Penn State pulls away from Navy to remain unbeaten

Freddie Dilione V scored 19 points to pace Penn State in an 80-71 home victory over Navy on Tuesday in College Township, Pa.

Kayden Mingo chipped in 16 points and a team-high seven rebounds for the Nittany Lions (3-0), who forced 16 turnovers, including 14 steals. Josh Reed had six steals to go with 11 points, while Melih Tunca contributed 13 points for Penn State.

Jinwoo Kim scored a team-high 25 points for Navy (1-2), while Donovan Draper added 22 points and 12 rebounds. Austin Benigni had 12 points and eight assists for the Midshipmen, although he also committed six turnovers.

The Nittany Lions led by three points with under six minutes left when Dilione scored five points during a 7-0 run to give Penn State breathing room.

Soon thereafter, Mingo dropped in an acrobatic layup to make it 72-62. Dilione and Mingo each went 2-of-2 from the foul line and Tunca followed suit with two free throws of his own to seal the win.

Penn State led 18-15 early on before scoring eight of the next nine points. Dominick Stewart began that burst with back-to-back 3-pointers and Tunca's tip-in gave the hosts their first double-digit lead, 26-16.

Navy chipped away in the waning minutes of the half, as Draper's late layup cut the Midshipmen's deficit to 38-32 at the break.

Kim led all scorers with 12 first-half points. He made a pair of free throws early in the second half to get Navy within 38-36, but Penn State rebuilt a double-digit lead with 14:11 to play.

Midway through the second half, the Midshipmen scored six straight points -- four by Nyles Howard -- to close the gap to 57-51. However, buckets by Dilione, Reed and Mingo helped the Nittany Lions regain a double-digit cushion.

Navy kept fighting, scoring seven straight points -- the final five by Kim -- to narrow the deficit to 63-60 with 5:52 to play.

--Field Level Media