UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men’s basketball team hosts Wisconsin for a White Out inside of historic Rec Hall Thursday night. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. on FS1.
KNOW BEFORE YOU GO
- WHITE OUT: White Out presented by MI Windows & Doors
- MOBILE TICKETING: Mobile ticketing is used at Rec Hall. Make sure to download your ticket prior to leaving for the game for the easiest entry into Rec Hall.
- PARKING: Parking on campus requires a valid University parking pass or payment of applicable fee.
- Parking for men’s basketball is available at the Nittany Deck and West Deck.
- ADA parking is available near Rec Hall and the Lion Shrine (requires valid state-issued ADA parking placard and payment).
- Reserve your parking in advance online for a discounted rate at the Penn State ParkWhiz website ($5.60 if purchased by the day before the event, $10 on day of event).
- DOORS: Rec Hall doors will open to fans at 6 p.m. Make sure your tickets are downloaded for quickest entry into historic Rec Hall.
- BAG POLICY: Clear tote bags, which can be sized 12" x 6" x 12" or smaller are permitted inside Rec Hall. Also, a 4" x 6" x 1" small clutch or wristlet is permissible.
- PAYMENT METHODS: Game day at Rec Hall is cashless. Fans looking to purchase concessions or merchandise should plan to bring a credit card.
FOLLOW ALONG
- TV: FS1 – Noah Reed (pxp) & Calbert Cheaney (analyst)
- RADIO: Penn State Sports Network – Steve Jones (pxp) & Dick Jerardi (analyst)
- NATIONAL RADIO: SiriusXM Ch. 384 & SXM App Ch. 974
- LIVE STATS: StatBroadcast
- GAME NOTES: Penn State Notes | Wisconsin Notes
OPENING TIPS
- The Nittany Lions return to their roots Thursday night when Penn State hosts Wisconsin inside of Rec Hall, the original home of the Nittany Lion basketball team.
- Penn State is still seeking its first Big Ten win of the season, but has faced the conference's best thus far in B1G play as five of Penn State's seven already-played opponents sit in the top eight of the conference standings.
- Penn State's strong guard duo of Kayden Mingo (15.2 ppg) and Freddie Dilione V (13.6 ppg) are both averaging double-digit points.
IF PENN STATE BEATS WISCONSIN
- Penn State would pick up its first Big Ten win of the season.
- The Nittany Lions would earn their third-straight win over Wisconsin.
- Penn State would improve to 518-185 all-time inside of Rec Hall.
AGAINST THE BADGERS
- Penn State and Wisconsin meet for the only time this season Thursday night inside Rec Hall.
- The Nittany Lions have won the last two matchups with the Badgers, both of which came against top-15 ranked Wisconsin teams.
- Penn State closed the 2024-25 season with an 86-75 road win at #12 Wisconsin on March 8, 2025. The Nittany Lions shot 56 percent from the field to earn Penn State's first road win at Wisconsin in over 30 years. The win over #12 Wisconsin marked Penn State’s highest-ranked road win since Feb. 1, 2009 and was Penn State’s first-ever win inside Wisconsin’s Kohl Center.
RETURN TO REC
- Penn State returns to its roots Thursday night as the Nittany Lions host Wisconsin in the Return to Rec game. Rec Hall, which is the current home of Penn State’s men’s and women’s volleyball and men’s and women’s gymnastics, women's basketball and wrestling teams, was the longtime home of the Nittany Lion men's basketball team until a 1996 move to the Bryce Jordan Center.
- Men’s basketball returns to Rec Hall for the third-straight year. Since moving into the Bryce Jordan Center during the 1996 season, Penn State has played at Rec Hall on five occasions – Dec. 14, 2013 vs. Princeton (L, 79-81 OT), Dec. 10, 2015 vs. Canisius (W, 81-67), Dec. 12, 2015 vs. Louisiana Monroe (W, 54-50), Feb. 21, 2024 vs. #12 Illinois (W, 90-89) and Jan. 30, 2025 vs. Ohio State (L, 64-83).
BACK TO THE ROOTS
- Rec Hall gained a reputation as one of the toughest places to play in the nation when it served as the home of the Nittany Lions from 1929-96. That reputation was built on boisterous crowds who packed the arena to the rafters and a student section that was right on top of the floor. Rec Hall had a final listed capacity of 6,846 for basketball, but more than 8,000 fans jammed into the iconic building for a basketball game six times in the building’s history, including a record 8,600 fans for a contest vs. Virginia on Dec. 5, 1973.
- The Nittany Lions defeated Wisconsin, 79-50, in their final Rec Hall game on Jan. 7, 1996, before moving to their current home in the 15,261-seat Bryce Jordan Center the following game on Jan. 11, 1996.
- The Nittany Lions compiled a stellar 514-183 (.737) record in Rec Hall from 1929-96, including a 45-game win streak from 1951-55. That era saw the Nittany Lions reach the program’s only NCAA Final Four in 1954 behind All-American Jesse Arnelle and coach Elmer Gross. Arnelle is among a long list of Penn State greats to have made their mark on the Rec Hall floor, including names like John Amaechi, Freddie Barnes, John Barr, Ron Brown, Monroe Brown, Carver Clinton, Dan Earl, Mark Dumars, Gene Harris, Deron Hayes, Tom Hovasse, Mike Lang, Pete Lisicky and Bob Weiss.
- Penn State was led by nine different head coaches during the Rec Hall era, including longtime NBA coaches Dick Harter (1979-83) and John Bach (1969-78), the Lions’ all-time wins leader John Egli (1955-68), Helm’s Foundation Hall of Fame inductee John Lawther (1937-49) and Bruce Parkhill (1984-95).
RIGHT INTO THE FIRE
- The Nittany Lions, the youngest team in the Big Ten, have faced the conference's fire power right away in the early part of the B1G season. Penn State's first seven Big Ten opponents (Indiana, Michigan State, Illinois, Michigan, UCLA and Maryland) are a combined 33-16 (.673) thus far in conference play, while Penn State's remaining 10 opponents are a combined 30-40 (.429) so far in Big Ten action (through games on Jan. 19).
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.
ONE OF ONE
- Rookie guard Kayden Mingo is the ONLY freshman in the country averaging 15+ points (15.2 ppg), 4+ assists (4.5 apg), 3.5+ rebounds (3.9 rpg) and 2+ steals (2.4 spg) per game through games on Jan. 19.
MINGO MAKING HIS MARK
- Rookie Kayden Mingo is the third-highest scoring freshman in the Big Ten. He leads the Nittany Lions in points (15.2 ppg), assists (4.5 apg) and steals (2.4 spg), while ranking second on the team in rebounds (3.9 rpg).
- He has scored in double figures in 13 of 15 games, including two 20-plus point efforts. Mingo leads the Big Ten and ranks 20th nationally with 2.4 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. 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 this season.
- He has scored in double figures in 13 games this season, including a career-best 25-point performance at #5 Purdue on Jan. 10:
|
Freddie Dilione V Stat |
2024-25 |
2025-26 |
Improvement |
|
Points per game |
9.4 |
13.6 |
+4.2 ppg |
|
Rebounds per game |
2.8 |
3.3 |
+0.5 rpg |
|
Assists per game |
1.7 |
2.5 |
+0.8 apg |
|
Turnovers per game |
1.5 |
1.3 |
-0.2 tpg |
|
FG% |
41.6% |
47.2% |
+5.6 FG% |
|
3FG% |
28.9% |
33.3% |
+4.4 3FG% |
|
FT% |
70.9% |
80.0% |
+9.1 FT% |
SHOTS UP
- Redshirt sophomore Eli Rice leads the Nittany Lions with a 44.8 3FG% (30-67). The Gallatin, Tenn. native has turned it up a notch since the return from the holiday break:
|
Eli Rice Stat |
Last 6 Games |
First 12 Games |
|
Points per game |
12.3 |
5.7 |
|
Rebounds per game |
2.2 |
1.3 |
|
FG% |
49.0% |
40.4% |
|
3FG made per game |
2.5 |
1.25 |
|
Minutes per game |
26.4 |
16.8 |
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 8.9 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game through 18 games this season. He has scored in double figures in eight 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.
UP NEXT
Penn State is on the road for its next two games, beginning with a Monday night matchup at Ohio State. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. on FS1.