3/6/2022 basketball Edit

Rutgers sends seniors off with win over Penn State, tournament time next

Chris Nalwasky • TheKnightReport

Beat Writer

And they're off.

The Rutgers men's basketball team defeated Penn State in the regular season finale, 59-58, on Sunday afternoon inside a sold out Jersey Mike's Arena.

Rutgers ends the slate with an 18-12 mark including 12-8 within Big Ten Conference play. The Scarlet Knights went 14-3 in Piscataway.

Prior to tip-off, Geo Baker, Ron Harper Jr., Caleb McConnell, Luke Nathan, and Ralph Gonzales-Agee along with a pair of student managers were honored for Senior Day.

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Penn State scored the game's first points on a 3-pointer by Seth Lundy, but Rutgers responded with a 9-0 run, seven courtesy of Dean Reiber, who came in after Cliff Omoruyi picked up two quick fouls.

A 3-pointer by Aundre Hyatt pushed Rutgers' lead to 10 and then Paul Mulcahy also hit triple to make it 18-7. Starting at the 4:04 mark, the Nittany Lions cut their deficit to four points by making four foul shots and a layup. But Mulcahy hit a jump shot in the paint and Reiber had a dunk to give Rutgers a 29-21 lead at halftime.

Rutgers played stifling defense as Penn State shot just 18% at the break.

Seven points by Rutgers out of the locker room gave the home team a 36-21 advantage for it's largest lead of the contest to that point.

A 12-5 run by Penn State, though, made it an eight-point game at 51-43 with 7:45 left as Rutgers called timeout. An Omoruyi slam pushed the advantage back up to 10.

Penn State kept coming and got it down to seven at 55-48 after a Myles Dread 3-pointer and John Harrar layup inside sandwiched in between an Omoruyi jumper. Lundy made another triple, Harrar added two foul shots, and Lundy hit a floater in the paint to officially erase the Scarlet Knights lead to tie it up at 55-55 with 1:53 left.

Harper Jr. put Rutgers up one with a free throw, and then drew an offensive foul call on the ensuing defensive possession. Rutgers then got another stop on defense, and then McConnell calmly sank two free throws to make it 58-55.

Harper Jr. got a hand up on a Nittany Lions 3-point attempt, and then Baker came up with a key rebound. Hit made the second of two free throws to push it to 59-55 Rutgers with 17.8 seconds to go.

Sam Sessoms drilled a three moments later to make it 59-58. Rutgers inbounded the ball and had to call a timeout in the corner. Paul Mulcahy turned the ball over as he was inbounding the ball, and a desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer was wide left.

Rutgers went without a field goal in the last 5:35 of the game, but escaped.

THE GOOD

Reiber's resurgence: Dean Reiber had to come on very early in he game thanks to two fouls by Cliff Omoruyi. That could have spelled trouble especially with Rutgers having three total fouls and being down 3-0, but Reiber delivered a 3-pointer right away to ignite the crowd. He then finished an alley-oop in transition off a pass by Ron Harper Jr. He scored seven of Rutgers first nine points of the day.

Defense: Rutgers has been very effective this year when it implements its zone. The 2-3 zone forced Penn State to have three shot clock violations in the first 10 minutes of the contest. All five guys on the floor moved around and complimented each other. Rutgers switched from time to time to man-to-man and used a press, too. Rutgers notched four steals and three blocks as the two teams hit the locker room, and the Nittany Lions were shooting only 18% at the time (5-of-28).

Shared the game: Rutgers assisted on seven of its first eight buckets and tallied nine at halftime. It also tallied eight points off of six Penn State turnovers, nine fastbreak points, 14 points in the paint, and 12 bench points at the break.

THE BAD

Two quick fouls by Omoruyi: Rutgers got off a to not an idea start with Cliff Omoruyi picking up two fouls in the first 1:01 of the game. That sent him to the bench until after halftime.

Fouling/free throws: Penn State was in the bonus at the 6:25 mark of the first half. The Nittany Lions were 10-for-12 from the free-throw line in the opening half compared to 3-of-5 for the Scarlet Knights. Most of Penn State's points in the opening half came from the charity stripe.

TURNING POINT: Myles Dread 3-pointer with 5:57 remaining. That gave Penn State some life and energy.

RHOOPS PLAY OF THE GAME: Dean Reiber's dunk near halftime

RUTGERS PLAYER OF THE GAME: Ron Harper Jr.

On Senior Night, the Franklin Lakes, N.J. native scored a team-high 15 points with two blocks, two steals, and four rebounds.

ONE THING: As a non-biased member of the media, you really aren't supposed to root one way or another. However, it's hard to not get a little emotional. The seniors have helped build this program to what it is today. We've gotten the chance to get to know them on and off the court.

Kudos to the fans for showing up early, supporting them, and being loud the entire game.

**Jaden Jones was not on the bench. TKR has learned he is in concussion protocol.

UP NEXT: Rutgers awaits to see what seed it gets for the upcoming Big Ten Tournament. The tournament runs March 9-13 from Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, IN.