UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men’s basketball team faces in-state foe Pittsburgh in a Keystone State battle inside of the GIANT Center in Hershey, Pa. Sunday at noon. The game will air nationally on Big Ten Network.
KNOW BEFORE YOU GO
- GIANT Center doors will open at 11 a.m. for fans.
- GIANT Center Parking: Guests are encouraged to pre-purchase parking online in advance via Ticketmaster. Parking is $35 if purchased on-site.
- GIANT Center Bag Policy: GIANT Center will only allow small clutches, wristlets or fanny packs no larger than 5"x8"x1" for guest safety. Exceptions for bags are as follows: A medical equipment bag and/or a parenting needs bag smaller than 14"x14"x6". All exceptions must go through metal detection screening at entry and are subject to physical search.
FOLLOW ALONG
- TICKETS: Tickets
- PRE-PAID PARKING: Parking
- TV: Big Ten Network – Ed Cohen (pxp) & Nik Stauskas (analyst)
- RADIO: Penn State Sports Network – Steve Jones (pxp) & Dick Jerardi (analyst)
- NATIONAL RADIO: SiriusXM Ch. 372 & SXM App Ch. 372
- LIVE STATS: StatBroadcast
- GAME NOTES: Penn State Notes
OPENING TIPS
- The Nittany Lions return to non-conference play with a battle of the Keystone State Sunday afternoon when Penn State takes on Pittsburgh inside the GIANT Center in Hershey, Pa. Sunday's game will be the first NCAA basketball game hosted inside the GIANT Center.
- Penn State is 8-3 on the season and 8-1 in non-conference games.
- Kayden Mingo (15.0 ppg) leads three Nittany Lions averaging double-figure points. Freddie Dilione V (14.2 ppg) and Melih Tunca (12.1 ppg) follow.
IF PENN STATE BEATS PITT
- Penn State would improve to 77-72 all-time against Pitt.
- The Nittany Lions would win the first-ever NCAA basketball game played inside The GIANT Center.
- Penn State would beat an ACC foe for the second-straight season.
SCOUTING THE PANTHERS
- The Panthers are 6-6 on the season and coming off a 103-63 win over Binghamton Wednesday night.
- All six of Pitt's wins have come at home. The Panthers will be looking for their first win away from home Sunday against Penn State.
- Pitt's six wins have come against Binghamton (103-63), Ohio State (67-66), Bucknell (84-50), Eastern Michigan (78-66), Longwood (78-60) and Youngstown State (74-59).
- Cameron Corhen leads four Panthers in double figures with team-best marks of 13.7 points and 8.7 rebounds per game.
- Brandin Cummings (13.2 ppg), Barry Dunning Jr. (12.8 ppg) and Damarco Minor (10.4 ppg) follow.
AGAINST PITT
- Penn State and Pitt meet for the 149th time in program history Sunday afternoon at the GIANT Center.
- The two in-state foes meet for the first time since 2017. Penn State and Pitt last met at the Legends Classic in Brooklyn on Nov. 20, 2017, an 85-54 Nittany Lion win.
- The Nittany Lions and Pittsburgh first met in 1906. Penn State owns a 76-72 lead in the all-time series.
TOUR DE PENNSYLVANIA
- Penn State’s schedule is set up to take the Nittany Lions all over the state of Pennsylvania and into the Keystone State's largest and most well-recognized venues.
- Penn State traveled to Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia, the home of the 76ers, on Nov. 15 to face in-state foe La Salle.
- The Nittany Lions meet Pittsburgh in a non-conference battle inside the GIANT Center in Hershey Sunday, competing in the first-ever NCAA basketball game hosted by the GIANT Center.
- Penn State also makes its return to the historic Palestra in Philadelphia on Jan. 3 when Penn State hosts Illinois in a Big Ten battle inside the Cathedral of College Basketball. This will be the sixth Big Ten game that the Nittany Lions have hosted inside The Palestra.
RIVALRY RENEWED
- Penn State's most commonly played all-time opponent is Pittsburgh. The two in-state foes meet for the 149th time in program history, but the first time since 2017, on Sunday inside The GIANT Center.
- The first-ever meeting with Pitt came on March 5, 1906 in Pittsburgh. Penn State won that matchup 30-4.
- The Nittany Lions have matched up with only four schools more than 100 times:
- Pittsburgh - 148
- West Virginia - 119
- Syracuse - 106
- Bucknell – 105
NATIONAL NUMBERS
- The Nittany Lions currently rank in the top 15 in the country in a number of statistical categories (rankings listed thru games on Dec. 17):
|
Team Stat |
Value |
National Rank |
|
Fewest turnovers per game |
8.8 |
1 |
|
Fewest fouls per game |
14.3 |
12 |
|
Turnover margin |
5.2 |
14 |
DISCIPLINED
- Penn State's young squad has shown tremendous discipline as the Nittany Lions lead the country in fewest turnovers per game (8.8). The Nittany Lions committed just three turnovers on Nov. 25 vs. Boston University, the fewest turnovers Penn State has surrendered in a game since Dec. 22, 2022.
- Penn State's young team also ranks 12th in the country in fewest fouls per game (14.3).
DEPTH ON DISPLAY
- The Nittany Lions have showcased their depth through the first 11 games of the season, as Penn State's 33.45 bench points per game ranks second in the Big Ten and is a top-35 mark in the country. The Penn State bench has outscored the opponent bench by an eye-popping total of 368-204 through 11 games this season.
STEALS LEADER
- The Nittany Lions lead the Big Ten with 8.3 steals per game. Penn State has led the conference in steals per game in each of Mike Rhoades' three seasons at the helm.
- Individually, Kayden Mingo leads the conference with 2.09 steals per game.
ONE OF ONE
- Rookie guard Kayden Mingo is the ONLY freshman in the country averaging 15+ points (15.0 ppg), 4+ assists (4.4 apg), 4.0+ rebounds (4.1 rpg) and 2+ steals (2.1 spg) per game through games on Dec. 17.
DYNAMIC ROOKIE DUO
- Penn State is one of just six schools in Division I to have two freshmen both averaging 12.0 or more points per game through games on Dec. 17.
- Penn State: Kayden Mingo (15.0 ppg) & Melih Tunca (12.1 ppg)
- Arkansas: Darius Acuff Jr. (18.2 ppg) & Maleek Thomas (14.8 ppg)
- Illinois: Keaton Wagler (15.1 ppg) & David Mirkovic (13.6 ppg)
- Arizona: Koa Peat (14.3 ppg) & Brayden Burries (13.8 ppg)
- Portland: Joel Foxwell (13.7 ppg) & Timo George (13.0 ppg)
- Air Force: Lucas Hobin (12.6 ppg) & Kam Sanders (12.3 ppg)
MINGO MAKING HIS MARK
- Rookie Kayden Mingo is the second-highest scoring freshman in the Big Ten and he leads the Nittany Lions in points (15.0 ppg), assists (4.4 apg) and steals (2.1 spg) while tying for the team lead in rebounds (4.1 rpg) through the first 11 games of the season.
- He has scored in double figures in 10 of 11 games, including two 20-plus point efforts.
- Mingo leads the Big Ten with 2.1 steals per game and he collected a single-game program record-tying eight steals against Sacred Heart on Nov. 29.
- His 3.34 assist-to-turnover ratio is a top-35 mark in the country.
- Mingo, the highest-ranked recruit in program history, was named an ESPN Top 50 Impact Newcomer in late October. He was ranked as the No. 34 recruit nationally per 247Sports & No. 39 recruit nationally per ESPN out of high school. He was named the 2025 New York Gatorade Player of the Year following standout senior season at Long Island Lutheran.
STEADY FREDDIE
- Redshirt junior Freddie Dilione V, Penn State's only returning starter from a season ago, has been an improved and consistent presence for the Nittany Lions thus far this season. Dilione is averaging 14.2 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. His 14.2 points per game ranks second on the team.
- He has scored in double figures in nine games this season, including a career-best 23 points in Penn State's most recent game against #9 Michigan State.
|
Dilione V Stat |
2024-25 |
2025-26 |
Improvement |
|
Points/game |
9.4 |
14.2 |
+4.8 ppg |
|
Rebounds/game |
2.8 |
3.4 |
+0.6 rpg |
|
Assists/game |
1.7 |
2.3 |
+0.6 apg |
|
Turnovers/game |
1.5 |
1.1 |
-0.4 tpg |
|
FG% |
41.6% |
50.4% |
+8.8 FG% |
|
3FG% |
28.9% |
38.5% |
+9.6 3FG% |
|
FT% |
70.9% |
89.3% |
+18.4 FT% |
OH MY MELIH
- Istanbul, Turkey native Melih Tunca has been on fire to start the season, scoring in double figures in nine of 11 games while shooting 50.6 percent (45-89) from the field and 44.4 percent (12-27) from 3-point range.
- Tunca ranks third on the squad in points (12.1 ppg) and second in assists (3.2 apg).
NEW-LOOK NITTANY LIONS
- 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.
- 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.
UP NEXT
- Penn State will take a brief break for the holidays before returning to action in the non-conference finale against NC Central on Monday, Dec. 29. Tipoff is slated for 1 p.m. on Big Ten Network. Kids 12 and under will be admitted for free with the purchase of an adult ticket from this link.