Penn State men’s basketball (2-0, 0-0 Big Ten) defeated New Haven (0-3, 0-0 Northeastern Conference) 87-43 at The Hazzell Center in West Haven, Connecticut, on Saturday afternoon.

In the Nittany Lions’ first away game of the season, Kayden Mingo and Dominick Stewart led Penn State to a decisive win in the program’s first-ever matchup against the Chargers.

How It Happened

Mingo, Melih Tunca, Eli Rice, Josh Reed, and Saša Cianai got the start. The Nittany Lions controlled the opening tip-off. Tunca pulled up behind the three-point line and missed the mark on the opening possession.

The Chargers got the first bucket of the game off a free-throw attempt by Jabri Fitzpatrick.

Reed got the Nittany Lions on the board with a right-handed layup, slashing into the Chargers’ paint. Mingo took the ball to the opposite end, hitting a floater and extending the score by two. Sophomore guard Najimi George traveled, giving Penn State possession

Tunca, the 6’5″ freshman, went to the stripe and hit just one free throw. The blue and white got the ball back quickly by applying a full-court trap, but gave it up immediately. The Chargers responded with a layup by George. Rice missed a jumper at the elbow on the opposite end, hitting the back iron.

A steal by the Nittany Lions turned into a fast break, but Freddie Dillione V missed a contested layup. New Haven was able to halt the Nittany Lions’ offense twice in a row before going into a timeout. Fitpatrick was able to hit a fade-away jumper near the baseline, putting the Chargers up by three points.

The Nittany Lions responded quickly, and Mingo was able to hit a contested layup from under the rim. Fitzpatrick slashed into the paint in Nittany Lions territory, keeping the lead at three points for New Haven. Ivan Jurić was able to cut the lead to one on the next possession, with a layup, assisted by Tibor Mirtič.

After a few fruitless possessions, Stewart hit a three at the top of the key, which put Penn State up 12-10. Coming out of the second timeout in the game, Tunca drove through New Haven defenders, getting the bucket.

The Chargers didn’t respond, turning the ball over, allowing Stewart to hit three from the corner. The Nittany Lions began to turn it on. In the following possession, Mingo was able to get a three to fall from the opposite corner, putting the team up 20-10 with nine minutes to play in the first half.

George replied with three of his own on New Haven’s end. Tunca was able to get in the open lane with a dish by Reed, hitting another right-handed layup. After the under-eight-minute timeout, Mingo found a wide-open Jurić for a two-handed slam, giving Penn State its largest lead on the day at 24-13. Fitzpatrick grabbed his own rebound off a missed shot and went up for a layup, cutting Penn State’s lead to nine.

Mingo was able to respond with a back-door cut at the baseline on an impressive dish from Mirtič. Two scoreless possessions by both teams led to a Stefano Fallopini layup off a miss from Fitpatrick, giving New Haven its second offensive rebound of the day. Dillione hit a floater near the low post with three minutes to play in the first half.

Reed used his strength to fight off a Chargers’ defender, drawing a shooting foul and drilling his free throw for the and-one. Andre Pasha sank a three-pointer, cutting the lead to 33-20. A reach-in foul gave Dillione two shots at the free throw line, and he hit both shots. Tunca hit a turnaround jumper in the face of a defender. After a quick possession, Mingo got to the cup again for a layup.

The Nittany Lions were able to temper the Chargers’ offense, and followed up with a putback layup by Mirtič. Vere Anthony drew a foul, getting two shots at the line, hitting one. The blue and white went into halftime with a lead of 41-21.

Pasha hit a deep corner three to open the second half. Mingo was able to get a three-pointer of his own to fall down the court. Fitzpatrick scored from the top of the key. He swiped the from on Penn State’s end and turned it into a Maison Adeleye bucket. A no-look pass from Mingo led to a Rice three, putting Penn State up 50-28.

The Chargers’ offense stalled out after a productive start to the second half. Reed secured his own board and got the layup to fall through the net. Stewart hit a three-pointer on the inbound on the following possession. Tunca was fouled, but only hit one free throw.

Anthony was able to draw a shooting foul off of Mingo, turning a layup into a three-point play. It brought the score to 56-31 with 12 minutes to go. Stewart sniped a corner three coming out of a media timeout. Fitpatrick went to the line after a foul and hit just one shot. Dillione V hit a long two-point jumper. Faloppa got a three to fall out of transition. But Stewart was red-hot from distance, hitting another shot from long range.

Pasha hit a long two, and Stewart drilled yet another three from the top of the arch. George jumped above the rim, slamming the ball into the hoop to cut the lead to 30. Reed drew a foul on the drive; he hit both shots from the line. Ciani got a layup to fall, and so did New Haven. Tunca drew a shooting foul and hit both shots.

Rice hit a three in front of Penn State’s bench. Mingo was able to score under the basket, draped in coverage. Reed was fouled again and hit both shots, which brought the score to 82-41. Mirtič hit a layup after a great defensive showing by the Nittany Lions.

Dillione was fouled on the jumper and hit one free throw. Mason Blackwood dunked off a feed from Stewart. New Haven’s Dior Kennedy hit a finger-roll to end the game.

Takeaways

• Penn State’s depth won the game. The team’s leading scorer came off the bench. The Chargers appeared exhausted to end the game.
• Mingo looked great. The freshman showed flashes of explosiveness and facilitated scoring plays with his six assists.
• Dillione and Mingo were ferocious when rebounding. Both guards dominated loose balls.
• The Nittany Lions’ defense was solid throughout. The team contested almost every shot and made New Haven work for every point.
• Have a day, Stewart. He’s a sniper from three when he’s hot.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions head back to Happy Valley to take on the Navy Midshipmen on Tuesday, November 11, at 6:30 p.m. in the Bryce Jordan Center.