Nittany Lions Host Shippensburg in Exhibition Game SundayNittany Lions Host Shippensburg in Exhibition Game Sunday

Nittany Lions Host Shippensburg in Exhibition Game Sunday

Admission is free for all fans, tipoff set for 2 p.m.

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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Fans can get a sneak peek at the 2025-26 Penn State men’s basketball team Sunday afternoon when Penn State hosts Shippensburg in a preseason exhibition game inside the Bryce Jordan Center. Tipoff is slated for 2 p.m. and admission is free for all fans.

KNOW BEFORE YOU GO

  • ADMISSION: FREE!
  • PARKING: With Penn State’s annual THON 5K Fun Run/Walk to be held at 11 a.m. Sunday, October 26, several traffic and parking restrictions will be in place, which will impact the men’s basketball exhibition game.
    • To accommodate the THON 5K route, here are the key traffic impacts related to those events:
      • Curtin Road between University Drive and Porter Road will be closed from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.,
      • The affected portions of Porter Road, Hastings Road, Pollock Road, Fraser Road, and Curtin Road will be closed on Sunday from approximately 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., with roads reopening as the race proceeds through each area.
    • Fans attending the men’s basketball exhibition game are advised to park in Stadium West parking lot and to access by traveling on Park Avenue only from Atherton Street or I-99/Route 322. Parking in Jordan East or traveling via another route may result in delays due to the 5K.
    • Parking for all athletic events requires a valid university permit or payment of an applicable parking fee. Parking can be purchased in advance via ParkWhiz prepayment, or on the day of via HONK (zone PSUCR).
  • CLEAR BAG POLICY: The Bryce Jordan Center has a clear bag policy. Bags that are clear plastic, vinyl or PVB and are 12" x 6" x 12" or smaller are permitted. Small clutches or wristlets that are 4" x 6" x 1" are also permissible, as well as one-gallon clear plastic freezer bags. All clear bags and patrons are subject to metal detection and/or bag inspection upon entering the venue. Bag policy details can be found here.
  • FAN INFO GUIDE: Fan Info Guide

FOLLOW ALONG

FINAL TUNE-UP

  • The Nittany Lions will play their second of two preseason exhibition games Sunday when Penn State hosts Shippensburg inside the Bryce Jordan Center. Sunday's exhibition game won't count towards official records or statistics.
  • Penn State got exhibition game action started on the road last Sunday, falling at Dayton, 78-62, in a charity exhibition game at UD Arena. The charity exhibition game was held in support of adolescent and young adult mental health and suicide prevention.
  • The Nittany Lions were down five at the half, but couldn’t get their offense going in the second half to complete the comeback. Penn State finished the game shooting 39.3 percent from the field compared to Dayton’s 48.4 field goal percentage.
  • Freshman Kayden Mingo and redshirt junior Freddie Dilione V led the Nittany Lions with 16 points apiece. Mingo dished a team-high four assists. Senior Josh Reed and freshman Ivan Jurić pulled down a team-leading six rebounds each.

SCOUTING SHIPPENSBURG

  • Shippensburg is coming off a 2024-25 season that saw the Raiders go 10-19 overall and 7-14 in PSAC play. The Raiders ended their season in the first round of the PSAC Tournament.
  • The Raiders return six of their top seven scorers from a season ago, including four of their five starters. Markus Frank headlines the group after averaging 19.6 points per game while shooting 53.3 percent from the field a season ago.
  • Shippensburg officially opens the 2025-26 campaign on Saturday, Nov. 15 at Frostburg State.

AGAINST THE RAIDERS

  • Penn State and Shippensburg are located just two hours away from each other, but have never met in regular-season or post-season action.

NEW-LOOK NITTANY LIONS

  • The new-look Nittany Lions feature 10 new players this season.
  • Penn State returns just 14.6 percent of points, 11.0 percent of rebounds, 12.5 percent of assists and 15.5 percent of minutes played from last season in its three returners - Freddie Dilione V, Eli Rice and Dominick Stewart.
  • The Nittany Lion roster is the 10th-most inexperienced roster in Division I per Bart Torvik's experience metric. The Penn State roster features one senior, two juniors, two sophomores and eight freshmen.

TALENTED YOUTH

  • Penn State's eight-man freshman class is comprised of both talent and experience as the group is a combination of a top-30 recruiting class and international players that come to Happy Valley for their first years of NCAA eligibility after playing professionally overseas.
  • Freshman guard Kayden Mingo headlines the class as Mingo came to Penn State as a consensus top-40 prospect and the highest-ranked recruit in program history. Fellow rookies Mason Blackwood, Justin Houser, Ivan Jurić and Reggie Grodin were all recruited directly out of high school and comprise Penn State's highly-ranked class.
  • Tibor Mirtič and Melih Tunca join the freshman group for their first seasons of NCAA eligibility after playing professionally overseas in their respective home countries of Slovenia and Turkey. Mirtič played the 2024-25 season for Krka Novo Mesto in Slovenia's top professional league, while Tunca was with Turk Telekom in the Turkish Basketball Super League, the top professional league in Turkey. Both players also own years of FIBA Euro Championship experience.

ESPN TOP 50 IMPACT NEWCOMER

  • Freshman Kayden Mingo was named an ESPN Top 50 Impact Newcomer earlier this week. Mingo, the highest-rated recruit in Penn State history, led the Nittany Lions in their first preseason exhibition game at Dayton last Sunday with 16 points on 60 percent (6-10) shooting, four assists and three rebounds in 29 minutes of action.
  • Highly-touted Mingo was ranked as the 34 recruit nationally per 247Sports and No. 39 recruit nationally per ESPN. He was named the 2025 New York Gatorade Player of the Year following standout senior season at Long Island Lutheran.

BACK IN BLUE & WHITE

  • Freddie Dilione V is Penn State's only returning starter from the 2024-25 campaign. Dilione V started 28 of 31 games a season ago, averaging 9.4 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game in an average of 24.6 minutes per contest.
  • Dominick Stewart returns for his sophomore season following a highly-productive offseason. Stewart is expected to play a larger role this year following a freshman campaign that saw him appear in 24 games.
  • Eli Rice enters his second season in the Blue & White fully healthy following a redshirt year due to a season-long injury. Rice played his freshman year at Nebraska before coming to Penn State ahead of the 2024-25 season.

EXPERIENCED TRANSFERS

  • Josh Reed and Saša Ciani transferred in to Penn State during the spring and bring valuable college basketball experience to the roster.
  • Reed saw action in 97 games through first three collegiate seasons at Cincinnati as one of the Bearcats' top defenders and key role players.
  • Ciani played his first two collegiate seasons at UIC (2024-25) and Xavier (2023-24), seeing action in 58 games while making 26 starts. He is coming off a 2024-25 season at UIC in which he averaged 9.9 points and a team-best 7.6 rebounds per game while shooting 53.3 percent from the field. Ciani played professionally in his native country of Slovenia prior to his NCAA career.

CAPTAINS

  • Penn State has named four team captains ahead of the 2025-26 season. The four captains were elected by both the players and the staff:

HIGH OCTANE

  • Penn State's offense has thrilled under head coach Mike Rhoades as the Nittany Lions have averaged 77.1 points per game through Rhoades' two combined seasons in Happy Valley.
  • Rhoades orchestrated the highest-scoring offense in Penn State history in 2024-25 as the Nittany Lions set a single-season program record with 79.1 points per game during his second season at the helm. He engineered the highest-scoring offense under a first-year head coach at Penn State since 1954-55 as the Nittany Lions averaged 75.1 points per game in his debut season (2023-24).

FIRST-ROUND DRAFT PICK

  • Mike Rhoades and his staff were responsible for identifying, recruiting and developing Penn State's first-ever first-round NBA Draft pick in Yanic Konan Niederhauser as the big man was selected with the 30th overall pick of the 2025 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Clippers in June 2025.
  • Konan Niederhauser led the Big Ten with 2.3 blocks per game during his one season in the Blue & White in 2024-25 and saw a +7.8 points per game and +3.1 rebounds per game increase from his collegiate career averages prior to his time at Penn State.
  • Konan Niederhauser was the first Nittany Lion to be selected in the first round of the NBA Draft in Penn State history. He was the highest-drafted Nittany Lion in the modern era of the draft and the 16th overall NBA Draft pick from Penn State. Current Denver Nugget Jalen Pickett (2nd round, pick 32, Denver) was the previous highest pick from Penn State in modern Draft history. Konan Niederhauser became the third Penn State player drafted in the last three years, joining Jalen Pickett (2023 to Denver) and Seth Lundy (2023 to Atlanta).

UP NEXT

  • Penn State officially opens the 2025-26 campaign on Monday, Nov. 3, when the Nittany Lions host Fairfield for a 7 p.m. tipoff inside the Bryce Jordan Center.