1/14/2022 basketball Edit

Another away game on tap for Rutgers Hoops

Chris Nalwasky • TheKnightReport

Beat Writer

The Rutgers men's basketball team saw its four-game winning streak broken on Tuesday night thanks to a loss to Penn State.

Rutgers is now 9-6 overall, 3-2 in Big Ten play, and 0-5 on the road. The road mark is something to watch. Little has changed over the years.

"We didn't rebound and we didn't share the game," Rutgers head coach Steve Pikiell said following his team's 66-49 loss to the Nittany Lions. "Got down early in this game didn't go downhill to the rim when shots weren't falling. You just have to play better on the road.

"Have to give Penn State Credit. They're a veteran team. Their two guards which were two of our keys really did a good job of dictating the basketball game and we just have to play better obviously on the road in this league and we didn't today."

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Struggled shooting

Rutgers led the conference in 3-point percentage at 48.6% in Big Ten action before the game began and had at least 20 assists in all for games (all wins) since coming back from its COVID layoff. But Rutgers shot just 5-of-19 from deep and shot 34% from the floor overall.

Ron Harper Jr., who led the conference individually in 3-point percentage in league play, and Geo Baker had gotten hot since Rutgers' return. However, the two scored just seven points apiece, a recipe for disaster.

Rutgers settled for mid-range jump shots early in the game, and the Scarlet Knights fell behind.

"They punched us early. I didn't want to settle for jump shots in this game. I wanted us driving downhill. We've been sharing the ball at every level, but we didn't have that tonight," Pikiell said. "We turned the ball over way too many times which helps them get more opportunities. We just didn't play well."

Aside from only generating 10 assists on only 19 made buckets, Rutgers also turned the ball over 15 times and Penn State capitalized, scoring 18 points off of them. The Nittany Lions outscored Rutgers in the paint 30-20 and outrebounded the visitors 41-33.

Penn State shot 43.3% in the game and 8-of-10 from the free-throw line. Every time Rutgers clawed back, the Nittany Lions had an answer. Rutgers couldn't string together enough stops.

"We were settling. We've done a job getting good paint touches in the past five games. Just got away from that and the ball wasn't going in," Pikiell said. "Unfortunately, that dictated a little bit of our defensive lapses too. So I don't want to be that kind of team. I want to be the kind of team no matter what happens with the basketball we play great Rutgers defense and especially in a night like this.

"I just thought they were tougher. They were tougher than us tonight. ,,,They slow the game down so there's not going to be as many opportunities. They play the third slowest pace in the country, so you got to really capitalize on the opportunities that you have. We didn't early. We didn't make free throw, we didn't make threes, and we didn't defend the way you have to defend."

Rutgers is 6-52 in away games (not counting the 2020-21 season with no fans) since joining the Big Ten. While its home record is great (9-1), it won't sniff the NCAA Tournament bubble again until it can win some games on the road.

Maryland is up next on Saturday in College Park. After a game against Iowa at Jersey Mike's Arena, Rutgers hits the road again to play Minnesota. Rutgers then faces Nebraska in Lincoln again on Jan. 29 four days after a home date with Maryland.

"It's hard to win on the road," Pikiell said defending his team. "This is the best league in the country. It's hard to win on the road. This team is ready to win games at home and on the road. But you can't play like today. It's on me."