppg (37.1% FG, 30.9% 3FG, 93.4% FT), Yanic Konan Niederhauser 12.7 ppg (62.2% FG, 10% 3FG, 65.3% FT), Nick Kern 12.6 ppg (59.4% FG, 30.8% 3FG, 67.6% FT), Zach Hicks 11.8 ppg (47.4% FG, 41.1% 3FG, 79.3% FT), Puff Johnson 10.2 ppg (54.3% FG, 30.2% 3FG, 81% FT), Freddie Dilione V 9.2 ppg (41.7% FG, 30.3% 3FG, 67.5% FT)
Rebounding: Neiderhauser 6.2, Kern 5.3; Assists – Baldwin 7.4 (NCAA No. 5), Kern 2.3; Steals –Baldwin 1.9, Kern1.3; Blks – Neiderhauser 2.1
SC scores: 76.4 ppg (+3.0), 47.7% FG, 34.2% 3FG, 6.6 3’s/g, 72.5% FT, Rebs 31.9 rpg (-1.0), Assists 15.4 apg, TOs 11.4 pg (+1.1), 15.0 ppg/TO, Steals 6.0, Blks 2.8
SC Leaders
Scoring: Claude 16.2 ppg (49.8% FG, 32.4% 3FG, 75.4% FT), Yates 12.5 (48.4% FG, 39.2% 3FG, 77.3% FT), Agbo 11.5 (38.2% FG, 34.8% 3FG, 83.9% FT), Saint 10.2 (45.1% FG, 31.9% 3FG, 63.6% FT), Cohen 6.9 (61.0% FG, 16.7% 3FG, 76.1% FT), Agee 6.7 (52.9% FG, 37.5% 3FG, 75% FT)
Rebounds: Saint 6.1, Agbo 4.7; Assists Saint 4.3; Claude 4.2; Steals Saint 1.3, Yates 1.2; Blks Patton 0.6, Knowling 0.5, Agee 0.5
Pregame
No Founder’s Room report – out for the season recovering from surgery.
Sparse crowd tonight (less than the announced 4638). Even with a ‘Fight Cancer’ USC basketball t-shirt giveaway to the first 1000 students, they really didn‘t show up. Who did show? NFL, College & USC Hall of Fame member and 1981 Heisman Trophy winner, RB Marcus Allen.
The Game
SC starts: Buzo, Yates, Saint, Des - back after missing 2 games for a bone bruise, Cohen (starting again for the foul prone Agee). Wes & Buzo were in the lineup despite being sick and needing IVs in the past couple of days.
The concern about Saint going scoreless vs Purdue, while taking only 1 shot in 35 min is quelled 9 secs in as he hits a layup to give SC a 2-0 lead. He follows with a 3FG at 15:52. PSU took their only lead of the half (4-2) at 18:10 on a fastbreak layup by D’Marco Dunn after Agbo was picked by Ace Baldwin.
At 7:40, Knowling blocked a PSU jump shot, snared by Cohen who leads a streaking Knowling perfectly for the one-handed jam. This gives SC it’s largest lead of the half 17 pts (31-14). From this point PSU outscored SC by17-9 to close the lead to 40-31, going into the half.
For the half:
PSU shot 36% FG (14-25), 21.4% 3FG (3-14), 71.4% FT (10-14)
SC shot 56% FG (26-53), 71.4% 3FG (5-7), 77.8% FT (7-9)
Second Half
Would PSU be able to bite into the 9 pt half-time lead SC held? No, they wouldn’t. While the Trojans shot a very good 56% FGs in the first half, they shot an unbelievable 79.2% FGs in the 2nd half! Buzo escaped his slump and hit 7 of his 9 3FG attempts for a game high 21 pts. He is a streaky player who hopefully has found the range and can continue this type of performance. If SC gets a reliable 3 pt threat, it opens the lane for Des and Wes to do work and SC is difficult to beat. SC had its largest lead of the game 26 pts with 2:03 remaining on a layup by Agee. SC scoring was capped by Jalen Shelly’s dunk with 0:12. Shelly had a season high 14 min, finishing with 9 pts (3-4 FG, 1-1 3FG, 2-2 FT). Four Trojans finished with double-digit pts: Buzo (21), Des (16), Yates (13) – playing much of the game with a broken nose, Cohen (12). Saint & Shelly had 9 each and Agee 8. Cohen & Yates led the team with 5 rebs, Des with 8 assists, but he unfortunately had 8 of the team’s total 15 TO’s. SC rolls in this one winning 92-67.
For the game:
PSU shot 42.9% FG (21-49), 26.9% 3FG (7-26), 64.3% FT (18-28)
SC shot 67.3% FG (33-49), 75% 3FG (12-16), 82.4% FT (14-17)
SC goes to 14-10 (6-7), PSU goes to 13-12 (3-11). Believe it or not in this new conference, SC remains in the hunt for an NCAA berth, as 5 of their remaining 7 regular season games are Quad 1 and winning a couple of these may prove large to their chances.
Next Up: Minnesota (Galen Center) Feb 15th, 1 pm PST, B1G Network
Fight On! Beat the Gophers!
Today PSU has 7343 acres small city acres (22,484 statewide), enrollment of 46,723 in University Park (89,816 statewide), 39,809 undergrads (74,446 statewide), $4.5 Billion endowment, USN&WR No. 60, WSJ No. 46
2011 ‘Pedophile U’ Scandal – PSU officials were alleged to have covered up incidents of child sexual abuse by former DC Jerry Sandusky. AD Tim Curley, Sr VP Finance Gary Schultz were indicted for perjury. Legendary coach Joe Paterno was complicit in the coverup and fired in disgrace, president Graham B. Spanier was forced to resign. Sandusky was convicted in June 2012 on 45 counts of abuse. The feckless NCAA issued sanctions but repealed them after government intervention.
Famous alumni include actor & dancer Gene Kelly, Days of Our Lives actor John Aniston (father of Jennifer), Modern Family actor Ty Burrell, journalist/sportscaster Jimmy Cefalo, writer/director Anchorman: Legend of Ron Burgundy, Talladega Nights: Ballad of Ricky Bobby, The Landlord, Chewbacca in Star Wars: the Force Awakens - Joonas Suotmo, actor/director Oscar nominee Bruce Davison, 10x Tony Award winning scenic designer Oliver Smith, Civil War governor of PA Andrew Curtin, Manhattan Project team member & father of Los Alamos Neutron Science accelerators Lou Rosen, Aharanov-Bohm effect/Bohm diffusion/ Bohm interpretation quantum physicist David Bohm, 1973 Director of the Army National Guard Maj General Donald Burdick, Medal of Honor recipient Navy SEAL Michael P Murphy, USAF Space Command commander C. Robert Kehler, former US Joint Forces Command and NATO Supreme Allied Commander Harold Gehmanm, engineer Samuel Kurtz Hoffman developer of the F-1 engines that powered Saturn V rocket, first African-American in space Guion Bluford, Space Lab astronaut Paul J Weitz, Space Shuttle astronauts Robert Cenker & James Pawelczyk, Fisher-Price co-founder Herman Fisher, Slinky inventor Richard T James, AccuWeather founder Joel N Myers, former Commerce Secretary Barbara Hackman Franklin, Gov. of Alaska Territory B. Frank Heintzleman, Heisman winner and LA Ram John Cappelletti, ESPN reporter Lisa Salters, imprisoned darknet market Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht, Nebraska football coach Matt Rhule, LA Ram Fearsome Foursome DT & actor Rosey Grier, Buffalo Bills / Buffalo Sabres owner Terry Pegula, 4X Super Bowl winner & NFL exec Matt Millen, 6 NFL HOF’rs (Jack Ham, Franco Harris , Mike Michalske, Lenny Moore, Mike Munchak, Dave Robison), former Dodger player & Angels manager Mike Scioscia, model Samantha Hoopes
PSU Athletics: 83 NCAA team championships (13 wrestling, 13 men/women fencing,12 gymnastics, 11 soccer, 8 women volleyball, 5 boxing, 5 lacrosse, 3 women fencing, 2 football, 2 volleyball, 2 women gymnastics, 2 women field hockey, 3 cross-country, 2 women’s XC, 1 men’s basketball, 1 men’s soccer, 1 men’s volleyball, 1 women soccer, 1 men’s indoor track, women bowling); plus 176 individual champions, 219 conf titles (128 Big Ten titles, 72 Atlantic-10, 19 misc non-B1G titles), 74 Olympic medals–20 Gold, 18 Silver, 36 Bronze,
Colors – Blue & White, nickname Nittany Lions/Lady Lions, mascot – Nittany Lion, originated in 1907 at a baseball game vs Princeton, fight song: Fight On, State
Basketball started in 1896 (1560-1257, .555), 1954 Final Four, 2 Elite Eight, 4 Sweet Sixteen (last 2001), 10 NCAA tourneys (last 2023), 3 AA’s (Jesse Arnelle, Jalen Pickett, Bo Ryan),14 NBA draft picks (0 1st rd, 5 2nd rd, last 2023 Jalen Pickett, Seth Lundy), 1 current NBA player Jalen Pickett (Nuggets)
Winningest coaches: John Egli 187-135, .581, Bruce Parkhill 181-169, .517, John Lawther 150-93, .617
Current Mike Rhoades – 2nd yr, 2019 Atlantic 10 COY (VCU)
Currently: 13-11 (3-10) – W: Binghamton, UMBC, Saint Francis, VA Tech, Purdue Ft Wayne, Fordham, Rutgers, Coppin St, Drexel, Penn, Northwestern, Rutgers; L: Clemson, Buffalo, #8 Purdue, Indiana, #13 Illinois, Oregon, #12 MSU, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio State, Minnesota, UCLA
All-time: PSU leads SC 2-0, (last 2014 PSU 63-61 win, Katin Reinhardt 14 pts)
PSU NET 63, KenPom 57, SC NET 70, KenPom 60
PSU Scores: 80.3 ppg (+7.5), 47.7% FG, 33.9% 3FG, 7.1 3’s/g, 75.1% FT. Rebounds 34.4 pg (+0.4); Assists 16.1 pg; TOs 12.1 pg (+2.5); Steals 8.3 pg; Blks 4.0 pg
PSU Leaders:
Scoring: Ace Baldwin Jr 13.7 ppg (37.1% FG, 30.9% 3FG, 93.4% FT), Yanic Konan Niederhauser 12.7 ppg (62.2% FG, 10% 3FG, 65.3% FT), Nick Kern 12.6 ppg (59.4% FG, 30.8% 3FG, 67.6% FT), Zach Hicks 11.8 ppg (47.4% FG, 41.1% 3FG, 79.3% FT), Puff Johnson 10.2 ppg (54.3% FG, 30.2% 3FG, 81% FT), Freddie Dilione V 9.2 ppg (41.7% FG, 30.3% 3FG, 67.5% FT)
Rebounding: Neiderhauser 6.2, Kern 5.3; Assists – Baldwin 7.4 (NCAA No. 5), Kern 2.3; Steals –Baldwin 1.9, Kern1.3; Blks – Neiderhauser 2.1
SC scores: 76.4 ppg (+3.0), 47.7% FG, 34.2% 3FG, 6.6 3’s/g, 72.5% FT, Rebs 31.9 rpg (-1.0), Assists 15.4 apg, TOs 11.4 pg (+1.1), 15.0 ppg/TO, Steals 6.0, Blks 2.8
SC Leaders
Scoring: Claude 16.2 ppg (49.8% FG, 32.4% 3FG, 75.4% FT), Yates 12.5 (48.4% FG, 39.2% 3FG, 77.3% FT), Agbo 11.5 (38.2% FG, 34.8% 3FG, 83.9% FT), Saint 10.2 (45.1% FG, 31.9% 3FG, 63.6% FT), Cohen 6.9 (61.0% FG, 16.7% 3FG, 76.1% FT), Agee 6.7 (52.9% FG, 37.5% 3FG, 75% FT)
Rebounds: Saint 6.1, Agbo 4.7; Assists Saint 4.3; Claude 4.2; Steals Saint 1.3, Yates 1.2; Blks Patton 0.6, Knowling 0.5, Agee 0.5
Pregame
No Founder’s Room report – out for the season recovering from surgery.
Sparse crowd tonight (less than the announced 4638). Even with a ‘Fight Cancer’ USC basketball t-shirt giveaway to the first 1000 students, they really didn‘t show up. Who did show? NFL, College & USC Hall of Fame member and 1981 Heisman Trophy winner, RB Marcus Allen.
The Game
SC starts: Buzo, Yates, Saint, Des - back after missing 2 games for a bone bruise, Cohen (starting again for the foul prone Agee). Wes & Buzo were in the lineup despite being sick and needing IVs in the past couple of days.
The concern about Saint going scoreless vs Purdue, while taking only 1 shot in 35 min is quelled 9 secs in as he hits a layup to give SC a 2-0 lead. He follows with a 3FG at 15:52. PSU took their only lead of the half (4-2) at 18:10 on a fastbreak layup by D’Marco Dunn after Agbo was picked by Ace Baldwin.
At 7:40, Knowling blocked a PSU jump shot, snared by Cohen who leads a streaking Knowling perfectly for the one-handed jam. This gives SC it’s largest lead of the half 17 pts (31-14). From this point PSU outscored SC by17-9 to close the lead to 40-31, going into the half.
For the half:
PSU shot 36% FG (14-25), 21.4% 3FG (3-14), 71.4% FT (10-14)
SC shot 56% FG (26-53), 71.4% 3FG (5-7), 77.8% FT (7-9)
Second Half
Would PSU be able to bite into the 9 pt half-time lead SC held? No, they wouldn’t. While the Trojans shot a very good 56% FGs in the first half, they shot an unbelievable 79.2% FGs in the 2nd half! Buzo escaped his slump and hit 7 of his 9 3FG attempts for a game high 21 pts. He is a streaky player who hopefully has found the range and can continue this type of performance. If SC gets a reliable 3 pt threat, it opens the lane for Des and Wes to do work and SC is difficult to beat. SC had its largest lead of the game 26 pts with 2:03 remaining on a layup by Agee. SC scoring was capped by Jalen Shelly’s dunk with 0:12. Shelly had a season high 14 min, finishing with 9 pts (3-4 FG, 1-1 3FG, 2-2 FT). Four Trojans finished with double-digit pts: Buzo (21), Des (16), Yates (13) – playing much of the game with a broken nose, Cohen (12). Saint & Shelly had 9 each and Agee 8. Cohen & Yates led the team with 5 rebs, Des with 8 assists, but he unfortunately had 8 of the team’s total 15 TO’s. SC rolls in this one winning 92-67.
For the game:
PSU shot 42.9% FG (21-49), 26.9% 3FG (7-26), 64.3% FT (18-28)
SC shot 67.3% FG (33-49), 75% 3FG (12-16), 82.4% FT (14-17)
SC goes to 14-10 (6-7), PSU goes to 13-12 (3-11). Believe it or not in this new conference, SC remains in the hunt for an NCAA berth, as 5 of their remaining 7 regular season games are Quad 1 and winning a couple of these may prove large to their chances.
Next Up: Minnesota (Galen Center) Feb 15th, 1 pm PST, B1G Network
Fight On! Beat the Gophers!
