Nittany Lions Return to BJC to Host Iowa SaturdayNittany Lions Return to BJC to Host Iowa Saturday
Mark Selders

Nittany Lions Return to BJC to Host Iowa Saturday

Tipoff slated for noon inside Bryce Jordan Center

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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men’s basketball team is back in the Bryce Jordan Center Saturday to host Iowa at noon in the Nittany Lions’ Autism Awareness game. The game is set to air nationally on Big Ten Network.

FOLLOW ALONG

OPENING TIPS

  • The Nittany Lions return home Saturday to host Iowa following a string of six road contests in Penn State's last nine games.
  • 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 (13.9 ppg), Kayden Mingo (13.9 ppg) and Josh Reed (11.2 ppg) are all averaging double-digit points.

IF PENN STATE BEATS IOWA

  • Penn State would earn its third Big Ten win of the season.
  • The Nittany Lions would improve to 16-10 all-time when playing Iowa in Happy Valley and win their fourth-straight home matchup against the Hawkeyes.

SCOUTING IOWA

  • The Hawkeyes are 20-8 overall and 10-7 in Big Ten play in their first season under head coach Ben McCollum.
  • Iowa is 3-6 in true road games this season compared to its 14-2 record in home contests.
  • The Hawkeyes are coming off a 74-57 home win over Ohio State Wednesday night in their most recent contest.
  • Bennett Stirtz leads Iowa with 20.7 points per game. Tavion Banks is the only other Hawkeye averaging double-digit points with his 10.6 points per game.

AGAINST THE HAWKEYES

  • Penn State and Iowa meet for the only time this regular season Saturday afternoon inside the Bryce Jordan Center.
  • The Nittany Lions own a 15-10 all-time advantage when playing Iowa in Happy Valley and Penn State has won the last three home matchups with the Hawkeyes.
  • The two teams met just once last season, a 76-75 Iowa win inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Penn State trimmed a double-digit down to one, but wasn’t able to get a game-winning shot to fall in the one-point road loss. The Nittany Lions held the Hawkeyes scoreless for the final 3:27 and closed the game on a 7-0 run. Penn State had three chances at a potential go-ahead or game-winning shot in the final 12 seconds, but wasn’t able to convert.

HOME SWEET HAPPY VALLEY

  • Fresh off a bye week, the Nittany Lions return to the Bryce Jordan Center after having played six of their last nine games on the road.
  • Penn State has played its best basketball inside the BJC this season:

Stat

In BJC

Not in BJC

Points per game

79.3

71.1

Opponent PPG

74.3

84.0

Scoring margin

+5.0

-12.9

FG%

49.7%

44.1%

Opponent turnovers/game

14.7

10.4

Steals per game

9.5

5.4

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.

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 19th nationally with 2.20 steals per game. Penn State has also had the Big Ten's individual steals leader in each of the last two seasons, as two-time Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Ace Baldwin Jr. led the conference in steals in 2024-25 (2.4 spg) and 2023-24 (2.7 spg).

RARE AIR

  • Rookie guard Kayden Mingo is one of just three freshman in the country averaging 13+ points (13.9 ppg), 4+ assists (4.4 apg), 3+ rebounds (3.4 rpg) and 2+ steals (2.2 spg) per game through games on Feb. 25.

MINGO MAKING HIS MARK

  • Rookie Kayden Mingo is the third-highest scoring freshman in the Big Ten. He leads the Nittany Lions in assists (4.4 apg) and steals (2.2 spg), while tying for the team lead in scoring (13.9 ppg) and ranking third on the team in rebounds (3.4 rpg).
  • He has scored in double figures in 19 of 25 games, including three 20-plus point efforts. Mingo leads the Big Ten and ranks 19th nationally with 2.2 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, 4.1 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game through 28 games this season. He has scored in double figures in 18 games this season, including each of the last 12 contests, after coming to Penn State with just seven career double-digit scoring games through his three seasons at Cincinnati.
  • In the last 12 games, Reed has averaged 14.5 points per game and 4.3 rebounds per game while shooting 51.9 percent from the field and 45.5 percent from 3-point range.

UP NEXT

  • Penn State plays its final home game of the regular season Wednesday night when the Nittany Lions host Ohio State on Senior Night presented by the Penn State Alumni Association. Tipoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. on Peacock.