Penn State men’s basketball (5-0, 0-0 Big Ten) squeaked by Harvard (4-2, 0-0 Ivy League) 84-80 at the Bryce Jordan Center on Wednesday night.

Kayden Mingo was the star once again for the Nittany Lions, finishing with 24 points – a career high for the freshman. Josh Reed added 14 points and five rebounds in his best game for the blue and white.

How It Happened

Mike Rhoades went with Melih Tunca, Mingo, Eli Rice, Josh Reed, and Ivan Jurić for his starters against the Crimson. Harvard won the opening tip, and Ben Eisendrath scored the first bucket of the game for Harvard. Reed drew a foul on the other side of the court and made both his free throws to get Penn State on the board.

Tunca responded for the Nittany Lions, drawing another Harvard foul after Thomas Batties II hit an open three-pointer for the Crimson. Both teams traded two-point buckets on ensuing possessions. Mingo converted on a reverse layup moments later to give Penn State an 8-7 early advantage.

Jurić drilled an open three to extend the lead right before the under-sixteen media timeout. Eisendrath knocked down a triple out of the break, and Harvard went to a quick zone defense on the other end. Dominick Stewart exposed the new defense by knocking down his own three for the Nittany Lions.

Seven-footers can shoot too pic.twitter.com/QCxHucJGdt

— Onward State (@OnwardState) November 19, 2025

Freddie Dilione V got in on the action with a transition bucket to extend Penn State’s lead to 20-12. Out of the under-twelve break, Dilione hit a beautiful turnaround jumper off a Nittany Lions’ inbound. Luca Ace-Nasteski answered for the Crimson with a wide-open layup on the other end of the court.

Reed continued to have a good opening half, knocking down a floater a few possessions later. Harvard remained in the game with a couple of great offensive possessions, forcing a Penn State timeout with the Nittany Lions clinging to a 26-25 lead. After the Rhoades’ timeout, Tunca bounced in a layup high off the glass.

Chandler Piggé answered again for Harvard with a layup of his own. Batties stole the lead for the Crimson, drilling a corner three-pointer on the ensuing possession. Harvard continued to be hot from the field, Tey Barbour extended the lead to 32-28 with another basket. Mingo finally stopped the bleeding with two made shots from the charity stripe.

Out of the under-four break, Jurić missed two shots at the free-throw line after drawing a Crimson foul. Jurić missed two more from the line on the Nittany Lions’ next offensive trip. Dilione tied the game up at 32 with under three minutes to play, but Batties responded with a Harvard-made three-pointer. Both teams traded missed three pointers to round up the first half. Harvard led 38-35 at the break.

Mingo opened the second half with a quick Nittany Lions bucket. Barbour and Mingo traded buckets on the ensuing possessions. Rice kept the Penn State momentum rolling with a made basket of his own on a nice spin move in the paint. Rice followed it up with a three from in front of the Penn State bench, forcing a Harvard timeout.

After the timeout, Reed converted another bucket from inside the paint to extend Penn State’s lead to 46-40. Harvard responded once again with back-to-back made baskets to make it a one-possession game. The Crimson continued on a 7-0 run over the next minute, before Dilione stopped the run with a layup.

Dilione found his hot hand, drilling a triple from the wing to keep the Crimson at bay. Pigeé answered on the other end with an offensive putback. Reed grabbed an offensive board and drew a foul before converting both shots at the line for the Nittany Lions. It was all tied up at 57 with 10 minutes to play.

FREDDIE'S HOT pic.twitter.com/PV2W8qdLyc

— Onward State (@OnwardState) November 20, 2025

Mingo used his speed in transition to drive to the rim and draw the and-one to give Penn State the lead back. Mingo turned defense into offense on the next possession and converted two more shots after the Eisendrath foul. Batties hit another Harvard triple on the other end of the court.

Out of the under-eight media timeout, Mingo hit his first three-pointer of the game to put him over 20 on the night. Reed converted one of two from the charity stripe after a Harvard foul to make it a 68-64 game. Following another Crimson triple, Jurić rattled the rim with a putback dunk with five minutes to go. Tunca found the passing lanes and turned offense into defense with a transition layup.

The Nittany Lions took a slim 72-20 advantage into the final media break. Out of the timeout, Tunca went back to work, cutting through the Harvard defense for another two-pointer. Ryan Sullivan and Reed traded buckets on the next two possessions. Tunca and Mingo once again extended the lead with another Penn State transition bucket.

With one minute to play in the game, Sullivan found himself wide open and drilled a deep two-pointer. Penn State led 78-76 in the closing minute. Tunca made it a two-possession game with another left-handed layup. Mingo hit two more from the free-throw line, but Dilione fouled Piggé on a made three to close the game to within two points. Dilione made up for the foul with two shots at the line, and the Nittany Lions squeaked out an 84-80 win.

Takeaways

• Penn State struggled from deep in the first half. The Nittany Lions only converted two made threes on nine attempts. Harvard, on the other hand, was 8-16 in the opening half.
• The Nittany Lions’ defense struggled throughout the evening, allowing multiple Harvard scoring runs to keep the game close.
• Kayden Mingo took over the game in the second half, putting the Nittany Lions’ offense on his back. Mingo finished with 24 points against the Crimson.

What’s Next?

Penn State will compete in another neutral-site matchup against Providence at 4 p.m. on Saturday, November 22, at the Mohegan Sun Arena. The venue is home to the Connecticut Sun of the WNBA, and the game will be broadcast on TruTV.