Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1542734
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 6 4 3 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M duration of Mingo's absence from the lineup, saying only that the first-year guard would be out for "a while." In his absence, Rhoades and his team pushed ahead, shuffling their pieces. Turning to Dilione to take on most of the point guard duties, with freshman Melih Tunca stepping in to assist, Penn State was not without point produc- tion in its subsequent games. Dilione finished with 17 points and 6 rebounds in the loss to the Wolverines, then fol- lowed with a season-best 25 points and 5 assists in a 93-85 loss at No. 5 Purdue four days later. With Mingo out of action, the reality of the Nittany Lions' predicament came into sharper focus. Although there was an expectation of ups and downs for a team that was cobbling together four international players and an eight-man class of true freshmen, Mingo's place as the floor general and foundation was felt on both ends of the floor. Shortly after the loss to the Boiler- makers — the Lions' third consecutive setback to a ranked Big Ten opponent since the resumption of conference play at the start of the calendar year — Rhoades assessed Mingo's value. Or, maybe more aptly, he described the re- percussions of not having him on the hardwood against opponents capable of exploiting the absence. "He is our best defender on the ball. He's our best in the ball screen de- fense. He steals the ball. He's the best defensive rebounder we might have on our team," Rhoades said. "Those three things right there are huge." Against the Boilermakers, that hole in the lineup led to one of Braden Smith's best performances of the season. With the Nittany Lions lacking rim protec- tion in the paint, subpar on-ball defense helped the Purdue All-American score 26 points on 11-of-18 shooting and dish a season-best 14 assists. Penn State finished the game with 10 turnovers to Purdue's 3, with those mis- cues resulting in 18 points for the hosts. The result could easily be understood as one in which Mingo might have made a significant difference. For his teammates, though, the need to bridge the gap fell acutely on their shoulders. Senior forward Josh Reed in- sisted coming out of the Purdue loss that the Nittany Lions would make the adjustments necessary to overcome Mingo's absence. "It's just a next-man-up mental- ity," Reed said. "We know Kayden is a great player. He'll be back, and he'll be a huge help to us whenever he gets back. But it's just a next-man-up mental- ity knowing that he's not going to play for a while. We've just got to play with the guys we've got and keep working together and hopefully come up with some wins soon." Back at the Jordan Center to face UCLA on Jan. 14, the Nittany Lions found no relief. They were without Mingo for the third game in a row and again found themselves short on an- swers at both ends of the floor. The situation was made worse when Dilione suffered an ankle injury in the first half. The Bruins found success with a two-man game, needing only Trent Perry (30 points) and Tyler Bilodeau (21 points) to flummox the hosts in a 71-60 victory. Acknowledging the need to find ad- vantages in the margins — a hustle re- bound on the backside or simply better execution of a play — Rhoades insisted effort hadn't been an issue in the loss to the Bruins. But the cumulative ef- fect of moving players to make up for Mingo, and increased minutes distrib- uted across the board, was taking an undeniable toll on the Nittany Lions' chances. Finally, just 30 minutes before the team's Jan. 18 game at Maryland, those chances were improved considerably by a surprise announcement. The Nittany Lions' official X (formerly Twitter) ac- count featured a video of Mingo warm- ing up while wearing a black facemask to protect his nose. The post read: "He's baaaaaaaack." Playing 34 minutes in the 96-73 loss to the Terrapins, Mingo had little effect on the game's outcome. But in scoring 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting and add- ing 5 assists, the freshman point guard provided a burst of optimism that the Nittany Lions' developmental trajec- tory could resume with him back in the lineup moving forward. "He played his butt off. He always plays hard. He had eight days off. You've still got to recover at this level," Rhoades said of Mingo, who was averaging 15.2 points per game following his perfor- mance versus the Terps. "He's a good player. He's just going to keep learning." For a Penn State team searching for answers, Mingo's return marks an im- portant first step toward finding them. ■ 2025-26 Schedule (9-9 overall, 0-7 Big Ten) Date Opponent Time/TV Oct. 19 at Dayton (Exh.) L, 78-62 Oct. 26 SHIPPENSBURG (Exh.) W, 86-67 Nov. 3 FAIRFIELD W, 76-68 Nov. 8 at New Haven W, 87-43 Nov. 11 NAVY W, 80-71 Nov. 15 La Salle* W, 83-69 Nov. 19 HARVARD W, 84-80 Nov. 22 Providence** L, 77-65 Nov. 25 BOSTON U. W, 96-87 Nov. 29 SACRED HEART W, 90-59 Dec. 2 CAMPBELL W, 87-76 Dec. 9 at Indiana L, 113-72 Dec. 13 MICHIGAN STATE L, 76-72 Dec. 21 Pitt^ L, 80-46 Dec. 29 N.C. CENTRAL W, 90-67 Jan. 3 Illinois^^ L, 73-65 Jan. 6 MICHIGAN L, 74-72 Jan. 10 at Purdue L, 93-85 Jan. 14 UCLA L, 71-60 Jan. 18 at Maryland L, 96-73 Jan. 22 WISCONSIN 7 p.m./FS1 Jan. 26 at Ohio State 7 p.m./FS1 Jan. 29 at Northwestern 8 p.m./Peacock Feb. 1 MINNESOTA 2 p.m./Peacock Feb. 5 at Michigan 6:30 p.m./FS1 Feb. 8 USC Noon/BTN Feb. 11 at Washington 10:30 p.m./BTN Feb. 14 at Oregon 3 p.m./BTN Feb. 18 RUTGERS 6 p.m./BTN Feb. 21 at Nebraska 2 p.m./BTN Feb. 28 IOWA Noon/BTN Mar. 4 OHIO STATE 7:30 p.m./Peacock Mar. 8 at Rutgers Noon/BTN Mar. 10-15 Big Ten Tournament # TBA * at Xfinity Mobile Arena, Philadelphia ** Hall of Fame Showcase at Uncasville, Conn. ^ at Giant Center, Hershey, Pa. ^^ at the Palestra, Philadelphia # at United Center, Chicago