Penn State men’s basketball (1-0, 0-0 Big Ten) took down Fairfield (0-1, 0-0 MAAC) in its season opener at the Bryce Jordan Center on Monday night.

Melih Tunca and Kayden Mingo led the way for the Nittany Lions, combining for 34 points in their Penn State debut. Ivan Jurić added 13 points and four rebounds in the scrappy win to start the season.

How It Happened

To begin year three, head coach Mike Rhoades rolled out Mingo, Dominick Stewart, Eli Rice, Josh Reed, and Saša Ciani for the Nittany Lions Starters against the Stags. Ciani won the opening tip for Penn State, but Reed’s opening shot from distance did not land. Cam Estevez drilled a turnaround jump shot to open the scoring for Fairfield on its first possession.

Declan Wucherpfennig scored an easy layup on the next possession to make it 4-0 for the Stags. Fairfield continued to dominate the opening minutes, jumping out to a 12-0 lead, forcing Rhoades to head to his bench quickly. Tibor Mirtič scored the first bucket of the game for the Nittany Lions on a putback layup, but the Stage continued to make their shots at the other end of the court.

Fairfield held a commanding lead at the first media timeout of the night, 15-2. Out of the break, Mirtič made a drive to the hoop and doubled scored again for the Nittany Lions. Tunca followed it up on the next possession with a two-pointer of his own. Mingo kept the offensive barrage going with back-to-back buckets, including an and-one to make it a 15-11 game with 13:05 remaining in the first half.

Brandon Benjamin stopped the 9-0 Nittany Lions run with a two-foot hook shot for the Stags. Freddie Dilione V used his athleticism in transition to draw the foul and convert the bucket, sending the game to the second media timeout of the night at 10:58 remaining. Dilione tied the game at 17 out of the timeout, converting his and-one opportunity.

Rice provided the Nittany Lions with their first lead of the game after connecting on a deep three-pointer. Mingo extended the lead with two free throws on the next possession. Coming out of the eight-minute media timeout, Ivan Jurić notched his first Nittany Lion points off a feed from Tunca in transition.

Rice tied it up at 26 with another transition layup for the blue and white. Braden Sparks retook the lead for the visitors with a three-ball in front of the Penn State bench. Tunca scored back-to-back buckets to give Penn State the lead once again. Mingo reached double figures with 2:28 left to play in the half, extending the lead to 35-31.

Sparks continued to hurt the Nittany Lions, tying the game up at 35 with another layup. Back-to-back buckets by Tunca and Benjamin tied the game at 37 heading into halftime at the Bryce Jordan Center.

Benjamin started the second half with an and-one bucket in the paint for Fairfield, but could not convert at the line. Jurić answered for Rhoades and Co. with a bucket of his own. Jurić and Benjamin traded buckets again to keep the game tied.

The Nittany Lions struggled to get a defensive rebound, and the ball eventually went out off of Mingo at 15:59, sending the second half to the first media timeout. Mingo stopped the Stags’ mini run to cut the deficit to 50-45 a few possessions out of the break. Stewart checked into the game for the first time since the opening minutes of the first half and immediately hit a transition three.

Stewart missed two shots from the free-throw line on Penn State’s next possession. Stewart got the points back with a mid-range floater on the next play. Ciani made a reverse layup and got fouled in the process to send the game to the next media timeout.

Ciani converted the and-one out of the stoppage of play to make it a 54-53 Stags’ advantage. Stewart drilled a jump shot from the foul line to give Penn State the lead on the ensuing possession. Tunca hit one shot from the charity stripe a few moments later. Tunca and Jurić scrambled for a loose ball on the defensive end of the court, but could not come up with the possession with 8:39 to go.

Rice grabbed the lead for the blue and white with two made shots at the foul line out of the eight-minute timeout. Penn State could not grab a defensive rebound for the life of them on the next Fairfield possession, and it cost the Nittany Lions as the Stags retook the lead.

Tunca slammed home a dunk in transition to bring the Bryce Jordan Center to its feet on the next trip down the floor. The game slowed down over the next few minutes before Jurić drilled a three-pointer before the last media timeout, with the Nittany Lions trailing 66-63.

Tunca tied it all at 68 with a three-pointer in front of the Penn State bench with under two minutes to play. Mingo provided the Nittany Lions with the lead on an and-one that brought the crowd to its feet. Mingo converted the and-one after the timeout, and the defense came up with a crucial steal with under a minute to play, leading 71-68.

Mirtič extended the lead with a putback layup, and Fairfield was forced to foul after not converting on the offensive end. Fairfield could not find a bucket in the final seconds of the game, and Penn State edged out the win 76-68.

Takeaways

• The Nittany Lions’ defense has a lot of improvements to make. Rhoades’s defense gave up 37 first-half points and looked lost throughout the game on that end of the court.
• Kayden Mingo is the real deal. The freshman finished with 15 points in his collegiate debut, to go along with five rebounds and two assists.
• Penn State left points on the board at the free-throw line the entire night. The Nittany Lions finished 15-25 from the charity stripe.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions head on the road for the first time this season at 1 p.m. on Saturday, November 8, to face New Haven. It will be the Chargers’ first-ever home game as a Division 1 program.