Penn State hosts No. 2 Michigan after Johnson’s 29-point outing

By Canadian Press on January 5, 2026.

Michigan Wolverines (13-0, 3-0 Big Ten) at Penn State Nittany Lions (9-5, 0-3 Big Ten)

University Park, Pennsylvania; Tuesday, 7 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: No. 2 Michigan faces Penn State after Morez Johnson Jr. scored 29 points in Michigan’s 96-66 win against the USC Trojans.

The Nittany Lions have gone 7-2 at home. Penn State averages 78.1 points and has outscored opponents by 3.9 points per game.

The Wolverines have gone 3-0 against Big Ten opponents. Michigan is the Big Ten leader with 42.1 rebounds per game led by Aday Mara averaging 8.1.

Penn State’s average of 7.4 made 3-pointers per game this season is only 0.5 fewer made shots on average than the 7.9 per game Michigan allows. Michigan has shot at a 53.1% clip from the field this season, 5.5 percentage points greater than the 47.6% shooting opponents of Penn State have averaged.

The Nittany Lions and Wolverines match up Tuesday for the first time in conference play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Kayden Mingo is scoring 14.9 points per game and averaging 3.9 rebounds for the Nittany Lions. Eli Rice is averaging 1.6 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

Mara is averaging 10.5 points, 8.1 rebounds and 2.5 blocks for the Wolverines. Yaxel Lendeborg is averaging 16.1 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Nittany Lions: 5-5, averaging 76.7 points, 27.3 rebounds, 12.9 assists, 8.5 steals and 2.0 blocks per game while shooting 45.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 78.8 points per game.

Wolverines: 10-0, averaging 98.4 points, 42.2 rebounds, 21.0 assists, 8.3 steals and 5.9 blocks per game while shooting 53.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 63.9 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

The Associated Press

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