Penn State made a layup to go up eight with about 15 minutes gone in the first half. Rutgers head coach Steve Pikiell wasn’t too happy about it.

In fact, he had his arms crossed and he was seated on the bench. Nobody was around him. Assistant coach Brandin Knight called a timeout.

Rutgers, which made just one of its first 14 shots from the floor, found some life however after the break in action, scoring six of the game’s next 10 points. The Scarlet Knights were also able to whittle their deficit down to just three points and ultimately trailed by five at the break in spite of their poor shooting performance.

Once the second half began, Rutgers started the final 20 minutes on a 7-0 run to take its first lead of the game.

The contest would go back and forth from there, but Rutgers pulled out a resume-building 72-61 victory over No. 20 Penn State on Tuesday night at the sold-out RAC in Piscataway.

“Obviously a ton of respect (for Penn State) -- if you watch Penn State -- they cause many problems,” Pikiell said. “I didn't think we were great today (but) we figured out a way to win. I liked that part of it. We hit some obstacles and we keep plugging.”

Penn State might have led by as many as 10 in the opening period, but the Scarlet Knights, who earned their third Quad 1 win of the season, were up by at most 14 in the final few minutes. After the Nittany Lions took a brief 51-49 lead, Rutgers would outscore them 23-10 the rest of the way for the thrilling victory. Rutgers outrebounded Penn State 26-13, shot 52 percent, notched three blocks and three steals, and scored 26 points in the paint in the second half.

“(In the) first half we got caught up a little in the environment. (We) just weren't sharp,” Pikiell said. “I thought we played "Rutgers Basketball" in the second half. We shared the ball, we rebounded, we were tough defensively. I like that team a lot. Pat Chambers does a great job. They're well-deserving of their ranking. But we settled down, We have good leadership. Our bench was good again. (Jacob Young) gives us a huge lift, Paul (Mulcahy) gives us a huge lift, Shaq (Carter) too. I'm real proud of the development of our entire team.

“...We started four sophomores. I don't know about the maturity of that group.I think we're finding our way. I think we're counting on our defense which has been really, really good. They scored 61, I think they average 81 and a half (points) per game. We got that to count on. I thought our offense was okay in the first half. (If) guys believe in each other, keep playing (and) stay healthy, I think this team can keep growing too. Our best basketball is ahead of us."

Young was a spark plug off the bench with 13 points for Rutgers. Myles Johnson added 10 points as well while Ron Harper Jr. recorded a game-high 22. He went 12-for-12 from the free-throw line.

Caleb McConnell, who finished with two points, didn’t find the basket until late after he went 8-for-8 from the field for 20 points last time out against Nebraska filling in at point guard for Geo Baker, but he was able to produce in other areas grabbing eight rebounds and dishing out four assists.

Mulcahy displayed some nifty passes alsom registering five assists.

Neither team shot the ball particularly well, but the home team was able to tally 42 points inside the paint and force the Nittany Lions into 14 turnovers. Penn State entered the game the leader in the Big Ten in blocks and steals, but Rutgers was able to notch nine blocks and seven steals compared four blocks and steals, respectively, for the visitors.

Penn State was called for 23 fouls compared to Rutgers’ 13.

Harper was a big reason by Lamar Stevens, who came in averaging 16.4 points and nine rebounds a game, to 12 points on 4-of-10 shooting and four fouls.

“Ron wanted the challenge,” Pikiell said. “He's good. He's a tough guy at 15,17 feet (from the basket). (Ron) made it tough for him to get catches. He got into foul trouble. I think that helped. He got Ron into foul trouble too. He's a good player. Just make it tough for him. That was the game plan and he saw a lot of different bodies. A lot of fresh bodies on him."

With the win, Rutgers, which is off to its best start in 44 years, is 12-3, 3-1 in the Big Ten and is squarely on the NCAA Tournament radar.

Pikiell isn’t worried about that, though.

“We have 16 games left. We were picked 12th in the league. We gotta go to practice,” he said. “There's 12 (Big Ten) teams ranked in the top 40 and we got 11 or 12 more of those games. A lot of opportunities. (The postseason is) way too far away. We're just trying to stay healthy, get Geo back, keep improving. There's a lot of season left. I do appreciate the excitement and enthusiasm people have. It doesn't help us win games. We gotta play well, we gotta beat really good teams with great coaches, we gotta go on the road and win. We gotta do a lot of things before we start talking about anything else."

Chambers, however, would like to see Rutgers in the dance.

“You know what, I hope so for Pikes,” Chambers said. “I do. I hope so. It'd be great to see him punch his ticket. They have good team. They got some depth and Geo Baker is not even playing, so that bodes well for Rutgers.”

More to come. Follow Chris Nalwasky on Twitter @ChrisWasky.