UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men’s basketball team hits the road to take on Ohio State Monday night. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. on FS1.
FOLLOW ALONG
- TV: FS1 – Jeff Levering (pxp) & LaPhonso Ellis (analyst)
- RADIO: Penn State Sports Network – Steve Jones (pxp) & Dick Jerardi (analyst)
- NATIONAL RADIO: SiriusXM Ch. 380 & SXM App Ch. 970
- LIVE STATS: StatBroadcast
- GAME NOTES: Penn State Game Notes
OPENING TIPS
- The Nittany Lions kick off a two-game road swing Monday night when Penn State heads to Columbus to face Ohio State.
- Penn State is still seeking its first Big Ten win of the season, but has faced six of the conference's top seven teams in the league standings.
- Penn State's strong guard duo of Kayden Mingo (14.6 ppg) and Freddie Dilione V (13.8 ppg) are both averaging double-digit points.
IF PENN STATE BEATS OHIO STATE
- Penn State would pick up its first Big Ten win of the season.
- The Nittany Lions would snap their six-game losing streak.
- Penn State would earn its second true road win of the season.
SCOUTING THE BUCKEYES
- The Buckeyes are 13-6 on the season and 5-4 in Big Ten play heading into Monday night's matchup with the Nittany Lions.
- OSU is 9-2 at home this season with a 2-2 mark in Big Ten home games.
- Ohio State is coming off a 62-74 road loss at #3 Michigan Friday night in their most recent game.
- The Buckeyes' five conference wins have come against Minnesota (82-74 OT), UCLA (86-74), Oregon (72-62), Rutgers (80-73) and Northwestern (86-82).
- Bruce Thornton leads the Buckeyes with 20.1 points per game, while John Mobley Jr. (15.6 ppg), Devin Royal (13.9 ppg) and Christoph Tilly (12.3 ppg) follow.
AGAINST OHIO STATE
- Penn State and Ohio State meet for the first of two times this season Monday night in Columbus.
- The Buckeyes have won each of the last two meetings, with Penn State's last victory coming on Dec. 9, 2023 in Happy Valley.
- Ohio State earned an 83-64 win inside Rec Hall in the teams' lone meeting last season.
- Ohio State owns a 24-7 advantage when playing Penn State in Columbus. The Nittany Lions last won inside Value City Arena on Feb. 23, 2023, a 75-71 Penn State victory.
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 has played six of the top seven teams in the conference standings through games on Jan. 23.
- Penn State's first eight Big Ten opponents (Indiana, Michigan State, Illinois, Michigan, UCLA, Maryland and Wisconsin) are a combined 45-21 (.682) thus far in conference play, while Penn State's remaining nine opponents are a combined 29-45 (.392) so far in Big Ten action (through games on Jan. 23).
- Four of Penn State's first five Big Ten games were against top-20 ranked opponents, with three being against top-10 teams, 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)
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.
STASHING STEALS
- The Nittany Lions rank second in the Big Ten with 7.3 steals per game. Penn State has led the conference in steals per game in each of Mike Rhoades' two full seasons at the helm.
- Individually, Kayden Mingo leads the conference and ranks 26th nationally with 2.25 steals per game.
ONE OF ONE
- Rookie guard Kayden Mingo is the ONLY freshman in the country averaging 14+ points (14.6 ppg), 4+ assists (4.6 apg), 3.5+ rebounds (3.8 rpg) and 2+ steals (2.3 spg) per game through games on Jan. 23.
MINGO MAKING HIS MARK
- Rookie Kayden Mingo is the third-highest scoring freshman in the Big Ten. He leads the Nittany Lions in points (14.6 ppg), assists (4.6 apg) and steals (2.3 spg), while ranking second on the team in rebounds (3.8 rpg).
- He has scored in double figures in 13 of 16 games, including two 20-plus point efforts. Mingo leads the Big Ten and ranks 26th nationally with 2.3 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.
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 9.4 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game through 19 games this season. He has scored in double figures in nine 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, and scored a season-high 18 points against Wisconsin on Jan. 22.
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 14 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 |
13.8 |
+4.4 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% |
46.3% |
+4.7 FG% |
|
3FG% |
28.9% |
32.9% |
+4.0 3FG% |
|
FT% |
70.9% |
81.0% |
+10.1 FT% |
SHOTS UP
- Redshirt sophomore Eli Rice leads the Nittany Lions with a 44.1 3FG% (30-68). The Gallatin, Tenn. native has turned it up a notch since the return from the holiday break:
|
Eli Rice Stat |
Last 7 Games |
First 12 Games |
|
Points per game |
11.0 |
5.7 |
|
Rebounds per game |
1.9 |
1.3 |
|
FG% |
47.1% |
40.4% |
|
3FG made per game |
2.14 |
1.25 |
|
Minutes per game |
24.4 |
16.8 |
UP NEXT
- The Nittany Lions are back on the road Thursday night to face Northwestern at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT on Peacock.