Penn State off to best start in 5 seasons after beating Purdue Fort Wayne 102-89

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- — Ace Baldwin Jr. scored 25 points and distributed 11 assists and Yanic Konan Niederhauser recorded a double-double and Penn State beat Purdue Fort Wayne 102-89 on Wednesday night.

Konan Niederhauser scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, Zach Hicks scored 17 points, reserve Nick Kern Jr. 13 and Freddie Dilione V and Puff Johnson and 11 apiece.

Undefeated Penn State (5-0) shot 34 of 61 (55.7%) distributing 25 assists.

Jalen Jackson scored a career-high 31 points, reserve Corey Handnot II scored a career-high 20 and Eric Mulder 12 on 6-of-8 shooting while grabbing 11 rebounds for the Mastodons.

Purdue Fort Wayne (3-2) made 12 of 28 (42.9%) from 3-point range.

Baldwin's 3-pointer with 13 minutes remaining gave the Nittany Lions a 64-62 lead and they led for the remainder. Hicks' 3 with 8:21 left gave Penn State its first double-digit advantage of the game at 81-69.

Purdue Fort Wayne built a 47-36 lead late in the second half when it outscored the Nittany Lions 16-7 in just under three minutes. Quinton Morton-Robertson buried a 3 and Baldwin sank a pair of free throws to reduce the deficit and Purdue Fort Wayne led 47-41 at halftime.

The Nittany Lions are 5-0 for the first time since the 2019-20 season. Penn State is 2-0 all-time against Purdue Fort Wayne.

The only other meeting came on Dec. 28, 2005, a 74-59 Penn State win inside the Bryce Jordan Center.

------ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP collegebasketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball