STATE COLLEGE — Energized by a powerful performance on the defensive end by freshman guard Kayden Mingo, the Penn State men’s basketball team cruised to a dominant 90-59 victory over the Sacred Heart Pioneers on Saturday night inside the Bryce Jordan Center.

Mingo tied the Nittany Lions’ single-game steals record on Saturday night, finishing with eight steals to mark the first performance of that nature in Happy Valley since program alum Ace Baldwin Jr. had eight against Northwestern on January 10, 2024.

Mingo’s leadership on the defensive end helped force 24 turnovers by the Pioneers, the most TO’s forced by the Penn State defense since causing 24 against Purdue on December 5 of last year. Penn State’s defense helped spark a dominant night in transition, outscoring SHU by a 34-14 differential in terms of points off turnovers in addition to an eye-popping 21-6 margin in transition scoring.

Mingo led five Nittany Lion double-digit scorers in PSU’s most decisive victory of the year to date, with the rookie tallying 13 points on 5-for-9 shooting from the floor in addition to a game-high-tying five assists. Freshman forward Ivan Juric led the Nittany Lions in scoring for the first time this season, notching 14 points with a game-high nine rebounds. Juric becomes the sixth different Penn Stater to lead the Nittany Lions in scoring this year, with no student-athlete logging more than two games atop the box score this season.

Freshman guard Melih Tunca cracked double digits for the eighth-straight game with 12 points, redshirt sophomore guard Eli Rice contributed 11 and redshirt junior guard Freddie Dilione V rounded out the double-digit quintet with 10 points.

Juric came away with the opening tipoff, but early giveaways saw the opening score remain knotted at zeroes over a minute into the contest. Juric earned a trip to the line and split the opportunities to mark the first point of the game, but the Pioneers sank a right-wing triple moments later to take an early 3-1 lead. Mingo weaved through traffic the next trip down and utilized a crafty finish to tie the game, and Dominick Stewart split a pair of foul shots to give PSU a 4-3 lead.

Sacred Heart took the lead once again with a 3-pointer, but back-to-back scores put the Nittany Lions back in front. The Pioneers continued their solid start from long range with another make, but the Nittany Lions engaged in an 8-0 scoring run capped off by a coast-to-coast steal-and-score from Mingo to make it a 16-9 game with less than 12 to play in the first. Buckets fell both ways in the ensuing moments, but stifling defense on one end and relentless speed in transition gave the Nittany Lions their first double-digit lead of the night at 23-13 with 8:47 to go in the frame.

Defensive pressure from Penn State forced multiple giveaways from the Pioneers, and despite solid effort from Sacred Heart to pull back within single digits, a rapid response from Tunca preserved the Nittany Lion edge at 25-15. Out of a media timeout, Tunca continued his impressive individual effort with a merciless block of a mid-range Sacred Heart shot attempt, setting the tone for an emphatic 9-0 Nittany Lion scoring run that resulted in a domineering 32-15 advantage with 4:45 to go in the half.

Penn State 90, Sacred Heart 59

SACRED HEART (2-5)

Yann Farell 2-5 0-0 6, Anquan Hill 3-9 1-2 8, Mekhi Conner 1-5 0-0 2, Jaden Slaughter 0-5 2-2 2, Dahson Gittens 4-7 7-7 15, Nyle Ralph-Beyer 5-12 0-0 14, Taj Bryant 0-2 0-0 0, Fallou Gueye 0-1 0-0 0, Abdou Yadd 3-6 0-0 8, Lucius Gibson-Savadel 2-2 0-0 4. Totals 20-54 10-11 59.

PENN STATE (7-1)

Ivan Juric 5-8 4-8 14, Josh Reed 4-6 0-0 8, Kayden Mingo 5-9 2-4 13, Dominick Stewart 2-9 3-4 9, Melih Tunca 4-6 3-5 12, Freddie DIlione 4-7 2-2 10, Tibor MIrtic 3-5 2-2 8, Sasa Ciani 1-2 1-2 3, Eli Rice 4-7 0-0 11, Justin Houser 0-0 2-2 2, Chris Lotito 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 32-59 19-29 90.

Halftime: PSU 47-20. 3-point goals: SH 9-24 (Ralph-Beyer 4-7, Yadd 2-5, Farell 2-2, HIll 1-4, Conner 0-3, Gittens 0-3), PSU 7-16 (Rice 3-4, Stewart 2-6, Tunca 1-1, Mingo 1-2, Reed 0-1, Dilione 0-2). Fouled out: SH-none; PSU-none. Rebounds: SH 23 (Slaughter 7), PSU 39 (Juric 9). Assists: SH 13 (Conner 5), PSU 17 (Mingo 5). Technical fouls: SH-none; PSU-none. Total fouls: SH 21, PSU 14. A: 4,703.