Penn State Basketball Scores Key Win over Michigan at the Palestra

Ace Baldwin Jr., Kanye Clary lead the Nittany Lions' second-half charge past the Wolverines.

Penn State played one of its best halves of the season Sunday at the sold-out Palestra, outscoring Michigan by 16 points in a 79-73 Big Ten victory at Philadelphia's iconic venue.

The Nittany Lions (8-8, 2-2 Big Ten) left a lethargic first half in their old-school Palestra locker room, controlling wayward Michigan during a mostly superb second half. Kanye Clary, D'Marco Dunn, Ace Baldwin Jr. and Qudus Wahab contributed in key offensive stretches, and the Penn State defense held Michigan to just 28 points through 19 minutes of the half. Penn State coach Mike Rhoades called that the "overachieving spirit" his team needs to have to overcome its deficiencies.

"That's who we are, because there's times where we're just a little bit outmanned, so how do you overcome that?" Rhoades told reporters at the Palestra after the game. "Hopefully the press, getting deflections, coming up with a 50-50 ball that you don't think we can get or that we didn't earlier in the year. I think that's huge when you're outmanned."

Penn State improved to 3-1 in Big Ten games at the Palestra, with the only loss to No. 1 Purdue in 2023. No wonder coach Mike Rhoades said he wants to make the Palestra "home" game an annual tradition. The Penn State-Michigan breakdown emphasizes the Nittany Lions' second half, their improved defense and some key offensive performances.

Penn State forgets a forgettable first half

Penn State fans love Palestra games, and they produce louder environments there than in State College. The Lions, though, didn't respond early, missing their first nine shots and falling behind by as many as 13 points. Michigan led by 10 at halftime.

"What I'm most proud about today is the response to the other night," Rhoades said, referring to Penn State's 92-61 loss at Michigan State. "We got shellacked. ... But we found something, especially late in the first half and the second half, that there are some signs that we're capable of doing some things."

Penn State kickstarted the rally in the second half with three baskets via Michigan turnovers and Clary's first 3-pointer of the game. Clary's response was key to the comeback. After going 1-for-9 in the first half, Clary scored 15 of his 18 points in the second half. As the Lions scrapped with a few one-point deficits, D'Marco Dunn carried the second rally, scoring eight straight points in a 10-0 stretch.

Dunn made the go-ahead 3-pointer midway through the half, giving Penn State its first lead of the game at 51-49 that it would not relinquish. Soon after, Dunn hit another 3-pointer from the same spot, following a hustle-play offensive rebound from Leo O'Boyle. Dunn finished with 13 points, 10 in the second half.

Then, Penn State worked inside to Qudus Wahab, who began breaking Michigan's interior man defense. Wahab scored all 8 of his points, on 4-for-4 shooting, in the second half, providing a necessary compliment to Penn State's exterior game. And after committing six turnovers in the first half, the Lions had just one in the second.

Ace Baldwin's bounceback game

Baldwin had a rough night at Michigan State on Thursday, going 0-for-7 from the field and finishing with 2 points. On Sunday he led Penn State with 25 points, his best Big Ten game, shooting 8-for-13 from the field. Baldwin kept Penn State's offense afloat in the first half and rounded his afternoon with four assists and three steals.

A tighter defensive game

Though Michigan (6-9) certainly has struggled this season, scoring hasn't been an issue. Michigan averaged 82.3 points entering the game and scored 101 in a loss to Florida. Michigan was hot early, making nine of its first 13 shots, but the Lions ultimately forced 19 turnovers, scoring 26 points off them. Rhoades called this the type of defensive performance he has been expecting to see.

"This was the cumulative effect of our defense today," Rhoades said. "We got turnovers, we pressed them, we caused some problems. We didn't points out of it [early], but if we stuck with it, I felt like the cumulative effect was going to take hold, and it did."

Taking home on the road

"Don't eat my cheesesteak," Rhoades told his players as they left the postgame media session. Rhoades has a fondness for Philadelphia, loved seeing his assistant Jimmy Martelli coach against his father (Michigan assistant Phil Martelli) and wants to return annually. This is a perfect weekend for a Palestra game, as students are still on break, and Penn State fans have sold out the game four times recently.

But Rhoades wants to get Penn State in front of even more alumni. Penn State has played at Madison Square Garden this year, and Rhoades mentioned playing in other regions (Pittsburgh, Hershey, the Lehigh Valley, Washington, D.C.) to reach more fans.

"We have the biggest alumni network in the world, and that's really cool," Rhoades said. "Let's use that. Let's think out of the box and go to them."

Up next

Penn State returns home to Northwestern at 6:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday.

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AllPennState is the place for Penn State news, opinion and perspective on the SI.com network. Publisher Mark Wogenrich has covered Penn State for more than 20 years, tracking three coaching staffs, three Big Ten titles and a catalog of great stories. Follow him on Twitter @MarkWogenrich. And consider subscribing (button's on the home page) for more great content across the SI.com network.