Men: Pitt at Miami (Fla.)

Tipoff: 7 p.m., Watsco Center, Coral Gables, Fla.

Records: Pittsburgh (7-6, 0-0 ACC); Miami (11-2, 0-0 ACC)

TV: ACC Network (Brian Custer and Scott Williams)

Notable: Miami leads the all-time series, 27-22 … Pitt won its last two games — over Binghamton and Penn State — by a combined 74 points … Pitt freshman Roman Siulepa, from Australia, scored a career-high 28 points against Penn State. It was only his fifth game in double-figure scoring … Miami has won six straight and is 9-0 at home. The Hurricanes’ losses are to Florida and BYU on neutral courts … Jai Lucas is in his first season as coach of the Hurricanes … Indiana transfer senior forward Malik Reneau (20.4 ppg.), Michigan transfer senior guard Tre Donaldson (15.2 ppg., 7.0 apg.), freshman forward Shelton Henderson (13.7 ppg.), New Mexico transfer junior guard Tru Washington (13.7 ppg.) and TCU transfer senior center Ernest Udeh Jr. (6.8 ppg., 9.8 rpg.) lead Miami.

Mirror prediction: Miami 76, Pitt 67

Mirror prediction record: 9-4

— Buck Frank

Mingo, Rice lead Penn State

UNIVERSITY PARK — Freshman Kayden Mingo had 19 points, Eli Rice scored a career-high 18 and Penn State pulled away in the second half to beat North Carolina Central 90-67 on Monday.

Mingo made 8 of 12 shots with three 3-pointers for the Nittany Lions (9-4), who improve to 7-1 at home. He added five assists and six steals. Rice, a sophomore, sank 5 of 7 shots with four 3-pointers.

Penn State reserves Dominick Stewart and freshman Milih Tunca scored 11 and 10, respectively. Freddie Dilione V totaled 10 points and five assists.

Khouri Carvey had 13 points and nine rebounds before fouling out to pace the Eagles (4-11), now 0-9 on the road. Dionte Johnson and reserve Kelechi Okworogwo both had 11 points and Kyric Davis scored 10

Carvey scored seven to help North Carolina Central jump out to a 17-6 lead.

Rice made two 3-pointers and two free throws as the Nittany Lions responded with a 13-0 run to take a two-point lead. Stewart sank a 3-pointer to push Penn State’s advantage to 34-24, but Johnson hit from distance to finish a 9-2 spurt in the final four minutes and N.C. Central trailed 36-33 at halftime.

Mingo hit two 3-pointers in the first three minutes of the second half as Penn State upped its lead to 46-35. The Eagles twice cut the deficit to seven before the Nittany Lions took control, playing with a double-digit lead over the final 13:17.

Up next

Penn State: Hosts No. 20 Illinois on Saturday in Big Ten Conference play.

North Carolina Central: Hosts Norfolk State on Saturday in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference opener.

NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL (4-11): Battle 0-0 0-0 0, Carvey 6-9 1-1 13, Carpenter 4-8 0-2 9, Davis 4-5 2-2 10, Johnson 5-11 0-0 11, Okworogwo 5-6 0-0 11, Slack 1-4 1-2 3, Arnold 3-6 0-0 8, Edwards 0-0 0-0 0, Daniels 1-3 0-0 2, Archey 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-52 4-7 67.

PENN STATE (9-4): Juric 0-1 2-2 2, Reed 2-6 0-0 5, Dilione 4-11 1-2 10, Mingo 8-12 0-0 19, Rice 5-7 4-4 18, Tunca 4-7 1-3 10, Stewart 3-5 2-2 11, Ciani 3-4 0-0 7, Blackwood 3-4 0-0 6, Mirtic 1-2 0-0 2, Houser 0-0 0-0 0, Lotito 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 33-59 10-13 90.

Halftime–Penn State 36-33. 3-point goals–North Carolina Central 5-15 (Arnold 2-4, Okworogwo 1-1, Johnson 1-2, Carpenter 1-4, Carvey 0-1, Davis 0-1, Slack 0-2), Penn State 14-32 (Rice 4-6, Stewart 3-5, Mingo 3-6, Ciani 1-1, Tunca 1-3, Reed 1-4, Dilione 1-5, Blackwood 0-1, Juric 0-1). Fouled Out–Carvey. Rebounds_North Carolina Central 30 (Carvey 9), Penn State 22 (Ciani 5). Assists_North Carolina Central 13 (Carpenter 5), Penn State 20 (Dilione, Mingo 5). Total Fouls–North Carolina Central 16, Penn State 13. A–5,285 (15,261).

Jokic hurts left knee, limps off court

MIAMI — Denver star Nikola Jokic was having another brilliant game: 21 points, eight assists and five rebounds in the first half, with behind-the-back passes to set up scores and generally doing whatever he wanted.

Then came one misstep from a teammate with about three seconds left until halftime — and now, the Nuggets wait to see how bad the news might be.

Jokic limped off the court in Miami on Monday night, after appearing to hurt his left knee just before the intermission. He was not on the floor for the second half and an MRI — probably sometime Tuesday — will determine what happens from here.

“Immediately, he knew something was wrong,” Nuggets coach David Adelman said after Denver’s 147-123 loss. “Hey, this is part of the NBA. Anybody who gets hurt in this game, it’s kind of gut-wrenching, especially somebody as special as he is. We’ll find out more tomorrow. We’ll move on as a team.”

If Jokic misses any significant time, it would be a massive blow to Denver, and in some respects to the entire NBA given how he’s considered one of the game’s absolute superstars.

“Tonight my mind will wander,” Adelman said. “And it’ll wander about what we have to do going forward if he is out for a while or for a long time.”

Jokic is a three-time MVP and certainly was in the early MVP conversation this season, having entered Monday averaging 29.9 points, 12.4 rebounds and 11.1 assists — well on his way to a triple-double average for the second consecutive season.

Jokic was alone under the basket and appeared to step forward to help Denver’s Spencer Jones defend a drive by Miami’s Jaime Jaquez Jr. as time was about to expire in the second quarter. While backtracking, Jones stepped on Jokic’s left foot and it seemed the center’s knee buckled.

Jokic collapsed to the court, grabbing at the knee and writhing in pain. He was helped to his feet, then made his way to the locker room under his own power.

Jersey retirement planned

LORETTO — Thirty-five years ago, Joe Anderson and Mike Iuzzolino led the Saint Francis men’s basketball team to the first Northeast Conference championship in school history.

In conjunction with that anniversary, Anderson and Iuzzolino will join three “Golden Era of Red Flash Men’s Basketball” players, Maurice Stokes (No. 26), Kevin Porter (No. 10) and Norm Van Lier (No. 12) in the rafters, with their numbers honored as among the great numbers in Saint Francis lore. The jerseys will be recognized in a ceremony on Saturday, Feb. 14, against Mercyhurst. Game time is 2 p.m.

Anderson is the only player to score more points at Saint Francis than the Naismith Hall of Famer, with 2,301 career points (Stokes finished his career with 2,282 career points at Saint Francis). Iuzzolino is the only player to register more points in a single season with 772 points in his senior season of 1990-91 (Stokes had 760 points in 1950-51, also his senior campaign). Iuzzolino registered 1,346 points in his two years in Loretto, 13 points less than Stokes (1,360) had in his final two years.