INSTANT REACTION: Rutgers Basketball suffers 61-46 loss to Penn State
To put it kindly, this was not a game that will be shown in the college basketball Hall of Fame anytime soon. However, Penn State downed Rutgers 61-46 to send the Scarlet Knights to their third straight loss.
Although both sides struggled offensively, shooting a combined 37-for-102 from the field, Rutgers (10-10, 2-7 Big Ten) was unable to find any rhythm all night long as it shot 34 percent from the field and 1-for-17 from three. The Scarlet Knights also had trouble maintaining possession of the ball as it turned it over 20 times, leading to 16 points for Penn State.
Gavin Griffiths led the way for Rutgers with 11 points while Jamichael Davis finished with 10 points and four rebounds and helped his squad break the 40-point mark with a jumper to make it a 48-41 game with 5:10 remaining.
While Penn State (10-11, 4-6 Big Ten) had its own warts offensively, shooting 20-of-52 from the field and turning the ball over 16 times, the Nittany Lions did what they needed to do, led by Ace Baldwin Jr. with 15 points, seven assists, five steals, and five rebounds. D'Marco Dunn added 14 points and seven rebounds.
Outside of the scoreboard, just about everything was ugly for Rutgers in the first half as it went nine minutes without a field goal and allowed Penn State to use a 17-3 run to take a 26-18 lead with 1:59 left in the first half. The Scarlet Knights also shot 8-for-24 from the floor, 0-for-7 from three, and accumulated 13 turnovers.
Despite all of that, Rutgers went into the tunnel down 26-24 after a 6-0 run and holding Penn State without a field goal for the final 3:47.
Penn State opened the game 3-for-15 from the field but used a 7-0 run to take its first lead 16-15 with 6:35 left in the first half. The Nittany Lions finished the half shooting 34 percent from the field and 2-for-12 from three. Dunn led the way with 11 points and four rebounds while Baldwin had seven points.
Griffiths broke Rutgers' field goal drought with a layup to cut it to a six-point game with 58 seconds remaining in the half. Griffiths also pioneered the Scarlet Knights with six points on 3-for-5 shooting.
RHoops Play of the Day: Gavin Griffiths soars to the basket to extend Rutgers' lead to 12-5 with 12:38 left in the first half.
Up next: Rutgers will travel to Ann Arbor to face Michigan on Saturday at 4 p.m. (ET) on BTN.
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