Kayden Mingo tossed in a game-high 24 points to lead Penn State to an 84-80 victory over Harvard on Wednesday night in University Park, Pa.
Penn State led by six, 82-76, with 24 seconds to play, but Harvard’s Chandler Pigge was fouled on a made 3-pointer and hit the free throw to pull the Crimson within two 82-80. Penn State sealed the win on two Freddie Dilione V free throws with 10 seconds on the clock.
Penn State (5-0) received 14 points from Josh Reed, 13 from Dilione and 10 from Melih Tunca.
Pigge scored a team-high 21 points for Harvard, which led by three at halftime. Thomas Batties II made 5 of 7 3-point attempts and added 17 points for the Crimson (4-2). Ben Eisendrath tossed in 15 for Harvard, and Tey Barbour added 12 points and seven rebounds.
Penn State had a 22-12 lead after a Dilione jump shot with 11:20 left in the first half, but Harvard was up 30-28 following a Batties 3-pointer with 6:02 remaining in the half. A Pigge 3-pointer gave the Crimson a 38-33 lead, and Harvard led 38-35 at halftime.
Harvard made 8 of 16 3-point attempts in the first 20 minutes. Batties was 4-of-4 on 3-point shots. Penn State was 2-of-9 from behind the 3-point arc in the half.
Penn State regained the lead, 41-40, on an Eli Rice layup, and a Reed layup capped a 9-0 run that put the Nittany Lions up 46-40 with 17:03 to play. Mingo broke a 62-62 tie by making a layup with 7:46 left.
Penn State broke another tie to take a 72-70 lead after a Tunca layup with 4:18 left. The Nittany Lions remained in the lead for the remainder of the game.
Harvard made 12 of its 27 3-point attempts in the loss. Penn State had a 50-32 edge in points in the paint.
