EUGENE, Ore. – The Penn State men’s basketball team, fresh off a road win Wednesday night at Washington, wraps up its Pacific Northwest road trip Saturday afternoon at Oregon. Tipoff from Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, Ore. is set for 3 p.m. ET/Noon PT on Big Ten Network.
FOLLOW ALONG
- TV: Big Ten Network – Guy Haberman (pxp) & Don MacLean (analyst)
- RADIO: Penn State Sports Network – Steve Jones (pxp) & Dick Jerardi (analyst)
- NATIONAL RADIO: SiriusXM Ch. 386 & SXM App Ch. 976
- LIVE STATS: StatBroadcast
- GAME NOTES: Penn State Notes | Oregon Notes
OPENING TIPS
- The Nittany Lions wrap up their Pacific Northwest road swing and make their first-ever trip to the state of Oregon to face the Ducks Saturday afternoon in Eugene.
- Penn State is coming off a 63-60 road win at Washington Wednesday night as the Nittany Lions grabbed their first Big Ten road win and second overall conference victory of the season.
- Penn State's trio of Freddie Dilione V (14.6 ppg), Kayden Mingo (13.4 ppg) and Josh Reed (10.7 ppg) are all averaging double-digit points.
IF PENN STATE BEATS OREGON
- Penn State would earn its third Big Ten win of the season.
- The Nittany Lions would earn their first-ever win over Oregon.
- Penn State would win back-to-back conference road games for the first time since the 2023-24 season.
SCOUTING THE DUCKS
- The Ducks are 8-16 overall and 1-12 in Big Ten play, currently sitting in last place in the conference standings.
- Oregon has lost its last nine games. The Ducks' lone conference win of the season came at Maryland on Jan. 2, a 64-54 road win for Oregon.
- The Ducks are coming off back-to-back road losses at Purdue (64-68) and Indiana (74-92) in their most recent games on Feb. 7 and Feb. 9, respectively.
- Nate Bittle leads the Ducks with 16.6 points per game. Jackson Shelstad (15.6 ppg), Kwame Evans Jr. (12.8 ppg) and Takai Simpkins (12.6) follow.
AGAINST OREGON
- Penn State makes its first-ever trip to the state of Oregon Saturday for its third all-time matchup with the Ducks.
- Oregon owns a 2-0 advantage in the all-time series. The two teams first met at the Steel Bowl Tournament in Pittsburgh on Dec. 6, 1974.
- The #15 Ducks escaped Happy Valley with an 82-81 win in last season's meeting during Oregon's first year in the Big Ten. The Nittany Lions rallied back from a 14-point first-half deficit to take a nine-point lead with 6:34 left in the second half. With the game tied at 78 with 1:25 to play, 15th-ranked Oregon made the plays it needed to down the stretch to earn the one-point victory on Jan. 12, 2025. Freddie Dilione V led Penn State with 21 points.
UNCHARTED TERRITORY
- Penn State makes its first-ever road trip to the Pacific Northwest to face second-year Big Ten members Oregon and Washington this week. The Nittany Lions are playing their first games in the states of Washington and Oregon.
- Penn State started the trip off strong with a 63-60 win at Washington Wednesday night. The Nittany Lions look to complete the Pacific Northwest sweep Saturday at Oregon, which would mark the first time Penn State has won back-to-back Big Ten road games since the 2023-24 season when PSU defeated Rutgers 61-46 on Jan. 31 and Indiana 85-71 on Feb. 3.
B1G DUBS
- Penn State earned its first Big Ten win of the season on Feb. 1 as rookie guard Kayden Mingo scored on a game-winning left-handed scoop shot with one second left to play to lift the Nittany Lions to a gutsy 77-75 win over Minnesota inside the Bryce Jordan Center. The Nittany Lions grabbed their first road win of the conference season Wednesday night at Washington as the Nittany Lions limited the Huskies to a 37.7 FG% in PSU's strong defensive effort.
- Penn State has shot 49.1 percent from the field in its two Big Ten wins while limiting its opponents to a 44.6 percent clip. Freddie Dilione V has led Penn State in its pair of conference victories with 20.5 points per game, while Josh Reed (16.0 ppg) and Kayden Mingo (13.5) have followed.
ONE OF ONE
- Rookie guard Kayden Mingo is the ONLY freshman in the country averaging 13+ points (13.4 ppg), 4+ assists (4.3 apg), 3.0+ rebounds (3.5 rpg) and 2+ steals (2.23 spg) per game through games on Feb. 11.
MINGO MAKING HIS MARK
- Rookie Kayden Mingo is the third-highest scoring freshman in the Big Ten. He leads the Nittany Lions in assists (4.3 apg) and steals (2.23 spg), while ranking second in points (13.4 ppg) and third on the team in rebounds (3.5 rpg).
- He has scored in double figures in 16 of 22 games, including two 20-plus point efforts. Mingo leads the Big Ten and ranks 24th nationally with 2.23 steals per game and he collected a single-game program record-tying eight steals against Sacred Heart on Nov. 29.
- Mingo scored the game-winning shot with a second to play in Penn State's first Big Ten win of the season against Minnesota on Feb. 1.
- 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 19 games this season, including career-best 25-point performances at #5 Purdue (Jan. 10) and against Minnesota (Feb. 1).
|
Freddie Dilione V Stat |
2024-25 |
2025-26 |
Improvement |
|
Points per game |
9.4 |
14.6 |
+5.2 ppg |
|
Rebounds per game |
2.8 |
3.5 |
+0.7 rpg |
|
Assists per game |
1.7 |
2.4 |
+0.7 apg |
|
FG% |
41.6% |
47.5% |
+5.9 FG% |
|
3FG% |
28.9% |
29.5% |
+0.6 3FG% |
|
FT% |
70.9% |
83.1% |
+12.2 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 massive offensive jump since transferring to Penn State for the 2025-26 season.
- Reed is averaging 10.7 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game through 25 games this season. He has scored in double figures in 15 games this season, including each of the last nine contests, 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 |
10.7 |
+7.9 ppg |
|
Rebounds per game |
2.1 |
4.0 |
+1.9 rpg |
|
Steals per game |
0.4 |
1.1 |
+0.7 spg |
|
FG% |
38.7% |
50.9% |
+12.2% |
UP NEXT
- The Nittany Lions return home to host Rutgers Wednesday night at 6 p.m. inside the Bryce Jordan Center on Academic Achievement Night & Faculty and Staff Appreciation Night.