BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Penn State men’s basketball team dropped its Big Ten Conference opener on Tuesday night, falling by a 113-72 margin to the Indiana Hoosiers inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
Freshman guard Kayden Mingo led the Nittany Lions in scoring and notched his ninth double-digit scoring performance in 10 appearances with 19 points on 6-for-11 shooting from the field. Redshirt junior guard Freddie Dilione V booked 14 points, and freshman guard Melih Tunca mustered 13 to round out three Nittany Lions in double figures.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Indiana brought down the opening tip, but stingy defense and a quick rebound from Tunca paved the way for Mingo to put PSU on the board first. The Hoosiers replied with back-to-back makes from 3-point range, but Tunca dropped a triple into the bucket with a straight-away step-back move. Indiana hit two more 3-pointers, but a pull-up jumper in mid-range from Dilione V led to a 12-7 IU lead early.
- Mingo connected on a pair of free-throws at the 13:50 mark just before earning a jump-ball steal for the Blue & White. The Hoosiers rattled off five unanswered, but an and-one from Mingo kept the Blue & White in the hunt.
- The Blue & White strung solid offensive possessions together down the stretch in the first half, with Tunca and Ivan Jurić booking field goal makes in addition to a 3-pointer from Eli Rice and an and-one for Dilione V inside the final minute of the period. The Hoosiers led 58-26 at the break.
- Indiana remained in control as the game turned to the second half, with PSU booking its strongest scoring run of the night in a 7-0 stretch with buckets from Mingo, Sasa Ciani and Dilione V at the 12:56 mark. IU closed the game out and took Tuesday’s contest by a 113-72 score.
GAME NOTES
- Penn State drops to 8-2 overall and 0-1 in Big Ten play, while Indiana improves to 8-2 and 1-0 against B1G competitors.
- Freshman guard Kayden Mingo booked his ninth double-digit scoring performance in the first 10 games of the season, in addition to his fourth consecutive. Mingo finished with 19 points on an efficient 6-for-11 showing from the field.
- Redshirt junior guard Freddie Dilione V logged his third-straight game in double figures and eighth-such performance this year, finishing with 14 points on 6-for-9 shooting.
- Freshman guard Melih Tunca returned to double figures after booking nine-straight double-digit efforts to start the season. Tunca finished with 13 points against the Hoosiers.
- PSU used the starting five of Jurić, Mingo, Stewart, Tunca and Reed for the third-straight game, moving to 2-1 when doing so in 2025-26.
UP NEXT
- Penn State continues the Big Ten December window and returns home to the Bryce Jordan Center on Saturday, December 13, for a Noon (ET) meeting with the No. 9 Michigan State Spartans. The game will air to a national TV audience on the Big Ten Network.