UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men’s basketball team dropped its 2025-26 regular season home finale on Wednesday night, falling by a 94-62 score to the Ohio State Buckeyes inside the Bryce Jordan Center.
The Blue & White were anchored by a trio of double-digit scorers offensively, with redshirt junior guard Freddie Dilione V leading the Nittany Lions in scoring with 15 points. Freshman forward Ivan Jurić joined Dilione V with 15 points in the scoring column on 4-for-5 efficiency from the field and 1-for-2 shooting from beyond the arc, adding a rebound and steal in 24 minutes of work. Sophomore guard Dominick Stewart rounded out the trio of double-digit scoring performers, dropping 11 points with a team-high four assists, a rebounds and a steal to his credit. Wednesday night’s game also served as PSU’s Senior Night presented by the Penn State Alumni Association, with senior forward Josh Reed recognized for his contributions to the Nittany Lion squad prior to the game.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Blue & White hauled in the opening tip, but Ohio State worked its way onto the scoreboard first with a reverse layup their first trip down the floor. OSU pulled ahead by an early 7-0 margin, but a layup from Jurić got the scoring started for PSU at the 17:39 mark. Jurić made it a personal 5-0 run with a straight-away triple, and the Nittany Lions ultimately booked an 8-0 reply to Ohio State’s 7-0 start, working ahead by the 15:32 mark.
- Ohio State pulled back in front with a quick 10-1 scoring run, utilizing a pair of 3-pointers in that stretch to take a 19-9 advantage around halfway through the opening stanza. The barrage of triples continued as the half wore on, with the Buckeyes building a 33-11 advantage by the 3:44 mark of the first half. The Blue & White attempted to battle down the stretch in the opening 20 minutes, rattling off a 7-2 scoring run before the break to make it 45-22 OSU at the intermission.
- The Nittany Lions worked for a stop defensively to open the second half of play, and a pair of triples from Dilione V and Stewart saw the Nittany Lions notch a 6-3 run in the early going of the second half. Ohio State continued to find success from beyond the arc as the half continued along, with the Buckeyes building up a 60-31 edge with 15:11 to play.
- Baskets fell both ways as the half rolled along, with makes by Dilione V interspersed with 3-point buckets from the Buckeyes. A driving layup from Tunca and a straight-away triple from Houser gave the Nittany Lions some life, but Ohio State was able to capitalize on multiple trips to the free throw line to keep any Penn State momentum at bay. The Buckeyes closed things out and booked a 94-62 final score against PSU on Wednesday night.
GAME NOTES
- The Nittany Lions fell to 12-18 overall and 3-16 in Big Ten Play, while Ohio State improved to 19-11 overall and 11-8 in conference action.
- The two teams have split their past seven matchups. With Ohio State winning the most recent four, and Penn State winning the earlier three.
- Redshirt junior guard Freddie Dilione V led the team in points for a team-high 10th time this season with 15. His scoring performance also marked his 23rd game scoring double-digits, also a team high.
- Freshman forward Ivan Jurić tied Dilione V with a team high of 15 points. The mark was his 13th time this season reaching double figures.
- Freshman guard Dominic Stewart finished out the trio of Nittany Lions in double figures, collecting 11 points, his seventh time hitting the mark this season. Stewart additionally led Penn State in assists with four.
- Penn State won the battle for bench points against Ohio State. The Nittany Lions' unit collected 18 points, led by Tunca with nine, compared to 10 from the Buckeyes.
- The Nittany Lions honored senior Josh Reed on Senior Night presented by the Penn State Alumni Association, in addition to four senior managers: Jake Arpino, Matthew Blutig, Patrick Dorney and Alex Grumer. 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 19 times 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.
UP NEXT
- The Nittany Lions close out the regular season on the road Sunday with a noon tipoff at Rutgers. Penn State will then turn its attention to next week’s Big Ten Tournament at the United Center in Chicago.