UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men’s basketball team returns home to host USC in the Nittany Lions’ annual THON game Sunday at noon inside the Bryce Jordan Center.
FOLLOW ALONG
- TICKETS: Tickets
- PROMTIONS: THON Game
- TV: Big Ten Network – Kevin Kugler (pxp) & Bruce Weber (analyst)
- RADIO: Penn State Sports Network – Steve Jones (pxp) & Dick Jerardi (analyst)
- NATIONAL RADIO: SiriusXM Ch. 382 & SXM App Ch. 972
- LIVE STATS: StatBroadcast
- GAME NOTES: Penn State Notes
OPENING TIPS
- The Nittany Lions return home to host USC in the Trojans' first-ever trip to Happy Valley Sunday for Penn State's annual THON game.
- Penn State is earned its first Big Ten win of the season after Kayden Mingo scored the game-winning shot with one second to play to lift the Nittany Lions to a 77-75 win over Minnesota on Feb. 1.
- Penn State's trio of Freddie Dilione V (14.1 ppg), Kayden Mingo (13.7 ppg) and Josh Reed (10.3 ppg) are all averaging double-digit points.
IF PENN STATE BEATS USC
- Penn State would earn its second Big Ten win of the season.
- The Nittany Lions would defeat the Trojans in their first-ever trip to Happy Valley and improve to 3-1 all-time against USC.
FOR THE KIDS
- Sunday’s game will be Penn State's annual THON game. The Penn State student section will don colorful t-shirts and in-game activities will be focused around raising awareness for the largest student-run philanthropy in the world.
- The Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon, or THON, is a year-long effort which raises funds and awareness for the fight against childhood cancer. With the support of students from all across the commonwealth of Pennsylvania and supporters all around the world, THON continues to make great strides towards finding a cure for all childhood cancers and has raised over $254 million since it began, including $17.7 million in 2024 alone.
- THON efforts culminate with a 46-hour, no-sitting, no-sleeping dance marathon in February. This year's dance marathon is set for Feb. 20-22 in the Bryce Jordan Center.
SCOUTING THE TROJANS
- The Trojans are 17-6 on the season and 6-6 in Big Ten play.
- USC has won its last two games, a pair of home victories over Rutgers (78-75) and Indiana (81-75).
- The Trojans have found themselves in quite a few close games, as the last six of USC's games have been decided by single digits. USC is 3-3 in those contests.
- Rodney Rice leads USC with 20.3 points per game. Chad Baker-Mazara (18.3 ppg), Ezra Ausar (16.0 ppg) and Alijah Arenas (11.8 ppg) follow.
AGAINST USC
- USC makes its first-ever trip to Happy Valley Sunday.
- Penn State and USC met for the first time as Big Ten opponents last season in Los Angeles, with the Trojans earning a 92-67 victory.
- Prior to last year's meeting as Big Ten foes, the two teams had met just twice before - on Nov. 23, 2014 when Penn State took down USC 63-61 in the Charleston Classic and during Penn State's trip to the Final Four of the 1954 NCAA Tournament when PSU defeated USC 70-61 in the NCAA third-place game on March 20, 1954.
B1G DUB
- 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 short-handed Nittany Lions were without big men Ivan Jurić, Saša Ciani and Tibor Mirtič due to illness and injury.
- Redshirt junior Freddie Dilione V led Penn State with 25 points and five rebounds while adding three steals. Senior Josh Reed tallied 18 points, four rebounds, two assists and a steal. Mingo finished with 14 points, 12 of which game in the second half. Sophomore Dominck Stewart rounded out the double-digit Penn State scorers with 12 points, two rebounds and three assists.
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. The Nittany Lions have played six games against five of the top six teams in the conference standings through games on Feb. 5.
- Penn State's first 11 Big Ten opponents (Indiana, Michigan State, Illinois, Michigan, UCLA, Maryland, Wisconsin, Ohio State, Northwestern & Minnesota) are a combined 75-54 (.581) thus far in conference play, while Penn State's remaining six opponents are a combined 30-40 (.429) so far in Big Ten action (through games on Feb. 5).
- 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.
ONE OF ONE
- Rookie guard Kayden Mingo is the ONLY freshman in the country averaging 13+ points (13.7 ppg), 4+ assists (4.5 apg), 3.5+ rebounds (3.5 rpg) and 2+ steals (2.15 spg) per game through games on Feb. 5.
MINGO MAKING HIS MARK
- Rookie Kayden Mingo is the third-highest scoring freshman in the Big Ten. He leads the Nittany Lions in assists (4.5 apg) and steals (2.15 spg), while ranking second in points (13.7 ppg) and third on the team in rebounds (3.5 rpg).
- He has scored in double figures in 15 of 20 games, including two 20-plus point efforts. Mingo leads the Big Ten and ranks 30th nationally with 2.15 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 17 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 |
14.1 |
+4.7 ppg |
|
Rebounds per game |
2.8 |
3.5 |
+0.7 rpg |
|
Assists per game |
1.7 |
2.4 |
+0.7 apg |
|
FG% |
41.6% |
46.8% |
+5.2 FG% |
|
3FG% |
28.9% |
29.7% |
+0.8 3FG% |
|
FT% |
70.9% |
84.9% |
+14.0 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 big offensive jump since transferring to Penn State for the 2025-26 season.
- Reed is averaging 10.3 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.0 steals per game through 23 games this season. He has scored in double figures in 13 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 |
10.3 |
+7.5 ppg |
|
Rebounds per game |
2.1 |
3.9 |
+1.8 rpg |
|
Steals per game |
0.4 |
1.0 |
+0.6 spg |
|
FG% |
38.7% |
49.4% |
+10.7% |
UP NEXT
- Penn State heads out to the Pacific Northwest for a two-game trip beginning with a Wednesday night showdown at Washington. Tipoff on Big Ten Network is slated for 10:30 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. PT.