Penn State men's basketball struggles to begin 2026, loses all five games

Penn State men's basketball stumbled to end 2025. In its first contests of 2026, that trend persisted. At the start of the new year, the Nittany Lions dropped all five of their first set of contests. They were a mix of blowout and close losses, harming the blue and white's overall morale.

Penn State lost by an average of 10.4 points over the stretch.

Game 14 - vs. No. 20 Illinois (The Palestra)

The first game of 2026, Penn State took to the iconic Palestra in Philadelphia for its annual matchup.

The Fighting Illini opened as 18.5-point favorites, yet the Nittany Lions defeated the odds. While they didn't get in the win column, the game ended 73-65. Penn State got out to a 40-26 deficit at the half. At that point, it shot over 15 percent less than Illinois and grabbed 14 fewer rebounds.

Out of the break, the Nittany Lions played much better and even posted some stats better than the Fighting Illinu, but couldn't pull closer to the win.

For Penn State, the only double-digit scorer was Kayden Mingo with 16 points; both squads struggled from beyond the arc, shooting under 20 percent.

Game 15 - vs No.2 Michigan

Penn State played its most promising game that wasn't a win against its highest-ranked opponent scheduled for the season.

The Nittany Lions, again, were down at the half before storming back with their second-half performance. The top scorer for the blue and white was Ivan Jurić behind a career high 20 points. athe next highest scorer was Freddie Dilione V with 17 points.

Dilione had a chance to win it for Penn State at the buzzer, but the play call didn't give him an open shot.

Game 16 - Penn State @ No. 5 Purdue

The first true road Big Ten game for Penn State, while only a 93-85 loss, was more humiliating. The only bright spot was a bounce-back, 25-point game from Dilione, while Melih Tunca and Eli Rice joined him as double-digit scorers.

The Boilermakers enacted an onslaught via Braden Smith, who's on track to challenge Bobby Hurley's all-time career assists record. Against Penn State, that passing was joined by even slicker scoring. Smith logged 26 points and 14 assists, while big man Oscar Cluff scored 23 points and only missed one shot.

The Nittany Lions turned the ball over three times more than Purdue, but in almost all other stats, led the Boilermakers. They had a chance, but just couldn't pull out a win.

Game 17 - Penn State vs. UCLA

Penn State scored the lowest points of its Big Ten slate so far against the Bruins in a 71-60 loss. Mingo didn't appear for a second game, and the Nittany Lions felt the absence as they struggled getting the offense rolling.

The leading scorer for Penn State was Dom Stewart. Both teams shot 48 percent from the field. The major discrepancy was from beyond the arc where the Nittany Lions shot 18 percent to UCLA's 38 percent.

The blue and white again struggled off the glass with 32 rebounds to 21. That was the second major gap on the stat sheet.

Game 18 - Penn State @ Maryland

Penn State hit the road again, this time heading to College Park for a contest against Maryland. Once more, the blue and white fell in embarrassing fashion, and to a onslaught enacted by a sole opposing player.

Diggy Coit for the Terrapins logged 43 points, a career high and one point of the single-game program record. Coit eventually earned Big Ten player of the week following his performance.

For Penn State, Mingo returned sporting a black face mask and Dilione appeared after being sidelined for a rolled ankle sustained in the second half of the UCLA game. Both had mixed results. Mingo played over 30 minutes while Dilione logged only 15.