City of Basketball Love

Vincent Lungaro (@VinceLungaro)

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A late rally wasn’t enough for Penn State on Saturday, as the Nittany Lions fell to Rutgers at home by a score of 70-68.

At First…
Rutgers came out of the gates hot, taking a 16-12 lead six minutes into the first half. Shep Garner kept the Nittany Lions in the game for much of the opening 20 minutes. The junior guard hit five 3-pointers as the rest of his teammates struggled to generate much of anything offensively. Despite their struggles to generate points, the Nittany Lions still only trailed by six heading into halftime, with the Scarlet Knights on top 35-29.

Turning Point…
Just when it seemed Penn State was going to climb back into just after the halfway point of the second half, Corey Sanders hit back-to-back triples for the Scarlet Knights who extended their lead to 13 at the 7:18 mark. It was the largest lead of the game up to that point for Rutgers, who would hold on for just their second Big Ten win of the season thus far and their first conference road win since joining the Big Ten.

Standout Stars…
Penn State’s offense relied heavily on Garner, who poured in 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting, including six triples. Tony Carr overcame a slow start to the game to finish second on the team in scoring with 17 points.

Sanders led the Scarlet Knights in scoring with 22, while Deshawn Freeman chipped in with 15 points and eight rebounds.

Noteworthy Numbers…
15: Offensive rebounding killed the Nittany Lions all night long, as they gave up 15 to the Scarlet Knights. They capitalized to the tune of 17 second chance points.

1: Penn State only had the lead once in the entire 40 minutes of Saturdays game. That came when Garner hit a 3-pointer to put the Nittany Lions ahead 6-5 three minutes into the first half.

Up Next…
Penn State (12-12, 4-7 Big Ten) vs. Maryland --- Tue., Feb. 7, 6:00 p.m.
Rutgers (13-11, 2-9 Big Ten) at. Ohio State --- Wed., Feb. 8, 7:00 p.m.