STATE COLLEGE — Powered by freshman guard Kayden Mingo’s second collegiate 20-plus-point performance, the Penn State men’s basketball team improved to 8-1 on the season and 6-0 at home with an 87-76 victory over the Campbell Fighting Camels on Tuesday night inside the Bryce Jordan Center.

PSU improved to 8-1 or better through the first nine games of the season for the second year in a row, marking the first instance of consecutive 8-1 starts since doing so in back-to-back years in 1994-95 and 1995-96.

Penn State also extended its streak of consecutive non-conference victories inside the Bryce Jordan Center to 15, with the last loss to a non-conference foe in Happy Valley coming on December 2, 2023.

Mingo’s 21-point performance led a four-man group of 15-plus-point scorers in Tuesday night’s contest. PSU saw four student-athletes score 15 points or more in a game for the first time this season. Mingo, a native of Farmingdale, New York, shot 8-for-15 from the floor and added three rebounds, four assists and three steals following his program-record-tying performance in that statistic last Saturday against Sacred Heart.

Redshirt junior guard Freddie Dilione V returned to the double-figure scoring list with 17 points on an ultra-efficient 6-for-8 night from the floor, freshman forward Ivan Juric poured in 16 points on 5-for-7 shooting and senior forward Josh Reed mustered 16 points on a 5-for-6 night from the field.

Campbell gained control of the opening tip, but suffocating defense from the Nittany Lions forced a shot clock violation on the Fighting Camels’ opening possession. Campbell logged the game’s first points their next trip down the floor, but an and-one from Mingo gave the Nittany Lions an early 3-2 edge.

Both squads exchanged blows over the following three minutes, but a steal and breakaway layup from Mingo helped guide PSU to an 8-6 lead at the game’s first media break.

Strong defensive effort continued to be a theme for the Nittany Lions, with Penn State forcing its second shot clock violation of the contest on the other side of the media timeout. The Fighting Camels got hot beyond the arc with a trio of makes in relatively quick succession, culminating in a 19-14 Campbell advantage at the 10:57 mark of the first half. From there, Penn State capitalized on an impressive spin move from Tibor Mirtic to kick off an 8-0 scoring run that propelled the home side to a one-point lead at 20-19.

Back-to-back buckets from Melih Tunca and Sasa Ciani followed by a turnaround jumper from Dilione V saw the Nittany Lions work ahead by a six-point differential just before Campbell answered back with another 3-pointer.

The Fighting Camels were able to pull back within one point of the lead and ultimately re-took the lead at 29-28 with 3:44 remaining in the opening frame thanks to a fastbreak layup following a PSU turnover.

Down the stretch in the opening period of play, the Nitany Lions were able to regroup and generate substantial momentum over the final two-and-a-half minutes. A pair of makes at the charity stripe from Juric kicked off a 6-0 Penn State run that was bolstered by fastbreak points from Mingo and Reed.

Penn State 87, Campbell 76

CAMPBELL (3-5)

Muneer Newton 3-4 1-1 7, Dovydas Butka 6-8 3-7 15, Jeremiah Williamson-Johnson 3-10 4-4 12, Cam Gregory 1-7 0-0 2, D.J. Smith 7-19 0-0 19, Tasos Cook 2-4 1-2 5, Chris Fields Jr. 5-9 1-5 11, Mutombo Kalambay 2-3 0-0 5, Broc Bidwell 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-64 10-19 76.

PENN STATE (8-1)

Ivan Juric 5-7 5-6 16, Josh Reed 5-6 4-4 16, Kayden Mingo 8-15 5-5 21, Dominick Stewart 1-6 0-0 3, Melih Tunca 1-5 2-2 4, Sasa Ciani 1-5 2-2 4, Tibor Mirtic 3-4 -0 6, Freddie Dilione V 6-8 4-5 17, Eli Rice 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 30-58 22-25 87.

Halftime: PSU 46-39. 3-point goals: Campbell 8-23 (Smith 5-11, Williamson-Johnson 2-5, Kalambay 1-2, Cook 0-2, Gregory 0-3), PSU 5-13 (Reed 2-3, Juric 1-3, Stewart 1-3, Dilione V 1-1, Mingo 0-1, Rice 0-1, Tunca 0-1). Fouled out: Campbell-none; PSU-none. Rebounds: Campbell 39 (Butka 9), PSU 30 (Tunca 4). Assists: Campbell 13 (Butka 4), PSU 15 (Stewart 5). Technical fouls: Campbell-none; PSU-none. Total fouls: Campbell 19, PSU 15. A: 6,139.