UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Led by five players in double figures, the Penn State men’s basketball team battled for a solid 96-87 win over Boston University on Tuesday night inside the Bryce Jordan Center to move to 6-1 on the season.
The Nittany Lions were on fire offensively throughout the midweek matchup against the Terriers, with Penn State scoring a season-high 96 points in the winning effort. The Blue & White crossed the 90-point threshold as a team for the first time in the 2025 calendar year, accomplishing that feat for the first time since recording 99 points against Coppin State on December 14, 2024. The Nittany Lions committed just three turnovers in the strong offensive showing, the fewest turnovers Penn State has surrendered in a game since Dec. 22, 2022.
Senior forward Josh Reed led the quintet of Penn Staters in double figures with a season-high 17-point performance in addition to hauling in a season high-tying eight rebounds. Reed, a native of Atlanta, Georgia, led the Blue & White in scoring for the first time on the 2025-26 season and became the fifth different Nittany Lion to lead the team through the squad’s first seven games. Freshman forward Ivan Jurić chipped in a career-high 15 points, while rookie guard Melih Tunca finished with 16 points and a game high-tying four assists. Freshman guard Kayden Mingo had 14 points, four rebounds and four assists while redshirt sophomore guard Eli Rice rounded out the five Nittany Lions in double figures with 11 points on 50 percent shooting from the field.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Jurić brought down the opening tip, but the Nittany Lions were unable to sink their first shot of the game. Mingo drove through the lane for the opening bucket of the night on PSU’s next trip down, but a triple from the right corner pushed the Terriers ahead early on. BU drilled a mid-range jumper to make it a 5-3 advantage, but Mingo found Rice on the right wing for a 3-pointer to deadlock the game. Baskets fell both ways in the ensuing moments, but PSU was able to rattle off a quick 7-0 scoring stretch to lead 12-7 with just over 15 minutes left in the first.
- BU was able to snap the Nittany Lion run with a left-corner 3-ball, but Freddie Dilione V sank his first long-range attempt of the night from the left wing to answer back. Tibor Mirtič made it 17-10 PSU after Sasa Ciani found him on a slick feed down low, and despite a triple from the Terriers following shortly thereafter, the Blue & White sank back-to-back buckets inside to take an eight-point edge at 21-13 with less than 12 to go in the opening half.
- PSU’s momentum rolled along out of the break, with Dominick Stewart finding the bottom of the net with a left-wing triple to secure the first Nittany Lion double-digit lead of the night. The Terriers missed a pair at the line on their next offensive possession, and Reed was able to battle through contact for a physical hook shot to make it a 9-0 Nittany Lion run. The teams traded blows to the tune of a 28-17 Nittany Lion lead, but a putback bucket from Reed and a three-point spell from Jurić drove the Blue & White to a 14-point advantage at the under-eight media timeout.
- The Nittany Lions earned a pair of trips to the charity stripe and went 3-for-4 in those opportunities to balloon the lead to 17 points with 6:40 remaining in the first, but a left-wing triple from the Terriers temporarily stymied the PSU run. BU rattled off a quick 7-2 scoring run with just over four minutes to play in the half, but a triple from Tunca kept the Nittany Lions ahead by 14, leading 43-29 at the under-four.
- BU got a friendly roll on a post-up opportunity to pull back within 12 points of the PSU lead, but Dilione V continued his perfect start from the floor with a straight-away 3-pointer. The Terriers hit a fadeaway from mid-range and Reed replied with a late-clock mid-range heave of his own to make it 48-33 with just under two remaining in the first. Multiple makes from the free throw line down the stretch gave the Nittany Lions a 51-35 advantage through the first half of play.
- The Terriers earned a trip to the line and hit both attempts to open the second stanza, but impressive ball movement from the Nittany Lions culminated in an extra pass from Reed to Rice on the left wing for a wide-open 3-point bucket. BU split another trip to the line and Tunca made the Terriers pay for the miss with an and-one bucket down low, driving PSU to a 57-38 lead at the 18:20 mark. Baskets fell both ways on each team’s ensuing trips down, but an emphatic stuff from Jurić gave PSU a 21-point advantage with a 61-40 lead at the 16-minute mark.
- Boston University hit a left-wing 3-pointer out of the media break and forced a stop on the other end, kicking off a 9-0 run that cut the Nittany Lion lead to 12. Mingo drilled a triple from the left wing to keep the Blue & White in control of Tuesday night’s action, leading 64-49 with 13:55 to go. The Terriers were able to answer back with a dunk followed by a 2-for-3 trip to the line after PSU fouled a 3-point shooter, but Reed connected on a jumper from the right elbow to keep the Nittany Lions ahead by a 67-55 differential with just under 12 to play.
- On the other side of the media break, Jurić hit a pair of free throws to match his career-high with 13 points, and the Nittany Lion defense forced a shot clock violation moments later to cement the 14-point edge. BU’s next offensive possession saw Stewart swipe a steal and go coast-to-coast for a transition bucket, but the Terriers snapped back with another triple from the left wing. Physicality in the paint earned Reed a trip to the stripe, with the veteran forward hitting both opportunities to make it a 15-point game, but BU cut the lead back to single digits with back-to-back long-range shots with 7:37 to play.
- Just before the media break, Mingo earned a trip to the stripe with a baseline drive and split his opportunities on the other side of the timeout. Stewart snagged a Terrier pass mid-air the next trip down the floor for his second steal of the game and drove the length of the floor for an and-one bucket down low to make it 79-66. BU’s hot streak from deep continued moments later, but three-straight makes from the free throw line kept the Nittany Lions in control.
- The Terriers hit a 3-pointer out of the under-four media break, but three consecutive free throw makes from PSU mitigated the BU threat. The teams traded makes over the next few minutes to the tune of a 90-78 score, but a Layup from Mingo all but iced the game with 1:22 to play. BU sank a pair of 3-pointers down the stretch to make the final score a bit tighter, but the Blue & White held on to close out the 96-87 win at home.
GAME NOTES
- Penn State improved to 6-1 overall on the 2025-26 campaign and remains unbeaten inside the Bryce Jordan Center this season, rising to 4-0 when playing at home in Happy Valley. Boston University drops to 3-4 overall following Tuesday’s matchup
- In the all-time series between the two programs, PSU moved back even with the Terriers following the fourth meeting to tie the series at 2-2. Tuesday’s matchup marked the first meeting of the two programs since 1984.
- The Nittany Lions saw five players reach double figures for the first time since February 26, 2025 when the Blue & White placed six student-athletes in double digits against Indiana on the road in Bloomington.
- Penn State finished with 96 points against the Terriers, marking PSU’s first 90-plus-point scoring performance of the 2025-26 season in addition to the team’s first since scoring 99 points against Coppin State on December 14, 2024.
- Penn State maintained the lead for 36 minutes and 43 seconds in the win over the Terriers, PSU’s longest stretch of advantage in any game this season to date. Tuesday’s game featured one tie and a pair of lead changes early in the first half of action.
- The Nittany Lions registered 50-plus points in a half for the first time in the 2025-26 season with 51 points on 19-for-28 (68%) shooting from the field in the opening stanza against the Terriers. It marked Penn State’s first 50-plus-point first half since dropping 50 against Nebraska inside the BJC on February 19 of this year.
- Penn State’s 68 percent shooting mark in the opening 20 minutes was PSU’s first time shooting 60 percent-or-better from the field in any half since converting at a 62.1 percent clip against Harvard on November 19 of this season.
- PSU made its most free throws in a single game since sinking 36-of-45 foul shots against the Northwestern Wildcats on January 2 of this season at home inside the BJC. Penn State hit a season-high 28 free throws against the Terriers on 70 percent efficiency.
- The Nittany Lions recorded a season-low in turnovers on Tuesday night, surrendering just three giveaways throughout the contest. The three turnovers marked the fewest by a Nittany Lion team since allowing three giveaways against the Quinnipiac Bobcats on December 22, 2022. PSU won the turnover battle for the fifth time this season and remain perfect at 5-0 when doing so.
- Senior forward Josh Reed crossed into double figures for the fourth time this season and second time in the last three games, finishing the night with a season-high 17 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the floor. Reed matched his season high in rebounds with eight, leading the Blue & White in both scoring and rebounding for the first time this year.
- Freshman forward Ivan Jurić reached double digits in the scoring column for the third time in his collegiate career and first time since November 15 against La Salle. The Zagreb, Croatia, native finished with a career-high 15 points on a perfect 4-for-4 night from the field, also contributing three rebounds and an assist.
- Redshirt sophomore guard Eli Rice contributed double figures with 11 points on 3-for-6 shooting from the field and 2-for-4 efficiency from deep. It marked the Gallatin, Tennessee, native’s first double-digit scoring effort since opening night against Fairfield on November 3.
- Freshman guard Kayden Mingo crossed into double digits for the sixth time in his first seven collegiate starts, dropping 14 points with four rebounds. Mingo finished with a game-high four assists, tied alongside freshman guard teammate Melih Tunca.
- Penn State utilized the starting lineup of Jurić, Mingo, Tunca, Reed and Rice for the third game in a row and moved to 2-1 with that group as the first five on the floor.
UP NEXT
- Penn State remains home to host Sacred Heart Saturday at 6 p.m. inside the Bryce Jordan Center. The game will air nationally on Peacock. Kids 12 & under can get in free with the purchase of an adult ticket at this link.