COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The Penn State men’s basketball team dropped a 96-73 result to the Maryland Terrapins on Sunday afternoon inside the XFINITY Center.
Penn State was led by the return of freshman guard Kayden Mingo to the starting lineup following a three-game hiatus due to injury. The Farmingdale, New York, native finished as Penn State’s leading scorer for the sixth time in the 2025-26 season, logging 19 points on 7-of-12 efficiency, five assists and three rebounds. Sophomore guard Dominick Stewart added a Big Ten season-high 17 points, redshirt sophomore guard Eli Rice tallied 13 and senior forward Josh Reed rounded out a quartet of Nittany Lions in double figures with 10.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Jurić easily controlled the opening tip, and in his first minute back from injury, Mingo drilled a right-corner triple to give PSU an early 3-0 advantage. The Terrapins replied with a quick and-one opportunity that they failed to convert, and PSU added back-to-back buckets to lead, 7-2. Buckets fell both ways over the ensuing moments, but a 12-2 Terrapin scoring run gave UMD a 16-11 edge just over four minutes into the contest. A layup from Rice made it 16-13 Maryland at the under-16 timeout.
- A turnover turned into a straight-away triple for the Terrapins on the other side of the break, but a pair of makes at the stripe from Jurić and a triple from Dilione V kept the Nittany Lions within three. Maryland continued to connect from beyond the arc, hitting another pair of triples to lead by a 28-20 margin at the 10:58 mark. Rice split a trip to the stripe on the other side of a media timeout, but the Terrapins were able to extend their advantage to double digits at 31-21.
- The home side was able to rattle off a 20-1 run over the final six and a half minutes to take a 56-26 lead at the half.
- Stewart started the second half on fire from long range, dropping a pair of triples in the bucket to help the Blue & White open the final 20 minutes on a 13-4 scoring run. A 3-pointer from Stewart at the 17:05 mark sparked a 15-0 scoring run for the Nittany Lions that saw the Terrapin lead cut from 30 to 14 in a span of 3:37. A split trip to the line from the Terrapins temporarily halted PSU’s momentum, but another triple from Stewart cut the Maryland lead to 12.
- A dunk from Jurić cut the Terrapin lead back to 10 points at 61-51 with 11:33 to play, but the Terrapins answered back with a triple and paint bucket to grow their advantage back to 15. Back-to-back layups from Stewart and Reed saw the Blue & White continue to battle, and despite a make on the other end, Rice connected on a triple to make it a 10-point game once more.
- From there, Maryland went on a 10-1 scoring run to pull ahead by 19 with 7:59 to go. The Terrapins clung to their lead for the remainder of the game, ultimately ballooning their advantage back to as many as 24 points. Maryland closed the game out and came away with the 96-73 win on Sunday.
GAME NOTES
- Penn State falls to 9-9 overall and 0-7 in Big Ten Conference play, while Maryland improves to 8-10 overall and 1-6 in B1G competitions.
- PSU won the turnover battle for the 13th time in its first 18 games of the 2025-26 season, forcing 11 while surrendering seven. The Nittany Lions are now 8-5 when winning the turnover battle this season.
- The Blue & White outpaced the Terrapins in terms of transition scoring, booking 16 points on the fastbreak compared to 10 for Maryland.
- Individually, Penn State was highlighted by the return of freshman guard Kayden Mingo following a three-game absence due to injury. The rookie finished Sunday’s game with 19 points on 7-for-12 efficiency from the floor and 2-for-5 marks from long range. The Farmingdale, New York, native contributed five assists and three rebounds with a steal.
- Sophomore guard Dominick Stewart cracked double digits in scoring for the fourth time this season and second time consecutively in Big Ten Conference competition. The Ocean Springs, Mississippi, native logged a Big Ten season-high 17 points with four rebounds and four assists in 32 minutes.
- Redshirt sophomore guard Eli Rice contributed double digits in the scoring column for the eighth time this season and third time consecutively in Big Ten play, dropping 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting and a trio of long-range makes.
- Senior forward Josh Reed mustered his eighth double-digit outing this season and third in the last four Big Ten competitions, logging 10 points on 4-for-6 efficiency in 32 minutes of action.
- Penn State utilized the starting lineup of Jurić, Mingo, Stewart, Reed and Rice for the first time in the 2025-26 season.
UP NEXT
- Penn State returns to Happy Valley to host its annual Return to Rec game on Thursday, January 22. Tipoff against the Wisconsin Badgers inside historic Rec Hall is scheduled for 7 p.m. (ET) on FOX Sports One.