Ranking each Big Ten basketball team entering conference play
9. Penn State Nittany Lions
Penn State has been better than most expected, winning 11 of its first 13 games highlighted by an impressive conference victory over Purdue. The Nittany Lions have a solid defense once again under Mike Rhoades, but their offense has been even more impressive as Penn State is the sixth-ranked scoring team in the country at 88.2 points per game. Five players average double-digit scoring numbers led by veteran guard Ace Baldwin Jr., while transfer forward Yanic Konan Niederhauser has been a revelation in his first year in State College. It鈥檚 fair to question how high Penn State鈥檚 ceiling truly is going into Big Ten play, but Rhoades has a veteran roster capable of success on either end of the floor in any given game. That gives Penn State a chance to have its best Big Ten finish in several years.
