Penn State’s undefeated start hasn’t always been pretty, but coach Mike Rhoades knows that college basketball isn’t a beauty contest.

Fresh off a narrow victory over Harvard, Penn State is hoping for a crisper effort Saturday when the Nittany Lions travel to Uncasville, Conn., to take on Providence.

The Nittany Lions (5-0) were not particularly impressive in wins over Fairfield and Navy earlier in the season, but Wednesday’s 84-80 win over Harvard was the team’s tightest victory of the early going.

Kayden Mingo supplied 24 points, while Josh Reed had 14 and Freddie Dilione V added 13. Penn State won despite allowing a season-high 80 points and shooting just 5-of-19 from 3-point range.

“Guys just kept playing, even though it didn’t always go our way,” Rhoades said. “Today was a gut-check win.”

The Nittany Lions also shot just 68% from the foul line. They are right at that mark (68.4%) for the season.

“I want to fire the free-throw coach, but I’m the free-throw coach,” Rhoades quipped.

Providence (3-2) is one of the better free-throw shooting teams in the country at 78.9% from the charity stripe, 31st-best in Division I. Its top three scorers — Jason Edwards, Jaylin Sellers and Stefan Vaaks — all shoot at least 81.8% from the line.

Edwards led the team with 25 points in a 98-66 win over New Hampshire on Tuesday. Sellers added 18 points for the Friars, who bounced back nicely after a 97-88 loss at Colorado four days earlier.

“It was a good opportunity to get back on the home court after the disappointing effort in Boulder,” coach Kim English said. “It was a really purposeful week for us internally and for our guys to get better. Shots weren’t falling in the first half, but I thought our guys responded well in the second half.”

Providence is averaging 96.4 points per game, which ranked 13th nationally entering Friday’s action.

–Field Level Media