LINCOLN, Neb. – The Penn State men’s basketball team is back on the road Saturday afternoon to face #9 Nebraska at 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT on Big Ten Network.
FOLLOW ALONG
- TV: Big Ten Network – Dave Revsine (pxp) & Shon Morris (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 Notes | Nebraska Notes
OPENING TIPS
- The Nittany Lions are back on the road for their sixth road contest in the last nine games Saturday afternoon when Penn State heads to #9 Nebraska.
- Penn State has earned two conference wins this year over Minnesota (77-75 - Feb. 1) and at Washington (63-60 - Feb. 11).
- Penn State's trio of Freddie Dilione V (14.3 ppg), Kayden Mingo (14.0 ppg) and Josh Reed (11.2 ppg) are all averaging double-digit points.
IF PENN STATE BEATS #9 NEBRASKA
- Penn State would earn its third Big Ten win of the season.
- The Nittany Lions would beat a top-10 team on the road for the first time since Feb. 1, 2009, when Penn State took down #9 Michigan State in East Lansing, Mich. by a score of 72-68.
SCOUTING THE HUSKERS
- The #9 Huskers are 22-4 on the season and 11-4 in Big Ten play.
- Nebraska started the season 20-0 overall and 9-0 in conference play, but has since lost four of its last six games.
- The Huskers are coming off a 52-57 road loss at Iowa in their most recent game Tuesday night.
- Pryce Sandfort leads Nebraska with 17.3 points per game. Rienk Mast follows with 14.1 points and a team-best 6.2 rebounds per game. Braden Frager (11.6 ppg) and Jamarques Lawrence (10.7 ppg) are also averaging double-digit points.
AGAINST NEBRASKA
- Penn State and #9 Nebraska meet for the only time this regular season Saturday afternoon in Lincoln.
- The Nittany Lions are 3-10 all-time when playing in Lincoln, Neb., with Penn State's last road win at Nebraska coming on Feb. 23, 2021 (86-83).
- Penn State won last season's lone meeting 89-72 on Feb. 19, 2025 inside the Bryce Jordan Center. The Nittany Lions were strong from start to finish, as Penn State took a double-digit lead less than six minutes into the game and never looked back. The Nittany Lions scored 52 of their 89 points in the paint and finished the game shooting 60.7 percent (34-56) from the field.
HISTORIC OPPORTUNITY
- Penn State has the opportunity to make history Saturday afternoon as the Nittany Lions look to earn just their fourth-ever road win against a top-10 ranked team and first since Feb. 1, 2009 when Penn State beat #9 Michigan State in East Lansing. Penn State's three all-time road wins against top-10 teams are listed below:
- 1, 2009 - at #9 Michigan State - W, 72-68
- 4, 2006 - at #6 Illinois - W, 66-65
- 2, 1952 - at #10 West Virginia - W, 61-60
TOP-15 WINS
- The Nittany Lions are seeking their fifth win over a team ranked in the top 15 of the AP Poll under third-year head coach Mike Rhoades.
- Top 15 Wins under Mike Rhoades:
- at #12 Wisconsin - 3/8/25 - W, 86-75
- #8 Purdue - 12/5/24 - W, 81-70
- #12 Illinois - 2/21/24 - W, 90-89
- #11 Wisconsin - 1/16/24 - W, 87-83
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 on Feb. 11 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.
RISING STAR
- Penn State was represented during the NBA's All-Star Weekend as former Nittany Lion Yanic Konan Niederhauser tallied 11 points, two rebounds and a block in the NBA Rising Stars game last Friday night.
- Konan Niederhauser has put together a strong rookie season with the Los Angeles Clippers after becoming Penn State's first-ever first round NBA Draft pick during the 2025 NBA Draft when he was selected by the Clippers with the 30th overall pick. Konan Niederhauser has seen action in 34 games this season for the Clippers.
STASHING STEALS
- The Nittany Lions lead 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 20th nationally with 2.25 steals per game.
ONE OF ONE
- Rookie guard Kayden Mingo is the ONLY freshman in the country averaging 14+ points (14.0 ppg), 4+ assists (4.3 apg), 3+ rebounds (3.4 rpg) and 2+ steals (2.25 spg) per game through games on Feb. 18.
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 (2.25 spg), while ranking second in points (14.0 ppg) and third on the team in rebounds (3.5 rpg).
- He has scored in double figures in 18 of 24 games, including three 20-plus point efforts. Mingo leads the Big Ten and ranks 20th nationally with 2.25 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.
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 11.2 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game through 27 games this season. He has scored in double figures in 17 games this season, including each of the last 11 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 |
11.2 |
+8.4 ppg |
|
Rebounds per game |
2.1 |
4.0 |
+1.9 rpg |
|
Steals per game |
0.4 |
1.1 |
+0.7 spg |
|
FG% |
38.7% |
51.0% |
+12.3% |
UP NEXT
- The Nittany Lions head into their regular-season bye week and will return to action on Saturday, Feb. 28, when Penn State hosts Iowa at noon inside the Bryce Jordan Center.