Penn State beats No. 8 Purdue in Big Ten opener

STATE COLLEGE — Ace Baldwin Jr. scored 17 points, Freddie Dilione V added 14 and Penn State pulled away from No. 8 Purdue for an 81-70 victory in the Big Ten opener for both teams Thursday night.

Puff Johnson had 13 and four steals, and Nick Kern Jr. had 12 points and three steals off the bench for the Nittany Lions (8-1, 1-0 Big Ten).

Penn State led by as many as 27 to earn its first win over an AP Top 10 team since 2019, prompting fans to storm the court at Bryce Jordan Center. The Nittany Lions also snapped an eight-game losing streak to the Boilermakers and continued their best start in a decade with their defense and transition offense.

Trey Kaufman-Renn and Fletcher Loyer each had 15 for the Boilermakers (7-2, 0-1).

Purdue was off all night. It committed 14 of its 24 turnovers in the first half. Penn State’s opportunistic offense potted 32 points off their mistakes.

After losing to Clemson on Nov. 26, the Nittany Lions rebounded.

After trailing 9-7, Penn State pulled away with an 11-0 run and never trailed again. The Boilermakers cut it to 25-18, but the Nittany Lions outscored them 15-6 over the final 6 minutes, 5 seconds to take a 16-point lead into halftime.

Penn State coach Mike Rhoades said before the season he wants to average over 90 points per game. So far, Penn State has averaged 91 and has scored more than 80 in every game but its loss to Clemson.

Penn State visits Rutgers on Tuesday.