MBB Hosts Penn State Saturday
Feb 18 | Men's Basketball
| Penn State at Rutgers | |
| Date | Saturday, February 20 |
| Time | 1:00 p.m. ET |
| Location | Piscataway, N.J. | The RAC |
| Television | ESPNU Clay Matvick and Sean Harrington |
| Radio | Rutgers IMG Radio Network - WOR (710) and WCTC (1450AM) Sirius 93 and XM 195 Chris Carlin and Joe Boylan WRSU 88.7 FM |
| Game Notes | Rutgers | Penn State |
| Live Stats | |
| Statistics | Rutgers | Penn State | Big Ten Conference |
| Social Media | @RutgersMBB  | #RHoops | Facebook/RutgersMBB  |
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - In the midst of three road dates over four games, Rutgers (6-20, 0-13) returns to the RAC to host Penn State (13-13, 4-9) in a 1 p.m. tip-off on Saturday. The first 500 fans in attendance will receive mini basketballs and The Amazing Sladek, America's oldest daredevil hand balancer, will perform at halftime. RU will be working to return to the win column and earn its initial B1G victory, while the Nittany Lions will be looking to capture their third win in four games.
The contest will be televised live on ESPNU with Clay Matvick calling the action and Sean Harrington providing the analysis. On the radio, the match-up will be broadcast live on the Rutgers IMG Sports Network, WOR 710 AM in New York & WCTC 1450 AM in New Brunswick, as well as on Sirius 93 and XM 195. Chris Carlin will serve as play-by-play announcer and Joe Boylan will provide commentary. WRSU (88.7 FM) will also broadcast the game.
The game will mark the 69th meeting on the collegiate hardwood between RU and PSU, with the Nittany Lions holding a 38-30 advantage in victories. RU is 21-13 at home all-time versus Penn State, including 9-5 mark at the RAC. Last season, the Scarlet Knights held the Nittany Lions to just 29 percent (15-of-52) shooting to earn their first Big Ten victory, before dropping a 79-51 decision in State College. RU and PSU were both members of the Atlantic 10 from 1976-79 and from 1982-1991. Eddie Jordan was 2-0 versus the Nittany Lions as a player "On the Banks," competing in an 81-63 road win as a freshman and an 89-72 home win as a senior. As an assistant coach at Rutgers (1984-85, 1988-92), the Scarlet Knights were 7-3 with Jordan on staff and won the 1989 A-10 title against PSU, 70-66, at the RAC under Bob Wenzel. Overall, Jordan has a 10-4 record versus PSU.
Despite a double-double from Jonathan Laurent, Rutgers fell 82-66 at Illinois on Tuesday night. The freshman shot 7-of-11 to score 18 points with 11 rebounds to help spark a second half that saw the Scarlet Knights out-score the hosts 41-35. Laurent was supplemented by Mike Williams, Bishop Daniels and D.J. Foreman. Williams and Daniels both added 15 points, while Foreman had 11. Daniels also dished-out a career-high seven assists.
Rutgers had only ten players available for the contest, including just seven on scholarship. The Scarlet Knights were without the services of guard Corey Sanders (16.2 ppg, 4.1 apg), forward Deshawn Freeman (13.1 ppg, 5.3 rpg), center Ibrahima Diallo (3.8 ppg, 3.7 rpg) and center Shaquille Doorson.
Penn State, under the leadership of fifth-year head coach Patrick Chambers, earned a 79-75 home win over No. 4 Iowa on Wednesday. The victory marked the Nittany Lions' second-consecutive home win over a ranked opponent - and Big Ten leader - and their first over a No. 4 ranked team since PSU topped Michigan 84-78 in 2013. Penn State led 38-31 at the half and improved to 9-1 this season when leading at the break. Brandon Taylor paces the team in scoring with 16.5 points-per-game.
