Penn State Travels to New Haven for Saturday Afternoon ShowdownPenn State Travels to New Haven for Saturday Afternoon Showdown
Mark Selders

Penn State Travels to New Haven for Saturday Afternoon Showdown

Nittany Lions and Chargers tipoff at 1 p.m.

Watch - NEC Front Row Listen Live Stats Game Notes

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men’s basketball team faces its first road test of the 2025-26 season Saturday afternoon when the Nittany Lions travel to New Haven for a 1 p.m. tipoff inside The Hazell Center. The game will stream free of charge on NEC Front Row.

 

FOLLOW ALONG

 

OPENING TIPS 

  • The Nittany Lions face their first road test of the season Saturday afternoon when Penn State travels to New Haven for a 1 p.m. tipoff.
  • Penn State opened the 2025-26 season with a 76-68 home win over Fairfield Monday night. The Stags owned a 66-60 lead with 3:45 to play, but Penn State battled back to close the game on a 16-2 run, which included the game’s final 11 points. Melih Tunca led four Nittany Lions in double figures with 19 points and a game-high six assists. Kayden Mingo followed with 15 points, five rebounds and two assists.

 

IF PENN STATE BEATS NEW HAVEN

  • The Nittany Lions would start the season 2-0 for the fourth-straight season.
  • The Nittany Lions would win the first-ever meeting between Penn State and New Haven.

 

SCOUTING THE CHARGERS

  • The Chargers are 0-1 on the young season and will host Columbia Friday afternoon before welcoming Penn State Saturday afternoon.
  • New Haven opened the season Monday night with a 55-79 road loss at #4 UConn. Andre Pasha, playing in his first game for the Chargers, led New Haven with 17 points and six boards in the loss. Najimi George posted 14 points and collected four rebounds.
  • The Chargers are in their first season in Division I in 2025-26 after previously playing in Division II's Northeast-10 Conference. New Haven finished the 2024-25 season 12-17 overall and 7-13 in conference play.

 

AGAINST NEW HAVEN

  • Penn State and New Haven meet for the first time in program history Saturday afternoon.

 

SEASON-OPENING DUB

  • The Nittany Lions officially tipped off their 130th varsity season and 30th season inside the Bryce Jordan Center Monday night when Penn State took down Fairfield, 76-68, in the 2025-26 season opener.
  • The back-and-forth battle saw 13 lead changes and 12 tied scores. The Stags owned a 66-60 lead with 3:45 to play, but Penn State battled back to close the game on a 16-2 run, which included the game’s final 11 points. PSU’s dominance in transition made the difference in the season opener, with the Blue & White rattling off a 22-2 victory in fast-break scoring. The Nittany Lions also relied on a deep bench to pick up the first win of the year, outscoring Fairfield by an eye-popping 41-4 margin off the pine.

 

DAZZLING DEBUT

  • Five Nittany Lion freshmen combined for 53 of Penn State's 76 points, 25 of Penn State's 39 rebounds and eight of Penn State's 13 assists in Monday night's season-opening win.
  • Penn State freshmen were the Nittany Lions' top three scorers, led by guard Melih Tunca who tallied 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting, a game-high six assists, four rebounds and two steals. Guard Kayden Mingo also mustered an impressive performance in his collegiate debut, finishing with 15 points, five rebounds and a pair of assists. Forward Ivan Jurić logged 13-points on a perfect 5-for-5 performance from the field, while forward Tibor Mirtič closed the game out strong on Monday, finishing with a game-high 11 rebounds in addition to six points, including the game-clinching tip-in layup with 39 seconds remaining.

 

YEAR THREE

  • The Nittany Lions enter their third season under Peter and Ann Tombros Endowed Head Coach Mike Rhoades in 2025-26. Rhoades has laid a strong foundation during his first two seasons and welcomes back key returnees, a top-30 recruiting class and experienced international players for the 2025-26 season.
  • 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 and his staff engineered the identification and development of Penn State's first-ever first-round NBA Draft pick in Yanic Konan Niederhauser, who was selected with the 30th overall pick of the 2025 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Clippers.

 

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.

 

UP NEXT

  • Penn State returns home Tuesday night to host Navy on Veteran’s Day. Tipoff from the Bryce Jordan Center is slated for 6:30 p.m. on Big Ten Network.