UNIVERSITY PARK — The Penn State men’s basketball team spent the final 3:28 on a 16-2 run, including 11 unanswered points in the final two minutes, to earn a gritty 76-68 season-opening victory over Fairfield Monday night inside the Bryce Jordan Center.

The back-and-forth battle saw 13 lead changes and 12 tied scores. The Stags owned a 66-60 lead with 3:45 to play, but Penn State battled back to close the game on a 16-2 run, which included the game’s final 11 points. PSU’s dominance in transition made the difference in the season opener, with the Blue & White rattling off a 22-2 victory in fast-break scoring. The Nittany Lions also relied on a deep bench to pick up the first win of the year, outscoring Fairfield by an eye-popping 41-4 margin off the pine.

Melih Tunca led a four-man armada of double-figure scorers on opening night, logging 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting with a game-high six assists to his credit. Freshman guard Kayden Mingo also mustered an impressive performance in his collegiate debut, finishing with 15 points, five rebounds and a pair of assists in his first official collegiate game. Freshman forward Ivan Jurić logged 13-points on a perfect 5-for-5 performance from the field, while redshirt sophomore guard Eli Rice made his first start as a Nittany Lion and poured in 10 points in 24 minutes of work highlighted by a pair of 3-point field goals. Freshman forward Tibor Mirtič closed the game out strong on Monday, finishing with a game-high 11 rebounds in addition to six points, including the game-clinching tip-in layup with 39 seconds remaining.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Saša Ciani won the opening tip of the 2025-26 campaign, but a missed 3-pointer followed by a mid-range jumper by the Stags gave Fairfield the early 2-0 advantage. Turnovers plagued the Nittany Lions over the opening moments of the contest, with the Stags able to rack up a quick 12-0 lead following a pair of layups and two additional makes from distance.

Mirtič got the scoring started for the Blue & White at the 16:18 mark with a tip-in layup down low, but Fairfield answered back with a triple to make it 15-2 at the media intermission. PSU snapped back with a 9-0 reply out of the break punctuated by an and-one bucket in transition from Mingo to pull back within four. The Stags replied with a bucket on the other end, but a triple from Rice and an and-one basket from Freddie Dilione V deadlocked the game at 17-all at the 10:58 mark of the first.

Fairfield lurched ahead once more with a driving layup, but a straight-away answer from Rice beyond the arc gave PSU its first lead of the night. Mingo added a pair from the charity stripe to put the Nittany Lions up by three, but a left-wing triple from the Stags knotted things up at 22 apiece. Buckets fell both ways over the following three-and-a-half minutes, but a personal 6-0 run from Tunca put the Nittany Lions ahead, 32-29, with four minutes left in the first.

On the other side of the under-four media timeout, Fairfield laid one in just before Mingo notched yet another and-one bucket to become the first Nittany Lion in double figures this season. The Stags were able to rattle off a 6-0 run in the ensuing moments, but a bucket with 30 ticks remaining in the first half from Tunca deadlocked the game at 37-37 at the half.

Fairfield got the second stanza started with a physical bucket down low, but persistence in the paint from Jurić saw PSU answer right back on the other end. Jurić was able to make it six second-half points in quick succession shortly thereafter, but an 11-2 run from the Stags put the visitors ahead by seven with just over 15 minutes remaining.

A floater from Mingo took a ride around the rim and in, kicking off a 7-2 reply for the Blue & White to pull back within two that included back-to-back makes for Dominick Stewart. Fairfield added a layup the next time down the floor but back-to-back makes at the stripe for Ciani and a free throw line jumper from Stewart put the Nittany Lions ahead, 55-54, with 11:11 to play.

The lead changed hands once again with a mid-range make for Fairfield, but a split trip to the line from Tunca deadlocked the affair at 56-all with 9:33 to play. Neither team managed a bucket over the next minute-and-a-half, leading to a deadlocked score at the media timeout with less than eight minutes to go. Rice drilled a pair of shots at the free throw line to put the Blue & White ahead by two, but Fairfield replied with a 3-for-3 trip to the line over a minute later to take a 59-58 edge.

Strong defense and rebounding kept Fairfield off the board their next trip down, and Mingo delivered a long-range feed up the left side of the floor for Tunca for a fastbreak dunk, but the Stags were able to answer right back with a 7-0 run to take a 66-60 edge. Jurić put a stop to Fairfield’s momentum with personal 5-0 run that included a straight-away triple and lefty layup down low. The Stags connected on a mid-range jumper moments later, but PSU rattled off six unanswered to take the lead back, 71-68, with 1:27 to go.

Following a Fairfield timeout, Tunca picked Fairfield’s pocket to get the Nittany Lions the ball back, and Mirtič notched a tip-in layup the next trip down to put the Blue & White ahead by five. The Nittany Lion defense buckled down the rest of the way, and multiple makes at the charity stripe down the stretch helped close the book on PSU’s 76-68 win.

GAME NOTES

Penn State earned its ninth straight season-opening victory.

This was Penn State’s first meeting against Fairfield since 2010, when the Nittany Lions won 64-49 in the Bryce Jordan Center. The Nittany Lions now hold a 3-0 mark in the series.

Penn State’s defense held Fairfield to 38.6% shooting from the field, including a meager 18.2% clip from beyond the arc.

The Nittany Lions earned 41 bench points compared to just four for the Stags.

Penn State pushed the pace, picking up 22 fast break points while holding Fairfield to only two.

Kayden Mingo impressed in his collegiate debut, stuffing the stat sheet with 15 points, five rebounds, two assists, one steal and a block.

Freshman guard Melih Tunca also shined, scoring 19 points on 7-for-11 shooting from the floor. He tacked on a game-high six assists, adding four rebounds and a pair of steals.

Redshirt sophomore guard Eli Rice chipped in with 10 points along with five rebounds to round out a quartet of Penn Staters in double figures.

Freshman forward Tibor Mirtič led the way on the glass with a game-high 11 rebounds. He added six points and one assist on the night, highlighted by the game-sealing tip-in layup with 39 seconds to play.

Ivan Jurić had a strong debut for the Nittany Lions, posting 13 points while leading the team in efficiency from the floor, going a perfect five-for-five from the field.

Four Nittany Lions scored in double figures in the season opener, led by Tunca’s 19.

Penn State sealed the victory with a 16-2 run over the final 3:28, including an 11-0 stretch over the final two minutes of play.

UP NEXT

Penn State hits the road for the first time in the 2025-26 season on Saturday, November 8, as the Nittany Lions travel to face the New Haven Chargers in a 1 p.m. (ET) tip from The Hazell Center in West Haven, Connecticut. The game will stream via NEC Front Row at no cost.