UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men’s basketball team plays host to UCLA for the first time in Happy Valley Wednesday night when the Bruins and Nittany Lions tip off at 8:30 p.m. inside the Bryce Jordan Center. The game will air nationally on FS1.
FOLLOW ALONG
- TICKETS: Tickets
- TV: FS1 – Noah Reed (pxp) & Donny Marshall (analyst)
- RADIO: Penn State Sports Network – Steve Jones (pxp) & Dick Jerardi (analyst)
- NATIONAL RADIO: SiriusXM Ch. 381 & SXM App Ch. 971
- LIVE STATS: StatBroadcast
- GAME NOTES: Penn State Notes
OPENING TIPS
- The Nittany Lions return to the Bryce Jordan Center Wednesday night to host UCLA in the Bruins' first-ever trip to Happy Valley.
- Four of Penn State's first five Big Ten opponents were ranked in the top 20, with three ranked in the top 10. All four of the Nittany Lions' ranked matchups to start conference play were decided by single digits.
- Penn State's strong guard trio of Freddie Dilione V (15.0 ppg), Kayden Mingo (14.9 ppg) and Melih Tunca (10.4 ppg) are all averaging double-digit points.
IF PENN STATE BEATS UCLA
- Penn State would pick up its first Big Ten win of the season.
- The Nittany Lions would improve to 8-2 in games played inside the Bryce Jordan Center this season.
- The Nittany Lions would take a 2-1 advantage in the all-time series against UCLA.
SCOUTING THE BRUINS
- The Bruins are 11-5 on the season and 3-2 in Big Ten play.
- UCLA is 1-5 in games played away from Pauley Pavillion this season, compared to their perfect 10-0 record at home. UCLA's lone road win of the season came at Washington, 82-80, on Dec. 3.
- The Bruins are coming off a 67-55 victory over Maryland on Saturday night.
- Tyler Bilodeau leads five Bruins in double figures with 17.5 points per game. Skyy Clark (13.5 ppg), Donovan Dent (13.1 ppg), Eric Dailey Jr. (10.9 ppg), and Trent Perry (10.3 ppg) follow closely. Dailey Jr. leads the team with 5.9 rebounds per game, while Dent leads the squad with 6.5 assists per game.
AGAINST UCLA
- UCLA makes its first-ever trip to Happy Valley Wednesday night.
- The programs meet for the only time this season and for the third time in program history.
- UCLA handed the Nittany Lions a 78-54 loss at Pauley Pavillion last season during the Bruins' first year in the Big Ten.
- The only other meeting between Penn State and UCLA came when No. 13 seed Penn State upset No. 4 seed UCLA in the 1991 NCAA Tournament inside the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, N.Y. James Barnes (19 points) and DeRon Hayes (16 points) led Penn State to the first-round upset of UCLA.
RIGHT INTO THE FIRE
- Four of Penn State's first five Big Ten games were against top-20 ranked opponents, all of which were decided by single-digit margins and an average of 5.5 points:
- Dec. 13 - #9 Michigan State (L, 72-76)
- Jan. 3 - #20 Illinois (L, 65-73)
- Jan. 6 - #2 Michigan (L, 72-74)
- Jan. 10 - at #5 Purdue (L, 85-93)
- Penn State's first five Big Ten opponents (Indiana, Michigan State, Illinois, Michigan and Purdue) are a combined 20-5 (.800) thus far in conference play, while Penn State's remaining 12 opponents are a combined 26-41 (.388) so far in Big Ten action.
HOME SWEET HAPPY VALLEY
- Penn State has performed best inside the Bryce Jordan Center this season as the Nittany Lions are 7-2 inside the BJC.
|
Stat |
BJC Games |
Non-BJC Games |
|
Points per game |
83.0 |
68.1 |
|
Opp. points per game |
73.1 |
83.7 |
|
FG% |
49.5% |
39.9% |
|
Assists per game |
14.2 |
10.9 |
|
Turnovers per game |
8.9 |
10.4 |
|
Steals per game |
10.1 |
5.6 |
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.
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 leads the team with 15.0 points per game to go along with his 3.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game.
- He has scored in double figures in 13 games this season, including a career-best 25-point performance in Penn State's most recent game at #5 Purdue on Saturday.
|
Freddie Dilione V Stat |
2024-25 |
2025-26 |
Improvement |
|
Points per game |
9.4 |
15.0 |
+5.6 ppg |
|
Rebounds per game |
2.8 |
3.6 |
+0.8 rpg |
|
Assists per game |
1.7 |
2.6 |
+0.9 apg |
|
Turnovers per game |
1.5 |
1.3 |
-0.2 tpg |
|
FG% |
41.6% |
48.4% |
+6.8 FG% |
|
3FG% |
28.9% |
33.8% |
+4.9 3FG% |
|
FT% |
70.9% |
80.0% |
+9.1 FT% |
JUMP FOR JOSH
- Senior Josh Reed was relied upon as a key defensive player in his three seasons at Cincinnati, averaging just 2.8 points per game through 97 career games with the Bearcats, but has made a big offensive jump since transferring to Penn State for the 2025-26 season.
- Reed is averaging 8.7 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game through 16 games this season. He has scored in double figures in six games this season after coming to Penn State with just seven career double-digit scoring games through his three seasons at Cincinnati.
- Reed notched his first-career double-double against #2 Michigan on Jan. 6, finishing with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
SHOTS UP
- Redshirt sophomore Eli Rice leads the Nittany Lions with a 46.3 3FG% (25-54). The Gallatin, Tenn. native has turned it up a notch since the return from the holiday break:
|
Eli Rice Stat |
Last 4 Games |
First 12 Games |
|
3FG% |
47.6% |
45.5% |
|
3FG made per game |
2.5 |
1.25 |
|
FG% |
50.0% |
40.4% |
|
Minutes per game |
25.1 |
16.8 |
MINGO MAKING HIS MARK
- Rookie guard Kayden Mingo, who has missed the last two games with an injury, is the ONLY freshman in the country averaging 14+ points (14.9 ppg), 4+ assists (4.5 apg), 3.5+ rebounds (3.9 rpg) and 2+ steals (2.5 spg) per game through games on Jan. 12.
- Mingo is the third-highest scoring freshman in the Big Ten. He ranks second on the Nittany Lion team in scoring average (14.9 ppg) and rebounding (3.9 rpg), while leading the team in assists (4.5 apg) and steals (2.5 spg).
- He has scored in double figures in 12 of 14 games, including two 20-plus point efforts. Mingo leads the Big Ten and ranks 15th nationally with 2.5 steals per game and he collected a single-game program record-tying eight steals against Sacred Heart on Nov. 29.
- 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.
UP NEXT
Penn State is back on the road this weekend to face Maryland Sunday at noon. The game will air nationally on Big Ten Network.