Nittany Lions Open Big Ten Tournament Against Northwestern Tuesday NightNittany Lions Open Big Ten Tournament Against Northwestern Tuesday Night

Nittany Lions Open Big Ten Tournament Against Northwestern Tuesday Night

Penn State and Wildcats tip off at approximately 7:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. CT in Chicago

Big Ten Tournament Central TV: Peacock & NBCSN Listen Live Stats Game Notes

CHICAGO – Postseason play begins Tuesday night for the Penn State men’s basketball team as the Nittany Lions open up the 2026 Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament against Northwestern at approximately 7:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. CT from the United Center in Chicago. The first-round matchup is set to air nationally on Peacock and NBCSN. The winner of Tuesday’s Penn State-Northwestern game advances to Wednesday’s second round to face Indiana at 6:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. CT.

FOLLOW ALONG

OPENING TIPS

  • Postseason play begins Tuesday night when the 18th-seeded Nittany Lions meet 15th-seeded Northwestern in the first round of the 2026 Big Ten Tournament from the United Center in Chicago.
  • Penn State finished the regular season at 12-19 overall and 3-17 in conference play, with Big Ten wins over Iowa (71-69), Washington (63-60) and Minnesota (77-75).
  • Penn State's trio of Freddie Dilione V (14.0 ppg), Kayden Mingo (13.7 ppg) and Josh Reed (11.4 ppg) are all averaging double-digit points.

IF PENN STATE BEATS NORTHWESTERN

  • Penn State would advance to the second round of the Big Ten Tournament to face 10th-seeded Indiana at 6:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. CT Wednesday night.
  • The Nittany Lions would win a Big Ten Tournament game for the fifth time in the last six years.

TOURNEY TIME

  • Penn State opens up postseason play in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament Tuesday night against Northwestern.
  • The Nittany Lions will play as the No. 18 seed in the conference tournament. A win on Tuesday would advance Penn State to Wednesday night's second round to face 10th-seeded Indiana.
  • Penn State has won a Big Ten Tournament game in each of the last four tournaments that the Nittany Lions have competed in. The Nittany Lions advanced to the Big Ten Tournament championship game the last time the tournament was played inside Chicago's United Center in 2023.
  • Penn State and Northwestern have met five times in Big Ten Tournament history, with Penn State owning a 3-2 advantage. The Nittany Lions and Wildcats last met in the quarterfinals of the 2023 tournament as tenth-seeded Penn State earned a 67-65 overtime win over second-seeded Northwestern.

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS

  • The 15th-seeded Wildcats finished the regular season 13-18 overall and 5-15 in Big Ten play.
  • The Wildcats ended the regular season with two-straight losses, falling at Minnesota (66-67) on March 7 and against Purdue (66-70) on March 4.
  • Northwestern's Nick Martinelli is the Big Ten's leading scorer and averages 22.7 points per game. Arrinten Page is the only other Wildcat averaging double-digit points with his 10.2 points per contest.

AGAINST NORTHWESTERN

  • Penn State and Northwestern met just once this season, a 94-73 Wildcat win in Evanston, Ill. on Jan. 29. The Blue & White were paced by Kayden Mingo's 15-point, four-assist effort. Ivan Jurić contributed 14 points and a team-high six rebounds, Josh Reed dropped 11 points with three boards, and Freddie Dilione V rounded out the quartet of Nittany Lions in double figures with 11 points, four rebounds and four assists.
  • The Nittany Lions and Wildcats have met five times in Big Ten Tournament history, with Penn State holding a 3-2 edge in those meetings. The two teams last met in the 2023 Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinals inside the United Center in Chicago when 10th-seeded PSU took down second-seeded Northwestern 67-65 in overtime. The Nittany Lions advanced to the Big Ten Tournament Championship game that season.

B1G TOURNEY LEGENDS ON THE BENCH

  • Penn State has two assistant coaches on its sideline that know what it takes to lead the Nittany Lions to Big Ten Tournament success in Talor Battle '11 and Joe Crispin '01.
  • Battle led the 2011 Nittany Lions to their first-ever Big Ten Tournament Championship game as an All-Tournament selection. He still owns PSU B1G Tourney records for most points (71) and 3-pointers made (14) in a single tournament. His 2011 team advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
  • Crispin guided the Nittany Lions to back-to-back Big Ten Tournament semifinal appearances in 2000 and 2001, earning All-Tournament honors in 2001. He owns Penn State B1G Tourney records in career assists (40) and career 3-pointers made (20), while ranking second all-time in school history in most career points scored in the Big Ten Tournament (127). Crispin's 2001 Nittany Lion team advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

B1G DUBS

  • Penn State 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 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.

RARE AIR

  • Rookie guard Kayden Mingo is one of only two freshmen in the country averaging 13+ points (13.7 ppg), 4+ assists (4.3 apg), 3+ rebounds (3.4 rpg) and 2+ steals (2.11 spg) per game through games on March 8.

MINGO MAKING HIS MARK

  • Rookie guard Kayden Mingo is the third-highest scoring freshman in the Big Ten. He leads the Nittany Lions in assists (4.3 apg) and steals (2.11 spg), while ranking second on the team in scoring (13.7 ppg) and ranking third on the team in rebounds (3.3 rpg).
  • He has scored in double figures in 20 of 27 games, including three 20-plus point efforts. Mingo ranks second in the Big Ten and 21st nationally with 2.11 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.

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.
  • He has scored in double figures in 20 games this season, including 14 of the last 15 contests, after coming to Penn State with just seven career double-digit scoring games through his three seasons at Cincinnati. Reed put together a career-high 25-point performance in Penn State's win over Iowa.
  • Reed has averaged 14.3 points and 4.3 rebounds per game while shooting 50.7 percent from the field and 46.5 percent from 3-point range over the last 15 games.

UP NEXT

  • The winner of Tuesday’s Penn State-Northwestern game advances to Wednesday’s second round of the Big Ten Tournament to face 10th-seeded Indiana at 6:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. CT on Big Ten Network.

Head Coach Mike Rhoades Pre-Big Ten Tournament Press Conference - March 9