It was a night to forget in Champaign, Illinois for Penn State’s men’s basketball team, especially with its leading scorer leaving the contest early due to injury.

Penn State starting point guard Ace Baldwin Jr. departed Wednesday evening’s game with a back injury with just under five minutes remaining in the first half. Head coach Mike Rhoades stated that he expects Baldwin back soon, but his status remains up in the air for Sunday’s meeting with Oregon.

The Nittany Lions are also awaiting the status of forward Puff Johnson, as he did not make the trip to Illinois this past week where the Fighting Illini defeated Penn State 91-52, impressively without their star freshman Kasparas Jakucionis.

ESPN’s Joe Lunardi now has Penn State in his Next Four Out, several spots outside the bubble cut off. To say there is a lot of work to be done with this Nittany Lions squad would be an understatement, but Sunday’s matchup is a huge opportunity for Penn State to take a step in the right direction.

The No. 15 ranked Oregon Ducks travel to chilly State College over the weekend for a battle with Penn State in the Bryce Jordan Center. Oregon has shrugged off its own 30-plus point defeat against Illinois with two consecutive wins over Maryland and Ohio State. 

Spearheaded by center Nate Bittle and point guard Jackson Shelstad, Oregon sits at 3-2 in conference play and 14-2 overall. Oregon deploys a very balanced offensive attack, with seven players averaging between 8 and 14 points per game.

What will be the keys of the game for each team? Let’s take a look.

Oregon’s keys to the game: stay hot from three, take advantage of Penn State’s poor rebounding

• Oregon has made 21 triples in their last two games
• 3rd in conference play in three-point percentage (38.4%)
• Penn State is 14th in the conference in opponent three-point percentage (34.5%)
• Penn State ranks last in the conference in allowing offensive rebounds, second to last in corralling them
• Oregon is middle of the pack in both statistics above, and especially if Puff Johnson does not play, they should thrive on the glass

Penn State’s keys to the game: forget the past two results, rotate better on defense, contain Jackson Shelstad

• This team needs to be fresh minded, focus on this opponent
• The team defense has been subpar the last two games, leaving too many shooters open, and struggling to defend the pick n’ roll
• Jackson Shelstad is averaging 23.5 points per game on 76.2% shooting from the field and a blistering 81.2% from three
• If Baldwin is able to suit up, look for him to try and make Shelstad’s debut against Penn State a long one
• Oregon has allowed Big Ten opponents to shoot 44.2% from three against them, a statistic worthy keeping an eye on, and maybe Penn State can find open shooters, potentially getting forward Zach Hicks hot again

Penn State vs Oregon odds and prediction 

Odds provided by FanDuel Sportsbook

*Lines subject to change*

Moneyline

• Oregon -132
• Penn State +110

Spread

• Oregon -2.5 (-102)
• Penn State +2.5 (-120)

Total

• 155.5 (over -110/under -108)

Prediction