Geo Baker had 20 points and Montez Mathis added 11 to lead the visiting Rutgers Scarlet Knights to a 64-60 win over the Penn State Nittany Lions on Saturday night at Bryce Jordan Center.
Lamar Stevens had 21 points and Myles Dread and Rasir Bolton each added 11 for the Nittany Lions, who fell to 7-13 on the season and 0-9 in Big Ten play.
Rutgers (10-9, 3-6) trailed by one after a Bolton layup with 4 minutes, 20 seconds left, but the Scarlet Knights turned to Baker down the stretch. Baker had a 3-pointer and three free throws, including one with 11 seconds left to put the team up three, and Rutgers held on to send the Nittany Lions to their seventh straight loss.
Neither team shot well - Penn State barely outshot Rutgers, 35.1 percent to 35 percent, but poor 3-point and free-throw shooting did in the host Nittany Lions. Penn State made just 6 of 24 3-point attempts (25 percent) and shot 70 percent from the free-throw line.
The Scarlet Knights weren't world-beaters, but they shot nearly 44 percent from deep and marginally better at the line (71 percent). Eugene Omoruyi aided the effort with 11 points for Rutgers.
Reserve guard Myles Johnson hit a jumper with zero seconds left on the clock to end the first half, giving Rutgers a 30-26 halftime lead. The Scarlet Knights fell behind early but wrested control from Penn State midway through the first half.
Baker had 11 points in the first half on 5-of-10 shooting to lead the Scarlet Knights, who won their second straight after dropping three straight. Mathis added eight in the first half for Rutgers, which shot 36 percent from the field in the first half.
Dread had eight points in the first half to lead the way for Penn State, which shot just 36 percent from the field.
--Field Level Media
Rutgers | Penn St. | |
Geo Baker 20 | Scoring | Lamar Stevens 21 |
Geo Baker 3 | Assists | Jamari Wheeler 4 |
Shaq Carter 7 | Rebounds | Mike Watkins 9 |
Eugene Omoruyi 7 | Free Throws Made | Lamar Stevens 6 |
Geo Baker 3 | Steals | Rasir Bolton 2 |
N/A | Blocks | Lamar Stevens 2 |