What We Learned From Penn State Basketball's Opening Win Over Fairfield

The Nittany Lions needed a late rally to outlast Fairfield in their season-opener at the Bryce Jordan Center.

Penn State Nittany Lions guard Kayden Mingo (4) dribbles during the first half against the Fairfield Stags at Bryce Jordan Center. | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

Penn State needed a late surge, led by a pair of freshmen, to shake Fairfield and win its season-opener 76-68 on Monday night at the Bryce Jordan Center. Coach Mike Rhoades' almost entirely new roster, which features eight freshmen, scored the game's last 11 points to "whew!" its way past the Stags as a 15.5-point favorite.

Freshmen guards Melih Tunca and Kayden Mingo scored nine points in the Nittany Lions' 11-0 rally that began with 2 minutes remaining. Fellow freshman Tibor Mirtic added a tip-in basket with 39 seconds left that gave the Nittany Lions a five-point lead.

That was part of the Nittany Lions' larger 16-2 run to close the game, which neatly framed the 15-2 rally with which Fairfield began the night.

"We've got a lot of work to do, but I was really proud of down the stretch there when we were down, even with all these new guys, these inexperienced guys, nobody was panicking," Rhoades told reporters in State College after the game. "There were no frowns in the huddle, there was no blaming, complaining, excuse-making. It was just, 'All right, here's what we got to do.'"

Here's what else we learned about Penn State during an erratic first game of the season.

The freshmen will lead them

Penn State Nittany Lions guard Melih Tunca (9) drives against Fairfield Stags forward Brandon Benjamin (20) during the first half at Bryce Jordan Center. | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

Rhoades has gushed about Mingo, the standout from Long Island Lutheran, since the preseason. Mingo earned a starting role and was voted a team captain even before taking his first live shot. With that come expectations and a need for patience.

Mingo finished with 15 points and five rebounds, making a key layup in Penn State's finishing run. He also led the team with 34 minutes and helped bring it out of some shaky moments early.

Meanwhile, Tunca scored a team-high 19 points (shooting 7-for-11) in his Penn State debut. Tunca, who also led the Nittany Lions with six assists, played last season with Turk Telekom in the Turkish Basketball Super League, the country's top professional organization. He also has played for Turkey in the FIBA Euro Championship.

"They're two pretty good players, right?" Rhoades said. "They can handle the ball, they can shoot it, they can get to the rim and finish. They get their teammates shots, they're talkative, they have moxies. I use [the word for] both of them."

Freshmen scored 53 of Penn State's 76 points. The only upperclassman to score in double figures was redshirt sophomore Eli Rice (10).

Penn State will be a work-in-progress for some time

Melih Tunca’s 1️⃣9️⃣ points led @PennStateMBB to a win over Fairfield 😤 pic.twitter.com/fJihFl21pE

— Big Ten Men's Basketball (@B1GMBBall) November 4, 2025

With freshmen come growing pains, and the opener aptly underscored that. Fairfield, an MAAC team that went 12-20 last year, led the game for more than 21 minutes and had the leading scorer in Braden Sparks (25 points).

Fairfield jumped on Penn State at the start, scoring the game's first 12 points and taking a 15-2 advantage. The Stags also held that edge throughout, leading by six points with 3:45 to play. Had Fairfield shot better from 3-point range (18 percent overall, 1-for-15 in the second half), the game would have gone in a far different direction.

"Coach Rhoades just was telling us to stay together, that's the most important thing," Mingo said after the game. "That's what he always tells us. No matter what we go through, ups and downs, we'll always be together. As long as we're together, we're together. We'll come out on a good side."

Penn State also could use some more togetherness on the interior. Fairfield scored 38 points in the paint, partly the result of its 12 offensive rebounds, that underscored how limited the Nittany Lions are inside.

Tibor Mirtic is a 6-9 freshman forward who grabbed 11 rebounds, eight defensively, but the Nittany Lions need a more physical presence on the interior.

Up next

Penn State visit New Haven on Saturday for a 1 p.m. ET tip-off in its first road game of the season.