ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The Penn State men’s basketball team dropped a 110-69 result to the second-ranked Michigan Wolverines on Thursday night inside the Crisler Center.
The short-handed Nittany Lions dressed just eight players due to injuries and illness. Penn State was without starters Ivan Jurić (9.4 ppg, 5.1 rpg) and Eli Rice (7.9 ppg), as well as Saša Ciani (2.6 ppg, 2.3 rpg) and Tibor Mirtič (3.7 ppg, 3.3 rpg).
The Nittany Lions were led by a trio of double-digit performers offensively, with redshirt junior guard Freddie Dilione V pacing the team with 19 points on eight made field goals, seven rebounds, three assists and a steal in 40 minutes of action. Senior forward Josh Reed dropped 15 points highlighted by a 6-for-7 trip to the free throw line with four rebounds in 26 minutes. Freshman guard Melih Tunca rounded out the trio of PSU student-athletes in double figures, finishing with 15 points, three assists and two rebounds in 38 minutes of play.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Nittany Lions forced a Michigan turnover on the opening possession of the game and Freddie Dilione V tossed in a mid-range jumper to get the scoring started, but the Wolverines scored the game’s next 15 points to take a 15-2 lead just under eight minutes into the game.
- A pair of free throws from Melih Tunca snapped Penn State’s scoreless streak at the 12:16 mark while Dilione V added a pair of layups and Justin Houser tossed in a hook shot all within a two-minute stretch, but the Wolverines had an answer for every basket and controlled a 23-10 lead with just over 10 minutes to play in the opening half.
- Michigan scored 10 of the game’s next 12 points to stretch its lead to 31-12 at the under-8 media timeout. The Wolverines kept their foot on the gas for the remainder of the half as Michigan took a 56-24 lead into halftime.
- The Wolverines spent the first 4:35 of the second half on a 17-8 run to stretch their lead to 73-32 with 15:25 to play. Penn State was never able to recover as #2 Michigan took home the 110-69 win to improve to 21-1 on the season.
GAME NOTES
- Penn State dressed just eight players due to injuries and illness. The Nittany Lions were without starters Eli Rice and Ivan Jurić, as well as Saša Ciani and Tibor Mirtič.
- Penn State moves to 10-13 overall and 1-11 in Big Ten Conference play, while the second-ranked Wolverines improve to 21-1 overall and 11-1 in league matchups.
- The Blue & White won the turnover battle for the 15th time, surrendering five giveaways while forcing nine by the Wolverines.
- PSU won the battle for fast break scoring, netting an 8-1 win in that category.
- Redshirt junior guard Freddie Dilione V cracked double figures in the scoring column for the 17th time in the 2025-26 season, marking the most double-digit scoring efforts by a Penn Stater this year. The Fayetteville, North Carolina, native recorded 19 points in addition to seven rebounds, three assists and a steal after playing all 40 minutes.
- Senior forward Josh Reed reached double figures for the seventh game in a row in Big Ten play and the 13th time overall this season. Reed published 15 points with four made field goals and a 6-for-7 finish at the charity stripe, adding four rebounds in 26 minutes of play.
- Freshman guard Melih Tunca turned in his fourth double-digit scoring performance in Big Ten Conference competition, finishing with 15 points on 4-for-7 shooting from the field and 7-for-8 efficiency from the free throw line. Tunca added three assists, two rebounds, a block and a steal in a career-high 38 minutes of work.
- Penn State utilized the starting lineup of Mingo, Dilione V, Stewart, Tunca and Reed for the first time on Thursday evening.
UP NEXT
- Penn State returns home Sunday to host USC at noon in Penn State's annual THON game inside the Bryce Jordan Center. The game will air nationally on Big Ten Network.