Penn State men’s basketball (4-0) outpaced La Salle (2-2) on its way to an 83-69 win in the Autumn Invitational at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia Saturday afternoon.

The Nittany Lions used an 18-0 first-half run to create separation and didn’t look back led by freshman Melih Tunca’s game-high 20 points.

How It Happened

The starting lineup saw no changes from the last game, as Rhoades rolled out Kayden Mingo, Tunca, Eli Rice, Josh Reed, and Sasa Ciani.

A few possessions into the game, the Explorers took the first lead of the afternoon off an Ashton Walker layup before the teams traded triples coming from Damon Strand and Tunca. Reed then tied the game at 5-5 with a pair of free throws.

Shortly after coming off the bench, Freddie Dilione V got his first points at the rim to give the Nittany Lions their first lead, which they took into the first media timeout. After the break, Jerome Brewer made a pair of buckets while Ivan Juric put in his first basket.

A Kayden Mingo turnover set up Jaeden Marshall for a triple, but Juric and Tibor Mirtic quickly answered to make it 13-12 Penn State. Dominick Stewart, who scored 18 points two games ago, then scored for the first time off the bench with an and-one with just under 12 minutes left in the first half.

Juric and Stewart then combined for five more consecutive points to make it a 10-0 Nittany Lion run and take a 21-12 lead. Tunca knocked down his second three plus a layup while Mingo split a pair of free throws, making it 27-12 and forcing an Explorer timeout.

Out of the break, Mingo got a steal and dished it to Tunca for another deuce before Ashton Walker finally ended the 18-0 run with an and-one, but he couldn’t convert on the foul shot. Mingo answered from beyond the arc for his first field goal of the day, but Marshall got one right back for La Salle.

Dilione and Walker traded twos, then Dilione hit one from distance to put Penn State on top 37-19. A Marshall floater and two Archer free throws then brought La Salle to down 14 heading into the half’s final media timeout.

One Marshall free throw and a Josh Reed deep ball put the blue and white back up 40-24 before Eric Acker answered from three-point range with inside two minutes remaining. Layups from Mingo and Brewer closed out the first half’s scoring, as Mingo missed a three at the buzzer, and Penn State went to the locker room with a 42-29 advantage.

Mingo started the second half with a layup and assist to Reed, while Brewer hit from deep. However, Penn State’s defense stifled La Salle again as a Rice steal set Tunca up for a transition layup. Three straight possessions then ended in two-point baskets and Penn State was up 14.

Mingo added two more to bring his point total to 12 and the game went to a media timeout shortly after. Josiah Harris netted two from the charity stripe before Juric threw down a dunk on the ensuing possession.

Walker and Acker combined for a quick 4-0 La Salle spurt, but Juric and Mirtic then scored five straight for the Nittany Lions to make the lead 59-42. Edwin Daniel grabbed an offensive rebound and put a second-chance basket in for his first points. Following the next media timeout, Walker and Stewart immediately went back and forth with triples and Penn State was up by 15.

After a Brewer hook shot, Penn State went on an 8-0 run that included threes from Dilione and Tunca ahead of the eight-minute timeout, which Strand, Archer, and Acker scored out of to make it 70-56 before Rice made two free throws.

Archer and Acker each made some free throws but Tunca made his fourth three and Mingo converted down low to make it 77-61 Penn State at the four-minute mark. After the last media timeout, Walker sank two free throws and Harris scored in the paint twice to make it a 10-point game.

Mingo’s sixth assist led to a Tunca layup to end the 6-0 La Salle run and Dilione followed it with a hook shot and dunk. Brewer made a turnaround jumper, which concluded the scoring, as Penn State left Philadelphia with an 83-69 victory.

Takeaways

• While Mingo had the preseason hype, his counterpart Tunca has come on strong early in the year and continued it today. He went 4-for-4 from deep in this one and 8-for-9 from the field.
• Despite being the bigger team, the Nittany Lions only grabbed 25 rebounds on the day, and La Salle outrebounded them on the offensive glass 8-6.
• The turnover numbers have been very low early this year and Penn State only committed seven today, which is extremely promising after giving up more than 12 per game last year.

What’s Next?

Penn State will look to remain undefeated when it faces Harvard at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, November 19 at the Bryce Jordan Center. The game will be streamed on Big Ten Plus.