Penn State without Kayden Mingo again as Rhoades confirms broken nose, surgery

Penn State true freshman point guard Kayden Mingo missed his second consecutive game Saturday afternoon, this time a 93-85 loss for the Nittany Lions at No. 5 Purdue. In a game in which Mike Rhoades’ side battled the Boilermakers closely throughout, there were reasons for encouragement amid what has now become a stretch of six losses in seven games.

Whether Mingo’s ongoing status is among them, however, remains to be determined.

Joining Penn State’s radio broadcast team of Steve Jones and Dick Jerardi after the game, Rhoades acknowledged the impact of missing the true freshman from the lineup. He also addressed the specifics of the injury setback.

“We need Kayden back, but his health’s most important,” said Rhoades. “He broke his nose, and the surgery went great. So we’ll get him. We’ll get him back when he’s ready.”

Mingo suffered the injury in practice Monday afternoon following a short session with the media. He did not play in Penn State’s 74-72 loss to Michigan on Tuesday night at the Bryce Jordan Center. As Rhoades alluded to, Mingo then underwent surgery to repair the injury, which was successful.

Kayden Mingo injury impact

While Rhoades did not specify a timetable for Mingo’s return, the Nittany Lions still have 15 Big Ten games remaining in which they could use him.

At the time of his injury, Mingo was leading Penn State in scoring at 14.9 points per game, along with 3.9 rebounds and 4.5 assists. In his absence, Freddie Dilione has taken over the top spot in scoring, but the tax on the former Tennessee transfer has been noticeable as his minutes and responsibilities have grown.

“(Mingo is) our best defender on the ball. He’s our best in the ball screen defense, he steals the ball, he’s the best defensive rebounder we might have on our team. So those three things right there are huge,” Rhoades said. “But the other thing is, Freddie’s battling, man. And he made some plays, but he was very, very tired today, and he’s trying to guard Braden Smith and get all those screens and then push the ball and then run all the ball screens. That’s hard. That’s why we always want multiple handlers.”

Next steps

While the Boilermakers’ veteran guard finished with a team-high 26 points, knocking down 4 of 8 3-pointers to go along with 14 assists, Penn State struggled to come up with answers on both ends of the court.

Though the Nittany Lions were efficient offensively – shooting 57 percent from the field and 44 percent from 3-point range (12 of 27) – they could not defend the paint, particularly Smith’s impact via penetration.

Rhoades added that Melih Tunca’s 14 points off the bench were also encouraging in Mingo’s absence.

“I thought Melih did some good things today,” said Rhoades. “But keeping him out there for a stretch as he gets fatigued really puts him at a disadvantage defensively.”

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