Kayden Mingo scooped in a layup with 1.4 seconds remaining to lift Penn State to a 77-75 win over Minnesota in a Big Ten matchup Sunday afternoon in State College, Penn.
Freddie Dilione V finished with 25 points on 11-for-17 shooting for Penn State (10-12, 1-10), which snapped an eight-game losing streak and won its first conference game in 11 tries. Josh Reed scored 18 points on 6-for-10 shooting, and Mingo contributed 14 points.
Langston Reynolds scored 18 points on 7-for-8 shooting to lead Minnesota (10-12, 3-8). Cade Tyson scored 17 points in his return from an ankle injury, and Bobby Durkin finished with 16 points on 6-for-11 shooting.
The score was even at 75 as Penn State had the ball in the final seconds. Mingo drove toward the paint and picked up his dribble, and after a moment where he appeared to be trapped, he used his pivot foot to make enough room for a left-handed scoop shot.
Moments later, the Nittany Lions stole the Golden Gophers’ inbound pass to seal the victory.
Minnesota nearly stormed back from a 10-point deficit with 4:44 to play. Penn State led 71-61 before the Golden Gophers went on a 14-4 run to even the score.
Mingo made a driving layup to put Penn State on top 75-72 with 49 seconds remaining.
Jaylen Crocker-Johnson made a layup on the opposite end to cut the deficit to 75-74 with 38 seconds to go. After Isaac Asuma stole the ball on defense, Reynolds made one of two free-throw attempts to tie it at 75 with 31 seconds left.
Penn State jumped to a 41-31 lead at the half.
Reed made a 3-pointer to give the Nittany Lions a 36-23 edge with 3:21 remaining in the first half. The 13-point advantage proved to be their biggest lead of the game.
Reynolds answered with back-to-back 3-pointers to cut Minnesota’s deficit to 36-29 with 1:40 to go in the first half.
The Nittany Lions built their lead back to 12 on a 3-pointer by Reed and a pair of free throws by Dominick Stewart, and Minnesota’s Asuma finished the first-half scoring with a layup.
