AP photo Penn State men’s basketball eyes a 4-0 start to their season when they host Harvard Wednesday.

UNIVERSITY PARK – The Penn State men’s basketball team puts its 4-0 record on the line Wednesday night when the Nittany Lions host Harvard inside the Bryce Jordan Center. Tipoff is slated for 6:30 p.m. and the game will stream on B1G+.

FOLLOW ALONG

TICKETS: Tickets

PROMOTIONS: Fight for Literacy game

WATCH: B1G+ – Michael Siroty (pxp), Michael Landis (analyst) & Michela Barbanente (sideline)

RADIO: Penn State Sports Network – Steve Jones & Dick Jerardi

NATIONAL RADIO: SiriusXM Ch. 381 & SXM App. Ch. 971

OPENING TIPS

The 4-0 Nittany Lions return to the Bryce Jordan Center Wednesday night to host a 4-1 Harvard squad.

Penn State is off to a 4-0 start to the season for the fourth-straight year and the Nittany Lions are coming off an 83-69 neutral site win over La Salle Saturday afternoon at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

Four Nittany Lions are averaging double-digit points, led by freshman Melih Tunca’s 15.5 points per game. Rookie Kayden Mingo follows with 15.3 points and team-best marks of 5.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game.

IF PENN STATE BEATS HARVARD

The Nittany Lions would start the season 5-0 for the second-straight year.

Penn State would improve to 16-1 overall in non-conference home matchups inside the Bryce Jordan Center under the direction of third-year head coach Mike Rhoades.

SCOUTING THE CRIMSON

The Crimson are 4-1 on the young season and coming off back-to-back road wins at Army (75-52) and Marist (56-54) over the weekend.

Harvard’s lone loss of the year came on Nov. 11, a 77-60 home defeat to Northeastern.

The Crimson also owns wins over MIT (79-50) and New Hampshire (86-75).

Four Crimson players are averaging double-digit points, led by Chandler Pigge’s 15.8 points per game. Robert Hinton (13.2 ppg), Tey Barbour (11.4 ppg) and Thomas Batties II (10.8 ppg) follow. Barbour leads the team with 5.4 rebounds per game, while Pigge has dished a team-best 3.6 assists per contest.

Harvard is coming off a 2024-25 season that saw the Crimson go 12-15 overall and 7-7 in Ivy League play.

AGAINST HARVARD

Penn State and Harvard meet for third time in program history and for the first time since 1976 Wednesday night.

The Nittany Lions and Crimson have never met in Happy Valley.

The two previous meetings between the two squads came in 1976, a 63-55 Penn State win, and in 1931, a 38-20 Harvard victory.

4-0

Penn State is off to a 4-0 start for the fourth-straight year and looking to improve to 5-0 for the second-consecutive season. The Nittany Lions have won each of the last 11 non-conference home games played at the BJC.

Penn State is averaging 81.5 points per game while shooting 52.1 percent from the field and 39.0 percent from 3-point range.

Penn State’s young squad has shown tremendous discipline as the Nittany Lions rank fourth in Division I in fewest turnovers per game (7.3) and fifth in the country in fewest fouls per game (12.8).

DEPTH ON DISPLAY

The Nittany Lions have showcased their depth through the first four games of the season, as Penn State’s 39.00 bench points per game leads the Big Ten and ranks 32nd in the country.

The Penn State bench has outscored the opponent bench by an eye-popping total of 156-39 through four games this season.

DYNAMIC DUO

Penn State is one of just three schools in Division I to have two freshmen both averaging 15 or more points per game through games on Nov. 17.

Penn State: Melih Tunca (15.5 ppg) & Kayden Mingo (15.3 ppg)

Illinois: David Mirkovic (18.5 ppg) & Keaton Wagler (17.5 ppg)

Arkansas: Darius Acuff Jr. (19.8 ppg) & Maleek Thomas (17.8 ppg)

Tunca leads the Nittany Lions in scoring with 15.5 points per game while also contributing 2.5 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game, while Mingo follows with 15.3 points and team-best marks of 5.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists per contest.

LOOK OUT FOR THE ROOKS

Penn State’s freshman class has combined for the following through the first four games of the year:

Stat

Freshmen (Total)

Freshmen %

Points

176 (326)

54.0%

Rebounds

68 (130)

52.3%

Assists

42 (63)

66.7%

Steals

13 (31)

41.9%

Minutes

419.54 (800)

52.4%

The Nittany Lion rookies have combined to shoot 57.7 percent (71-123) from the field through the first four games of the season.

NATIONAL NUMBERS

The Nittany Lions currently rank in the top 30 in the country in a number of statistical categories (rankings listed thru games on Nov. 17):

Team Stat

Value

Rank

Fewest turnovers/game

7.3

4

Fewest fouls/game

12.8

5

Assist-to-turnover ratio

2.17

14

Turnover margin

7.0

24

FG%

52.1

28

Individual Stat

Value

Rank

3FG% – Dominick Stewart

64.7%

7

OH MY MELIH

Istanbul, Turkey native Melih Tunca has been on fire to start the season, scoring in double figures in all four of Penn State’s game while shooting 62.9 percent (22-35) from the field and 60.0 percent (6-10) from 3-point range.

The freshman guard shot lights out in Penn State’s most recent game Saturday, shooting 8-for-9 from the floor and a perfect 4-for-4 from deep en route to a team-high 20 points in the Nittany Lions’ win over La Salle.

ESPN TOP 50 NEWCOMER

Freshman Kayden Mingo was named an ESPN Top 50 Impact Newcomer in late October. Mingo, the highest-rated recruit in Penn State history, has averaged 15.5 points, team-best marks of 5.5 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game while shooting 52.1 percent from the field through Penn State’s first four games of the season.

Highly-touted Mingo was ranked as the No. 34 recruit nationally per 247Sports & No. 39 recruit nationally per ESPN out of high school. He was named the 2025 New York Gatorade Player of the Year following standout senior season at Long Island Lutheran.

STEADY FREDDIE

Redshirt sophomore Freddie Dilione V, Penn State’s only returning starter from a season ago, has been a consistent presence for the Nittany Lions thus far this season. Dilione is averaging 12.3 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game with just three total turnovers in 101 minutes of playing time. He has scored in double figures in each of the last three games.

DOM FROM DEEP

Sophomore Dominick Stewart currently leads the Big Ten and ranks seventh in the country with his blistering 64.7 3FG% (11-17). Stewart has made multiple triples in each of Penn State’s last three games, including a stellar 6-for-8 showing from beyond the arc on Nov. 8 at New Haven.

UP NEXT

Penn State heads to Uncasville, Ct. to take part in the Hall of Fame Showcase Saturday when the Nittany Lions face Providence inside Mohegan Sun Arena at 4 p.m. The game will be nationally televised on truTV.