Penn State takes its high-octane offense on the road Saturday when it visits Drexel in Philadelphia.
The Nittany Lions (9-2) rank in the top 10 nationally in points per game (89.6), field goal percentage (51.6), steals (10.5) and assists (19.3). The program’s best 11-game start to 2019-20 has been led by dynamic point guard Ace Baldwin Jr. and various skilled shooters.
Baldwin is averaging 8.7 assists — third in the nation — and is coming off a season high of 16 in last Saturday’s 99-51 win over Coppin State. Yanic Konan Niederhauser scored 14 points, while Zach Hicks, Jahvin Carter, D’Marco Dunn and Dominick Stewart each made multiple three-pointers.
“Ace would rather get the assist than the basket, but he does both,” Penn State coach Mike Rhoades said of the senior team, which is also averaging 14.1 points while shooting 93.0 percent from the foul line. “He was setting the table for his colleagues and he did that at a very high level today. More than 700 assistants is not a small thing.”
Rhoades is excited about the opportunity to showcase his developing program to the Philadelphia crowd.
“To come back to the Philly area, we’re going to rent that place all the time and we’ve got guys coming down,” Rhoades said.
Drexel (8-4) has won three straight, most recently a 68-65 road victory over Howard on Tuesday. Jason Drake scored a game-high 21 points, while Yame Butler scored 16 points.
“The margin (between) success/relief and loss/grief — however you want to define it — is razor thin,” Dragons coach Zach Spiker said.
Kobe MaGee, Drexel’s leading scorer at 15.3 points per game, has struggled to shoot in three of the past four contests. He shot 3 of 10 against Howard, finishing with nine points to go along with five rebounds and four assists.
The Nittany Lions won 6-0 against the Dragons, although the teams have not met since 2015.
–Field Level Media
Source link