UNCASVILLE, Conn. – It was a one-point game with under four minutes to play, but Providence pulled away in the final minutes to hand the Penn State men’s basketball team its first loss of the season, 77-65, Saturday afternoon at the Hall of Fame Showcase inside Mohegan Sun Arena.
Freddie Dilione V tallied a career-high 22 points to lead Penn State. Dilione V, a native of Fayetteville, North Carolina, finished the game shooting 8-for-18 from the field and drilled four of his eight attempts from 3-point range to finish with his career-high scoring mark. The redshirt junior booked his fifth game in double figures this season in addition to his fifth consecutive, surpassing his previous career high scoring mark of 21 points set against Oregon on January 12 of this year. He also managed to lead the Blue & White in rebounding with nine boards while pacing the Nittany Lions in assists with four and steals with two.
PSU’s bench continued to shine despite the final result, with the Nittany Lions mustering a 33-17 victory in the battle for scoring off the pine. The Nittany Lions also managed to out-shoot Providence from long range, shooting 33 percent from deep on the evening compared to an 18 percent clip for the Friars. Following Saturday’s clash against the Friars, Penn State dropped to 5-1 overall and will go on to face the Boston University Terriers this Tuesday inside the Bryce Jordan Center. Providence improves to 4-2 overall and picked up its second win over the Nittany Lions in the fourth all-time meeting.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Providence brought down the opening tipoff, but neither squad was able to find a lid-lifting score on their initial trips down the floor. Providence capitalized on a turnover to notch the game’s first points in transition, but the Blue & White were able to snap back with a triple from Eli Rice to take an early one-point advantage. The Friars capitalized on some fancy footwork in the paint to record a dunk, but PSU responded moments later with a straightaway step-back 3-pointer from Dilione V. Back-and-forth action continued in the early moments with an and-one opportunity for Providence followed by a mid-range answer from Josh Reed, culminating in a 9-8 Friar advantage at the first media break.
- Out of the media timeout, Providence expanded its lead to three with a driving layup, but Melih Tunca was able to maintain the Nittany Lions’ momentum with a jumper in the paint following a Friar giveaway. PSU’s defense forced a two-plus minute scoreless stretch for Providence, and a 2-for-2 trip to the line from Dilione V put the Nittany Lions back in front, 12-11. The Friars logged a layup moments later, but a side-stepping right-wing triple from Dilione V and a transition score for Tunca made it a 17-13 affair in PSU’s favor. Providence put an end to the 5-0 stretch for PSU with a jumper to make it 17-15 at the under-12 intermission.
- Providence nailed a 3-pointer from the right corner to lurch back ahead, but physical play from Rice on an offensive board netted a trip to the stripe, where the redshirt sophomore hit both of his attempts to mark another lead change. Dilione V added a tough paint jumper and a straightaway triple to mark a 7-0 scoring run to put PSU ahead by a 24-18 differential. The Friars stopped the PSU momentum temporarily with an emphatic dunk, but a free throw line jumper from Dominick Stewart powered Penn State to a 26-20 advantage at the under-eight.
- The Friars went 1-for-3 at the line out of the break following a shooting foul against PSU, as both offenses ground to a relative halt. Free throws were exchanged both ways to the tune of a 29-25 score with 4:57 remaining in the half, but the Friars were able to rattle home a left-wing 3-ball to pull back within one. Providence connected on a dunk in transition to take the lead, 30-29 with just over two minutes to go in the opening stanza. The final moments of the half ticked by with neither squad hitting a field goal, but Providence was able to capitalize on more free throw opportunities to build a 32-31 edge at the break.
- The Friars opened the second half of play on a 9-0 scoring run, ballooning their halftime lead to 10 points, 41-31. Dilione V kept his strong performance going with a paint jumper to stymie the Providence momentum, and Ivan Jurić connected on a layup to mark a 4-0 reply, but an and-one for the Friars made it a 44-35 affair. Following a split trip to the line from Tibor Mirtič, the squads exchanged 3-pointers and paint jumpers to make it an eight-point Friar lead with just over 15 minutes to play.
- Back-to-back dunks for the Friars pushed the Providence lead up to 12 points at 53-41, but a quick 5-0 reply thanks to makes from Jurić and Reed brought the Nittany Lions back within single digits. Providence recorded another dunk its next trip down, but a long-range make from Tunca made it a 55-49 affair. Reed added a triple of his own to pull the Blue & White back within three points of the lead, but five quick points from the Friars maintained the edge.
- Dilione V continued his hot shooting night from the field with a paint bucket that made it 60-54, and Mirtič added a layup down low following a defensive stop on the other end. Providence went 2-for-2 at the stripe moments later and added a mid-range jumper, but Dilione V drilled yet another triple to make it a five-point ballgame. A fantastic feed in transition found Kayden Mingo moments later, and despite missing the layup, Jurić was there to tip in the bucket to make it 64-61 Providence at the final media timeout of the game.
- Following Penn State’s called timeout, Dilione V hit another jumper to make it a one-point game with less than four minutes to play. From that point forward, Providence went on a 13-2 scoring run to close out the 77-65 win.
GAME NOTES
- The Nittany Lions suffered their first loss of the season and fall to 5-1 on the year.
- Penn State outscored its opponent off the bench for the sixth game in a row and did so in 33-17 fashion against Providence on Saturday night.
- The game featured five ties and 12 lead changes. PSU held the lead for 12 minutes and 25 seconds while Providence maintained an advantage for 27 minutes and nine seconds.
- The Nittany Lions outshot their opponent from long range, connecting on 33 percent of 3-point attempts (8-for-24) while holding Providence to 18 percent shooting from deep (6-for-33).
- Redshirt junior guard Freddie Dilione V mustered his fifth double-digit scoring performance of the season and fifth consecutive, finishing with a career-high 22 points on 8-for-18 shooting from the field and 4-for-8 efficiency from deep.
- Dilione V, a native of Fayetteville, North Carolina, also led the Blue & White in both rebounds and assists. He finished with a career-high nine boards, surpassing his previous high of seven set against New Haven on November 8. Dilione V added a season-high quartet of assists as well.
- Dilione V led the Nittany Lions in scoring for the second time this season and finished as the team’s leading rebounded for the second time as well. He led the Nittany Lions in assists for the first time in 2025-26.
- Freshman guard Melih Tunca cracked double figures for the sixth-straight game, booking 11 points on 4-for-11 shooting from the field with three rebounds and an assist to his credit.
- Penn State utilized the starting lineup of Jurić, Mingo, Tunca, Reed and Rice for the second game in a row and second time this season overall, moving to 1-1 when utilizing that starting five.
UP NEXT
- Penn State returns home to host Boston University Tuesday night inside the Bryce Jordan Center. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. and the game will air nationally on Peacock. Kids 12 and under are free with tickets purchased at this link.