UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men’s basketball team will host its final home game of the regular season Wednesday night when the Nittany Lions welcome Ohio State to the Bryce Jordan Center. Tipoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. on Peacock. Josh Reed will be honored on Senior Night presented by the Penn State Alumni Association, with the Senior Night ceremony slated to begin at 7:05 p.m.
FOLLOW ALONG
- TICKETS: Tickets
- PROMOTIONS: Senior Night presented by the Penn State Alumni Association
- Senior Night ceremony begins at 7:05 p.m.
- TV: Peacock – Jason Knapp (pxp) & Brendan Haywood (analyst)
- RADIO: Penn State Sports Network – Steve Jones (pxp) & Dick Jerardi (analyst)
- NATIONAL RADIO: SiriusXM Ch. 389 & SXM App Ch. 979
- LIVE STATS: StatBroadcast
- GAME NOTES: Penn State Notes
OPENING TIPS
- Fresh off a thrilling win over Iowa Saturday afternoon, the Nittany Lions remain home to host Ohio State in their final home game of the regular season Wednesday evening inside the Bryce Jordan Center.
- Penn State will honor Josh Reed as well as four senior managers pregame on Senior Night presented by the Penn State Alumni Association.
- Penn State's trio of Freddie Dilione V (14.0 ppg), Kayden Mingo (13.7 ppg) and Josh Reed (11.7 ppg) are all averaging double-digit points.
IF PENN STATE BEATS OHIO STATE
- Penn State would earn its fourth Big Ten win of the season and win back-to-back conference games for the first time this year.
- The Nittany Lions would improve to 10-5 inside the Bryce Jordan Center this season.
SCOUTING THE BUCKEYES
- The Buckeyes are 18-11 overall and 10-8 in Big Ten play this season.
- Four of Ohio State's 10 conference victories have come on the road.
- The Buckeyes are coming off a big 82-74 home win over #8 Purdue Sunday afternoon in their most recent game. The win over the Boilermakers snapped OSU's two-game skid that included road losses at Michigan State and Iowa.
- Guard Bruce Thornton leads four Buckeyes in double figures with 20.0 points per game. John Mobley Jr. (15.3 ppg), Devin Royal (14.0 ppg) and Christoph Tilly (11.1 ppg) follow.
AGAINST OHIO STATE
- Penn State and Ohio State meet for the second time this season Wednesday night in Happy Valley.
- Ohio State earned an 84-78 win in the season's first meeting on Jan. 26 inside Value City Arena. Penn State managed to turn an 18-point halftime deficit into a one-point game with just under 11 minutes to play, but ultimately dropped the 84-78 decision. Eli Rice drilled a career-best five 3-pointers and finished with a career-high 20 points to pace Penn State, while Ivan Jurić notched his first-career double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds.
- The two teams have split the past six meetings, with Ohio State winning the last three and Penn State winning the previous three.
SENIOR NIGHT PRESENTED BY THE PENN STATE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
- Penn State will honor senior Josh Reed on Senior Night presented by the Penn State Alumni Association on Wednesday night inside the Bryce Jordan Center.
- Reed has enjoyed a breakout senior season in the Blue & White. A true leader both on and off the court, Reed has provided a strong veteran presence for this year’s young Nittany Lion team. He has scored in double figures in each of the last 13 games and 19 times overall this season after coming to Penn State with just seven career double-digit scoring games through his first three collegiate seasons at Cincinnati. A true student-athlete, Reed graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Cincinnati in just three years and will earn his MBA in just one year at Penn State.
- The Nittany Lions will also honor four senior managers: Jake Arpino, Matthew Blutig, Patrick Dorney and Alex Grumer.
HOME SWEET HAPPY VALLEY
- Penn State has played its best basketball inside the BJC this season as the Nittany Lions are 9-5 inside the friendly confines of their home arena:
|
Team Stat |
In BJC |
Not in BJC |
|
Points per game |
78.7 |
71.1 |
|
Opponent points per game |
73.9 |
84.0 |
|
Scoring margin |
+4.8 |
-12.9 |
|
FG% |
50.4% |
44.1% |
|
Opponent turnovers per game |
14.2 |
10.4 |
|
Steals per game |
9.0 |
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 is coming off its third Big Ten win of the year Saturday as the Nittany Lions took down Iowa, 71-69, on the back of 25 points from Josh Reed and a pair of game-winning free throws from Freddie Dilione V with 1.5 seconds left.
- Penn State has shot 52.9 percent from the field in its three Big Ten wins while limiting its opponents to a 45.0 percent clip. Josh Reed has led Penn State in its three conference wins with an average of 19.0 points per game, while Freddie Dilione V (18.7 ppg) and Kayden Mingo (12.0 ppg) follow.
STASHING STEALS
- The Nittany Lions rank second in the Big Ten with 7.1 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 21st nationally with 2.12 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).
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 enjoyed a breakout season in the Blue & White in 2025-26.
- Reed is averaging 11.7 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game through 29 games this season. He has scored in double figures in 19 games this season, including each of the last 13 contests, after coming to Penn State with just seven career double-digit scoring games through his three seasons at Cincinnati. Reed is coming off a career-high 25-point performance in Penn State's win over Iowa Saturday.
- In the last 13 games, Reed has averaged 15.3 points and 4.2 rebounds per game with a 54.2 FG% and 48.6 3FG%.
ONE OF ONE
- Rookie guard Kayden Mingo is the ONLY freshman in the country averaging 13+ points (13.7 ppg), 4+ assists (4.3 apg), 3+ rebounds (3.3 rpg) and 2+ steals (2.12 spg) per game through games on March 1.
BIG FELLA BATTLING
- Freshman Ivan Jurić leads the team with a 56.2 (91-162) field goal percentage while averaging 9.3 points and a team-best 5.4 rebounds per game.
- Jurić owns 12 double-digit scoring efforts and put together a career-best 20-point performance against #2 Michigan on Jan. 6. He owns two double-doubles in Big Ten play (at Ohio State and at #9 Nebraska).
UP NEXT
- Penn State heads to Rutgers for its regular-season finale Sunday at noon. The game will air nationally on Big Ten Network.