Penn State Basketball's 2025 'Funk' Continues With Loss to Minnesota

The Nittany Lions blow a 10-point, first-half lead vs. the Gophers, leading coach Mike Rhoades to say, "We're hurting right now."

Penn State basketball coach Mike Rhoades looks on from the bench during the first half against the Minnesota Golden Gophers at Bryce Jordan Center. / Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

Penn State basketball had a 10-point, first-half lead Tuesday night vs. Minnesota, getting off to a strong start without two starters. But then things unraveled again, for the eighth time in nine games, and the Nittany Lions now face the very real prospect of missing the Big Ten Tournament.

Minnesota rallied in the second half for a 69-61 win over the Nittany Lions, who have won just two of 10 games in the 2025 calendar year. Next up is a California road trip to face USC and UCLA with a roster that is hurting physically and mentally.

"We’re in a funk," Penn State coach Mike Rhoades told reporters in State College after the game. "We're in this hole. We've got to keep sticking together and trying to find some different ways to get out of it. It's frustrating. I feel for our guys, feel for everybody, but this is how it is."

Penn State (13-10 overall, 3-9 Big Ten) lost by eight at home to a team that entered the game with the same conference record. Now, the Nittany Lions sit alone in 17th place in the Big Ten, ahead of only Washington, with seven regular-season games to play. Fifteen teams make the Big Ten tournament in March. Penn State probably needs to go 5-2 to make the conference tournament.

The Nittany Lions, eight-point favorites to start the night, played Minnesota without two starters. Puff Johnson missed his fifth game, while freshman forward Yanik Konan Niederhauser was a late scratch. Rhoades said Niederhauser, the team's leading rebounder, sprained an ankle Sunday and is day to day.

Yet without the two starters, Penn State took a 25-15 lead late in the first half, as Minnesota began the game by shooting 5-for-19 and committing seven turnovers. The Nittany Lions weren't appreciably better, missing their first six shots, but did go on a run to take the 10-point lead. Then Minnesota scored six straight points to close the half, which haunted Penn State in the second. Penn State shot 30 percent from the field and 27 percent from 3-point range in the second half. The team missed five consecutive shots on three occasions and could not buy a layup. Penn State finished the game 10-for-27 in layups.

Asked whether he's concerned about losing his players, Rhoades said, "Yeah, absolutely, every day. But that's after one or two losses. You're always like that. You're always taking a pulse. We're hurting right now. We're in a bad place, without a doubt. You've gotta hang in there, find your little victories, and you've gotta keep helping guys get better."

One more issue: Guard Ace Baldwin Jr., who leads the Big Ten in free-throw percentage (93.3 percent), did not get to the foul line. D'Marco Dunn led the Nittany Lions with a career-high 18 points and a season-high six rebounds. Minnesota's Dawson Garcia led all scorers with 19.

"It stinks. It sucks right now," Rhoades said. "It really does. I feel for these guys, but you’ve gotta keep going because you don’t know what’s around the corner."

Around that corner are games Feb. 8 at UCLA and Feb. 11 at USC.

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