UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men’s basketball team plays its second-straight road game Thursday night when the Nittany Lions travel to Evanston, Ill. to face Northwestern. Tipoff on Peacock is set for 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT.
FOLLOW ALONG
- TV: Peacock – Chris Vosters (pxp) & Tre Demps (analyst)
- RADIO: Penn State Sports Network – Steve Jones (pxp) & Dick Jerardi (analyst)
- NATIONAL RADIO: SiriusXM Ch. 391 & SXM App Ch. 981
- LIVE STATS: StatBroadcast
- GAME NOTES: Penn State Notes
OPENING TIPS
- The Nittany Lions wrap up a two-game road swing Thursday night when Penn State heads to Evanston, Ill. to face Northwestern.
- Penn State is still seeking its first Big Ten win of the season, but has faced seven of the conference's top eight teams in the league standings.
- Penn State's strong guard duo of Kayden Mingo (14.0 ppg) and Freddie Dilione V (13.5 ppg) are both averaging double-digit points.
IF PENN STATE BEATS NORTHWESTERN
- Penn State would pick up its first Big Ten win of the season.
- The Nittany Lions would snap their seven-game losing streak.
- Penn State would earn its second true road win of the season.
AGAINST THE WILDCATS
- Penn State and Northwestern meet for the only time during the regular season Thursday night in Evanston.
- The last eight meetings between the two teams have been decided by an average of just four points.
- The Nittany Lions own a 39-22 advantage in the all-time series, including a 17-13 edge in road games played at Northwestern.
- Penn State won last season's lone meeting 84-80 inside the Bryce Jordan Center on Jan. 2, 2025. The game saw 14 lead changes and 11 tie scores, but the Nittany Lions held the Wildcats to just five points in the final five minutes of play.
SCOUTING NORTHWESTERN
- The Wildcats are 9-11 on the season and 1-8 in Big Ten play.
- Northwestern's lone win of the conference season came on Jan. 21, a 74-68 road victory at USC.
- The Wildcats are coming off a 64-71 loss at UCLA in their most recent game on Jan. 24.
- Nick Martinelli leads Northwestern with 23.4 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. Arrinten Page (12.1 ppg) and Jayden Reid (10.9) are also averaging double-digit points.
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 seven of the top eight teams in the conference standings through games on Jan. 26.
- Penn State's first nine Big Ten opponents (Indiana, Michigan State, Illinois, Michigan, UCLA, Maryland, Wisconsin and Ohio State) are a combined 54-28 (.659) thus far in conference play, while Penn State's remaining eight opponents are a combined 27-44 (.380) so far in Big Ten action (through games on Jan. 26).
- 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 7.1 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 33rd nationally with 2.12 steals per game.
ONE OF ONE
- Rookie guard Kayden Mingo is the ONLY freshman in the country averaging 14+ points (14.0 ppg), 4+ assists (4.8 apg), 3.5+ rebounds (3.6 rpg) and 2+ steals (2.1 spg) per game through games on Jan. 26.
MINGO MAKING HIS MARK
- Rookie Kayden Mingo is the third-highest scoring freshman in the Big Ten. He leads the Nittany Lions in points (14.0 ppg), assists (4.8 apg) and steals (2.1 spg), while ranking third on the team in rebounds (3.6 rpg).
- He has scored in double figures in 13 of 17 games, including two 20-plus point efforts. Mingo leads the Big Ten and ranks 33rd nationally with 2.1 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 9.6 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game through 20 games this season. He has scored in double figures in 10 games this season after coming to Penn State with just seven career double-digit scoring games through his three seasons at Cincinnati.
|
Josh Reed Stat |
Career Pre-PSU |
2025-26 at PSU |
Improvement |
|
Points per game |
2.8 |
9.6 |
+6.8 ppg |
|
Rebounds per game |
2.1 |
4.0 |
+1.9 rpg |
|
Steals per game |
0.4 |
1.2 |
+0.8 spg |
|
FG% |
38.7% |
50.8% |
+12.1% |
SHOTS UP
- Redshirt sophomore Eli Rice leads the Nittany Lions with a 45.6 3FG% (36-79). The Gallatin, Tenn. native has turned it up a notch since the return from the holiday break:
|
Eli Rice Stat |
Last 8 Games |
First 12 Games |
|
Points per game |
12.1 |
5.7 |
|
Rebounds per game |
1.9 |
1.3 |
|
FG% |
47.7% |
40.4% |
|
3FG made per game |
2.63 |
1.25 |
|
Minutes per game |
25.6 |
16.8 |
- Rice is coming off a career-best 20-point performance at Ohio State on Jan. 26 in which he made a career-high six 3-pointers.
BIG START FOR THE BIG FELLA
- Freshman Ivan Jurić leads the team with a 53.8 (63-117) field goal percentage while averaging 9.2 points and a team-best 5.1 rebounds per game.
- Jurić owns eight double-digit scoring efforts and put together a career-best 20-point performance against #2 Michigan on Jan. 6. He tallied his first-career double-double with 14 points and a game-high 14 rebounds at Ohio State on Jan. 26.
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 |
13.5 |
+4.1 ppg |
|
Rebounds per game |
2.8 |
3.3 |
+0.5 rpg |
|
Assists per game |
1.7 |
2.5 |
+0.8 apg |
|
FG% |
41.6% |
46.4% |
+4.8 FG% |
|
3FG% |
28.9% |
32.2% |
+3.3 3FG% |
|
FT% |
70.9% |
82.6% |
+11.7 FT% |
UP NEXT
- Penn State returns home for its Coaches vs. Cancer and Alumni Day Game Sunday afternoon when the Nittany Lions host Minnesota at 2 p.m. inside the Bryce Jordan Center. Five dollars from every ticket purchased at this link will be donated to the Penn State chapter of Coaches vs. Cancer.