Ace Baldwin Jr. showed out in his hometown, pairing 19 points with 10 assists on Friday to lead Penn State past Virginia Tech 86-64 at the Hall of Fame Series in Baltimore.
Baldwin shot 5 of 11 overall and made 9 of 10 free throws, while Zach Hicks hit five 3-pointers and also finished with 19 points for the Nittany Lions (4-0).
Nick Kern Jr. netted 16 points off the bench and Freddie Dilione V scored 11 as Penn State shot 50.9 percent (28 of 55) from the floor.
Mylyjael Poteat had 15 points to lead the Hokies (3-1), who also got eight points apiece from Toibu Lawal, Jaden Schutt and Ben Burnham.
The Nittany Lions broke the game open behind Puff Johnson, who scored seven of his nine points in a personal 7-0 run over just 54 seconds to put Penn State ahead by double digits for good early in the second half.
Johnson hit a 3-pointer before following his layup with a steal and slam to widen the Nittany Lions’ lead to 49-33 with 16:42 to play.
Baldwin’s acrobatic and-one made it 56-38 before Hicks’ back-to-back triples extended the lead to 80-57 with 3:12 to go. Dilione capped the blowout with a thunderous fast-break jam with 1:04 left.
Baldwin was all over the court, deflecting passes, diving after loose balls and collecting three steals for a Nittany Lions defense that forced 24 turnovers.
Virginia Tech conceded 28 points off those turnovers and was outscored 38-24 in the paint.
Penn State’s high-powered offense had little trouble finding its gear. The Nittany Lions made six of their first seven shots, including three 3-pointers, and went up 15-2 on Kern’s layup 5:26 into the game.
Hicks’ triple made it 22-8 midway through the first half, but Penn State quickly stalled after that. The Hokies forced six straight misses from the field amid a 14-3 run to close within 25-22.
The Nittany Lions re-extended their lead from the foul line, hitting four free throws before Hicks’ jumper ended a 6 1/2-minute field-goal drought to put Penn State up 31-22.
Virginia Tech kept pace from the foul line, hitting five free throws in the half’s final 3:05 to trail 37-29 at the break. Poteat finished the first half with 11 points.
