Providence 77, Penn State 65: Friars Outlast Lions

SB Nation

Penn State men’s basketball suffered its first loss of the 2025-26 season, a 77-65 loss to Providence at the Basketball Hall of Fame Showcase.

Providence opened the game by attacking in the paint, but the Nittany

Lions were able to keep pace with a pair of threes from Eli Rice and Freddie Dilione. Neither team had a lead larger than one possession until Melih Tunca scored a layup in transition off of a turnover to give Penn State a 17-13 lead.

Kayden Mingo picked up his second personal foul before the midway point of the first half, leaving the offense to function without its best playmaker. Freddie Dilione continued to shine, and a three with 8:27 left in the half put the Lions on top 24-18.

The longer Mingo sat on the bench, the more disjointed the offense looked, and a long drought without a field goal allowed Providence to retake the lead at 30-29 with Jaylen Sellers flushing home a dunk in transition. Penn State did not make a field goal for the final 7:52 of the first half but only trailed 32-31 at halftime.

Providence broke the game open in the first minute of the second half with a 7-0 run capped by a corner three by Stefan Vaaks. The Friars led 39-31, prompting Mike Rhoades to call a quick timeout. Freddie Dilione stopped the bleeding with a jumper and an alley-oop to Ivan Juric, but the Friars had taken control of the game.

Kayden Mingo finally made his first shot of the game with 15 minutes left to cut the deficit to 49-41. A three-point play and a three by Josh Reed and a wide open three from Melih Tunca cut the Providence lead to 55-52 midway through the second half, helping Penn State hang around despite being thoroughly outplayed in the paint.

Providence had questionable shot selection in the ensuing minutes, opting to shoot threes instead of leaning on its strength in the paint. Ivan Juric tipped home a missed Kayden Mingo layup to bring Penn State within 64-61 with four minutes left.

After the Friars started 4-30 from behind the arc, Stefan Vaaks made back-to-back threes with under two minutes left to pull away for good, and Providence ran away with a 77-65 win.

Player of the Game

Freddie Dilione- 22 points, 4-8 3-point FG, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals

This was an easy one. With most of the team out of sorts offensively, Freddie Dilione had his best performance of the season to date off the bench. Dilione had 8 of Penn State’s 22 field goals and had to hold down the fort offensively with Mingo on the bench for most of the first half.

Random Observations

Droughts- Penn State’s near-eight minute field goal drought at the end of the first half was painful to watch. There seemed to be no rhythm on offense without Kayden Mingo on the court.
Painted Shut- Providence flat-out embarrassed Penn State in the paint. The Nittany Lions allowed 42 paint points and missed several layups. It is hard to win basketball games getting outscored by 18 in the paint.
Free Throws- In the first game after Mike Rhoades’ hilarious quote about the team’s free throw shooting, Penn State made 13 of its 16 free throws today, about 81%. Hopefully that issue is resolved.