PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The Penn State men’s basketball team couldn’t overcome a slow start in a 74-62 road loss at Rutgers Sunday afternoon in the Nittany Lions’ regular-season finale.
Freshman Ivan Jurić led the Nittany Lions with 16 points and six rebounds. Redshirt junior Freddie Dilione V finished with 14 points and six boards. Rookie Kayden Mingo contributed 13 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Senior Josh Reed tallied 12 points and a team-best eight rebounds.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Nittany Lion defense forced three Rutgers turnovers in the opening five minutes and baskets from four different Nittany Lions helped Penn State take a 10-8 lead at the first media timeout of the game at 15:14.
- Rutgers responded with a 12-0 run over a 3:37 stretch from 14:05 to 10:29 to put Penn State in a 20-10 hole and force a Nittany Lion timeout.
- A Kayden Mingo jumper snapped the Scarlett Knight streak at 10:08, but Rutgers used another lengthy 16-0 spurt to stretch its advantage to 23 at 37-14 with just under three minutes to play in the opening term.
- A Josh Reed triple and four-straight points from Freddie Dilione V had Penn State within 18, but Rutgers scored the final four points of the term to take a 43-21 lead into the break.
- Five points from Mingo and four from Dilione V helped the Nittany Lions score 13 of the first 21 points of the second half as Penn State pulled within 17 at 51-34 just over five minutes into the term.
- The Rutgers lead stayed between 16 and 20 until five-straight points from Reed helped the Nittany Lions claw within 15 at 58-43 with 8:42 to play.
- Penn State capitalized on free throw shooting to put together a 12-4 stretch from 7:52 to 3:06 that had the Nittany Lions down just 12 at 67-55. Penn State wouldn’t get closer than 12 the rest of the way, however, as Rutgers closed the game out in the final few minutes for the 74-62 win.
GAME NOTES
- Penn State finishes the regular season at 12-19 overall and 3-17 in Big Ten play, while the Scarlet Knights improve to 13-18 on the season and 6-14 in conference action.
- The Nittany Lions outscored the Scarlet Knights 41-31 in the second half.
- Freshman Ivan Jurić scored in double figures for the fourth-straight game and 14th time this season. Jurić finished with 16 points and six rebounds.
- Redshirt junior Freddie Dilione V finished with 14 points and six boards, marking his team-best 24th double-digit scoring effort of the season.
- Rookie Kayden Mingo scored in double figures for the 20th time this season, finishing with 13 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
- Senior Josh Reed notched his 15th double-digit scoring effort in the last 17 games, finishing with 12 points and a team-best eight rebounds.
UP NEXT
- Penn State turns its attention to the Big Ten Tournament, which will be held March 10-15 at the United Center in Chicago. The Nittany Lions will open postseason action against Northwestern on Tuesday, March 10, at approximately 7:30 p.m. ET/6:30 PM CT. All information on the 2026 Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament can be found at Tournament Central.