Daytona Beach, Fla. – In January of 1904, William K. Vanderbilt set the world land speed record driving on Daytona Beach as part of the Winter Carnival, clocking in at 92.307 mph. Today Penn State seemed ready to break that record, running past Fordham, 85-66, at the Sunshine Slam at the Ocean Center.
With the loss, Fordham falls to 3-4 on the year while Penn State stays perfect at 6-0.
Senior guard
Jackie Johnson III and junior forward
Joshua Rivera each scored 15 points for the Rams while sophomore forward
Jahmere Tripp and junior forward
Romad Dean each netted 13 with Dean adding a season-high nine rebounds.
Fordham trailed by eight at the break, 42-34, and Penn State bumped the lead to eleven, 50-39, just over two minutes into the second half.
A 10-6 Fordham run over the next three minutes cut the Nittany Lion lead to seven, 56-49, on a Tripp tip-in.
But Penn State then went on a 16-1 run to take a commanding 72-50 lead with 9:33 remaining and the closest the Rams would get from that point was 15, 72-57, on a Rivera basket with 7:56 left.
Penn State opened the game strong, taking a 21-8 lead midway through the half when a
Jahmere Tripp driving layup ignited a 16-6 Fordham run as the Rams trimmed the deficit to four, 28-24, following a
Romad Dean three-pointer with 5:24 remaining.
The Nittany Lions managed to get the lead back to 13 later in the half, 41-28, but the Rams outscored the Nittany Lions 6-1 the rest of the half to trail by eight at the break, 42-34, thanks to a Rivera tip-in just before the buzzer.
Takeaways
•
Jackie Johnson III has scored in double figures in all seven games this year.
• The game featured a junior (Penn State's Ace Baldwin, Jr.), a third (Fordham's
Jackie Johnson III), and a fifth (Penn State's Freddie Dilione V).
• The Sunshine Slam features the Rams' toughest multi-tournament event field in decades.
• Fordham's first opponent, Penn State, currently ranks 34th in KenPom following a 5-0 start to the season.
• The Nittany Lions are averaging 98.2 points per game and have eclipsed the 100-point plateau three times in five chances.
• The other side of the bracket features Clemson, which ranks 37th in KenPom and is coming off an appearance in the Elite Eight, and San Francisco, which is off to a 4-1 start with a win over Boise State and ranks 56th in KenPom.
• It is believed to be the strongest field for Fordham at an in-season tournament since the 1993 Fiesta Bowl Classic, which featured No. 12 Arizona, defending national runner-up No. 7 Michigan and Auburn.
• The last time Fordham played a Big 10 school was the Penn State game in 2014.
• Penn State now leads the all-time series, 4-1, and have taken the past three matchups.
• Fordham has two Penn State connections as head coach
Keith Urgo served as an assistant for the Nittany Lions from 2012-22 and grad student forward
Abdou Tsimbila spent his freshman year at State College in 2021-22.
• The Rams were quite familiar with Penn State head coach Mike Rhoades, who served as head coach at VCU from 2017-23, along with Nittany Lions guards Ace Baldwin and Nick Kern, Jr., who each played for Rhoades at VCU.
By the Numbers
4 – Steals by
Jahmere Tripp, a career-high (previous high was three against Richmond last year).
7 – Field goals made by
Joshua Rivera, a season-high.
9 – Steals recorded by the Rams (compared to five for Penn State).
13 - Points by
Romad Dean, a career-high (previous high was 11 vs. VMI in 2022).
13 - Points by
Jahmere Tripp, a career-high (previous high was 11 last year vs. Loyola Chicago)
15 – Fast break points for the Rams.
98.2 – Penn State's scoring average entering the game.
129 – Points scored by
Jackie Johnson III over his first seven games, the second most scored by a Fordham player in his first seven games (Jon Sever scored 148 points in his first seven games in 2013).
What's Next?
• The Rams will play San Francisco, who fell to Clemson tonight, in the 2024 Sunshine Slam, on Tuesday, November 26, at 1:30 p.m. at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach.
• It will be the second meeting between the Rams and the Dons, the first coming in 1968, a 77-64 win for the Rams at Lobo Classic.
• The Rams are 3-6 against schools currently in the West Coast Conference.
• The last time the Rams played a WCC school was a 2010 game against Santa Clara as part of the Cable Car Classic.
