Penn State's defense suffocates Rutgers in 61-46 win
It was a scrappy, ugly game in Piscataway on Wednesday night but the Penn State Nittany Lions found a way to inch closer to .500 with a 61-46 win over the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. The win is the Nittany Lions' first win away from the Bryce Jordan Center this season.
The Nittany Lions' offensive performance wasn't anything to write home about, shooting just 38.5% from the floor including 21.7% from three-point range. That being said, the Nittany Lions' defense was able to make Wednesday night nightmarish for an already poor Rutgers offense.
The Scarlet Knights for the game shot 34% from the floor and an ugly 5.9% from beyond the arc, making just 1-of-17 three-point attempts.
Ace Baldwin Jr had 15 points in the win, DeMarco Dunn had 14 and Qudus Wahab had a nine-point, 11-rebound performance.
After falling behind 8-3 early in the first half on Wednesday, the Nittany Lions' strong defensive effort in combination with a tough shooting night for Rutgers saw the Scarlet Knights miss 12 of their final 15 shots of the first half. While the Nittany Lions didn't shootly overly well in the first 20 minutes themselves, a 12-2 run in just under minutes of action, allowed the Nittany Lions to flip a 14-7 Rutgers lead into a 21-16 Penn State lead.
After taking a 16-15 lead at the 6:35 mark of the first half, the Nittany Lions would not look back the rest of the game.
Coming out of halftime, both teams were cold, the Nittany Lions making 3-of-9 attempts while Rutgers missed their first six attempts of the second half. Penn State took advantage of the Scarlet Knights' struggles over the first four minutes of the second half to extend a 26-24 lead at half-time to 34-26. That lead would slowly grow over the remainder of the second half, eventually growing that lead out to the final score of 61-46.
STAT OF THE NIGHT
Penn State in the win forced Rutgers to turn the ball over 20 times in the game, the Scarlet Knights' worst performance of the season in that category. The Scarlet Knights have only three other games in which they've turned the ball over 15 or more times this season. It marks the fourth time this season the Nittany Lions have forced an opponent to turn the ball over 20 or more times. They have won all four games and are 6-1 when forcing 18 or more turnovers.
DUNN STEPS UP WITH CLARY OUT
With Kanye Clary out, the Nittany Lions saw DeMarco Dunn step up and deliver a strong performance. It was a much-needed performance for Dunn who had struggled recently, averaging just 4.4 points over his last five. Perhaps Wednesday night's performance will allow Dunn to recapture the success he had from early December through early January when he averaged 12 points per game over six games.
UP NEXT
The Nittany Lions will head to Bloomington, Indiana on Saturday to take on the Indiana Hoosiers. The Hoosiers enter the game with a 13-8 record including 5-5 in conference play. On Tuesday night, the Hoosiers outlasted Iowa 74-68.
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