Returning players lead the way as Penn State dominates Delaware State in the season opener 79-45

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State Men’s basketball team opened its season with a dominant 79-45 win over the Delaware State Hornets on Monday night.

Both teams struggled with turnovers, but that didn’t stop the Nittany Lions from scoring at will.

Two of Penn State’s returning players, Kanye Clary and Jameel Brown, scored career-highs as they led the team in scoring.

The game was in a stalemate early on until Brown caught fire from deep. Brown drilled three 3-pointers in a row for the Nittany Lions, which extended their lead to 29-9 with just over seven minutes left in the first half.

Brown ended with 20 points and went 6-8 from beyond the arc, making his impact felt this season compared to last.

“Coming off of last year, not getting a lot of playing time, having a new and different mindset, and just coming in and staying consistent, it’s definitely a big confidence booster for sure,” Brown said.

Clary did most of his work inside the paint, using his speed and shiftiness to get to the rim, and finished with 22 points.

The fast-paced offense and getting the ball in transition match Clary’s style of play, which he said helped fuel his performance.

Even though the offense did manage to score, turnovers were a major problem for both teams.

Penn State’s head coach Mike Rhoades took the blame for the turnovers but acknowledged these types of mistakes happen early in the season.

“There definitely were some first-game jitters and stuff like that for everybody,” Rhoades said. “But I was just really proud of the guys that tried to play the right way for most of the 40 minutes.”

Both teams struggled in the turnover category, the Hornets ending with 23 and the Nittany Lions with 21.

However, defensively the blue and white were locking things down, holding the Hornets to just 28.8% shooting from the field and allowing only one three-pointer.

It was a team effort on defense, but the standouts on that side of the ball were Nick Kern Jr. with three blocks and Ace Baldwin Jr. with four steals.

Martaz Robinson and Corey Perkins led the Hornets in scoring, each with nine points. However, it was Robinson’s eight turnovers that stood out on the scoresheet.

Two notable absences for the Nittany Lions were Puff Johnson and Favour Aire.

Rhoades said Johnson wanted to play in the opener, but Rhoades wanted to make sure his player was 100% healthy before putting him in the lineup. However, Rhoades said Aire will be out at least for a few weeks with a hand injury.

Despite the blowout victory, Rhoades said this team is far from its best version of what it can be.

“We gotta ways to go for what I think we can do,” Rhoades said. “We can get better on defense. We gotta take care of the ball on offense. We gotta pass the ball better.”

Penn State’s next opportunity to work on these things will be on Friday when it hosts Lehigh University at 7:30 p.m. for its second game of the season.

Christopher Reynolds is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email him at clr5971@psu.edu.