WEST HAVEN, Conn. – A strong offensive showing and stifling defensive effort led the Penn State men’s basketball team to an 87-43 road win at New Haven Saturday afternoon. The 44-point victory is Penn State’s largest road win in 50 years.
Penn State shot 52.5 percent from the field and 44.0 percent from 3-point range while drilling 11 triples. The Nittany Lions had 17 assists on 32 made baskets. Penn State scored 29 points off 19 New Haven turnovers and out-rebounded the Chargers 36-24.
Sophomore Dominick Stewart shot 6-for-8 from downtown for a career-best 18 points to lead the way for the Nittany Lions. Freshman Kayden Mingo was stellar with 16 points, a game-high six assists and six rebounds. Senior Josh Reed had a strong game with 14 points, four rebounds and two assists. Redshirt junior Freddie Dilione V impressed with 11 points, a game-high seven rebounds and two assists.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Josh Reed scored Penn State’s first basket of the game and the Nittany Lions owned an early 5-2 lead before New Haven answered to surge ahead 6-5 at the first media timeout.
- The Chargers stayed in front until an Ivan Jurić layup at the 14:23 mark sparked a 13-0 Penn State run over the next five minutes. Dominick Stewart drilled two triples during the run and Kayden Mingo capped off the streak with a 3-pointer of his own to put Penn State ahead 20-10 with 9:32 left in the first half.
- New Haven snapped the streak with a 3-pointer, but four points from Freddie Dilione V and an emphatic and-one from Josh Reed helped Penn State answer with 11 of the game’s next 15 points as the Nittany Lions extended their lead to 31-17 with just under three minutes to play.
- The Chargers tossed in a 3-pointer at 2:35, but Penn State went 4-for-5 from the floor to close the half on a 10-1 run and take a 41-21 lead into halftime. The Penn State defense limited New Haven to just four field goals in the final 14:30 of the opening term.
- New Haven spent the first two minutes of the second half on a 7-3 streak, but back-to-back 3-pointers from Josh Reed and Eli Rice quickly turned the momentum back in Penn State’s favor and ignited a string of 12-unanswered points for the Nittany Lions as Penn State’s lead reached 56-28 just over six minutes into the second term.
- Stewart drilled three triples over a 3:04 stretch to help work Penn State’s advantage to 32 at 69-37 with 8:42 to play.
- The Chargers wouldn’t get closer than 30 the rest of the way as the Nittany Lions ran away with the 87-43 road win.
GAME NOTES
- The 44-point road win is tied for Penn State’s second-largest road win in program history. Penn State defeated Lehigh on the road by 48 points in 1975 and took down Dickinson on the road by a margin of 44 points in 1952.
- Penn State starts the season 2-0 for the fourth-straight season.
- The Nittany Lions won the first-ever meeting between Penn State and New Haven.
- Dominick Stewart finished the game with a career-high 18 points, besting his previous career high of 13 that was set on Feb. 11, 2025 at USC.
- Stewart is the first Nittany Lion to make six or more 3-pointers in a game since Zach Hicks drilled six at Rutgers on Dec. 10, 2024.
- Kayden Mingo scored in double figures for the second time in as many games, finishing with career-high marks of 16 points, six rebounds and six assists.
- Josh Reed notched his first double-figure scoring game as a Nittany Lion, finishing with 14 points.
- Freddie Dilione V tallied his first double-digit scoring effort of the year with 11 points and a game-high seven rebounds.
UP NEXT
- The Nittany Lions return home Tuesday night to host Navy in a Veteran’s Day matchup inside the Bryce Jordan Center. Tipoff is slated for 6:30 p.m. and the game will air nationally on Big Ten Network.