When Mike Rhoades woke up Sunday morning, he found out his star big man, Ivan Jurić, had a 103-degree fever.

That fever would add Juric to the list of inactives for Penn State men’s basketball’s Sunday game against Minnesota alongside injured forwards Saša Ciani and Tibor Mirtič.

However, the battle-tested Nittany Lions prevailed late in a 77-75 win, their first in conference play, after Rhoades told the “next man up” on his team to be ready.

“They don’t cancel games for when people get hurt or get sick. So, we got to find a way, and they really did,” he said postgame. “I’m really proud of them. It wasn’t pretty down the stretch, but we gutted it out. It feels really good for these guys. I’m really proud of them.”

Of those next men up were 6’8″ forward Josh Reed, who started at the center spot in Juric’s position, and Freddie Dilione V, who dazzled with 25 points, which tied a career high.

The two combined to go 17-for-27 and had their tone set by Reed, the lone senior on the roster who scored 16 of his 18 points in the first half.

“Josh is an awesome young man. He’s a really good teammate. Since he got here in June, he took the team out to eat multiple times on his dime. Who does that? Being a good teammate and taking care of [his] teammates and the young guys, that’s important to him,” Rhoades said. “He’s having the best individual season he’s ever had, and playing all these minutes. I’m just really proud of him.”

Reed played 35 minutes, the second most of any Nittany Lion, while Dilione played 33 and scored in a multitude of ways, leading Kayden Mingo to laugh and call Dilione “a bucket” after the game.

Despite his scoring catching the eyes of most, with a depleted roster, making the less electrifying plays is what can bring wins to a team. According to Rhoades, that’s exactly what Dilione did Sunday.

“We all know Freddie can score, Freddie can make plays. What I was proud of Freddie today is he played defense. He had five rebounds. He was in some scuffles. He was going after the ball today,” Rhoades said. “I don’t mean it in a negative way, but we need a dirty Freddie. We need him to be grimy. He did that. He scrapped today. I’m really proud of him.”

Looking to keep the momentum rolling in the right direction, Penn State’s next test is a rematch with No. 3 Michigan, which the Nittany Lions lost to at home by just two on January 6.

Mingo, who made the game-winning shot just before the buzzer went off Sunday, said Penn State has to be prepared for another close game and to hold off a comeback, which it almost failed to do against the Golden Gophers.

The game against the Wolverines is set for 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, February 5, at the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, and will be televised on FS1.