Penn State men’s basketball (11-16, 2-14 Big Ten) lost to Rutgers (11-15, 4-11 Big Ten) 85-72 at the Bryce Jordan Center on Wednesday night.

The Nittany Lions found themselves in a 16-2 hole with eight minutes gone to start the game. Despite their best efforts late in the second half, they couldn’t muster a comeback victory. Josh Reed had one of his most well-rounded games of the season with 22 points, six rebounds, and one assist.

How It Happened

Mike Rhoades rolled with the familiar starting lineup of Kayden Mingo, Freddie Dilione V, Dominick Stewart, Ivan Jurić, and Josh Reed.

Tariq Francis chucked one up to Emmanuel Ogbole for an alley-oop to open the scoring. Both squads failed to score for almost the next two minutes until Harun Zrno converted from deep.

Kaden Powers made a mid-range jumper to send Rutgers up 9-0 with only 3:20 gone in the game. Rhoades called timeout.

Zrno met the front iron on his next attempt from downtown. Dilione was forced to shoot a deep three off an inbound, where he almost converted from the logo. It rattled in and out as the Scarlet Knights led the ball back up the floor.

Dilione lofted a pass to Justin Houser in the paint. Houser bobbled it and lost control, forcing Penn State’s fourth turnover of the night. Jurić checked in for Houser after the play.

Mingo pulled up from mid-range for Penn State’s first points of the game at the 13:28 mark. Francis converted an and-one while Rice missed from the corner. Rutgers led 16-2 at the under-12 timeout.

Reed picked up the Nittany Lions’ sixth points of the night with a mid-ranger. Dilione got the juices flowing with a fast-break layup after a series of stops. Mingo continued to pile it on with a layup of his own to spark a 6-0 Penn State run.

Dylan Grant stopped the bleeding for the Scarlet Knights with a jump shot near the baseline. Steve Pikiell called timeout with Rutgers up 20-10 with 8:06 remaining in the first frame.

Ciani blocked a Francis shot in the paint coming out of the timeout. A Dilione trey came up short and Francis returned the favor on the other end. Stewart snagged the board and Reed made two shots from the line to bring Penn State’s deficit to eight.

The Nittany Lions failed to score a field goal over the next 2:39 before Dilione flushed a jumper. Zrno made a 3-pointer to extend Rutgers’ lead to 17 points, forcing Rhoades to call timeout.

Another Penn State turnover led to two more Rutgers points. Tunca tried a shot from beyond the arc, but met nothing but the back iron. Francis continued to pour it on with another bucket.

Mingo fed Jurić in the paint for a layup in motion. Francis snuck in two more points before the half. Rutgers led 39-20.

Jurić laid a ball in out of the gates. Grant responded with a calm stroke near the baseline and Reed balanced it out on the other end. Mingo snatched a pass through the air and took it the other way for two quick points.

Reed muscled his way through contact for an and-one. Officials then called him for a Flagrant I foul on Zrno. Zrno made his two foul shots.

Tunca carved his way through the paint for two more Nittany Lion points after a small drought. Dilione poked a ball out of the air and tossed it to Tunca on the other end for another quick score to bring the deficit down to 15 points.

Zrno converted a layup wide-open in the paint. Tunca let a 3-pointer fly and converted for Penn State’s first trey of the game with around 13 minutes remaining in the contest.

Tunca’s triple brought some life into the Bryce Jordan Center. Stewart ooped a pass to Dilione, who couldn’t slam it but was able to lay it in off the glass.

Dilione converted from deep to bring the deficit back down to a dozen. Lino Mark notched an and-one to match the triple on the other end.

Zrno made his third 3-pointer of the night to take the Scarlet Knights back up by 20 points with around nine minutes left in the game.

Mingo notched back-to-back and-ones of his own. Darren Buchanan Jr. made a tough shot off the glass to stop the bleeding for Rutgers. Despite some free throws from Stewart on consecutive possessions, Buchanan hit another layup to maintain the Scarlet Knights’ distance in front as the game entered its final five minutes.

Reed scored five quick points to bring the deficit down to nine points. Francis made a three from the top of the key to put the dagger in.

Takeaways

• Penn State’s slow start killed the game from the opening tip. The Nittany Lions went down 16-2 heading into the under-12 timeout in the first half. It was just too deep of a hole to dig out of from the very beginning, despite their best efforts.
• Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers. They will kill you. Penn State committed 15 compared to Rutgers’ 12. Hard to come back when you can’t control possessions.
• The Nittany Lions registered one of their worst 3-point shooting performances of the season. Penn State ended the night 3-for-17 from downtown and didn’t make its first three until there was around 13 minutes left in the second half.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions hit the road to take on No. 9 Nebraska at 2 p.m. on Saturday, February 21, at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Folks can follow along on Big Ten Network.