No. 20 Penn State (12-2, 2-1) at Rutgers Scarlet Knights (10-3, 2-1)
Tuesday, January 7, 2020 | 7 p.m.
The RAC (8,000) | Piscataway, N.J.  

TV: BTN (Brandon Gaudin, play-by-play, Bob Wenzel, analyst)
Radio: Rutgers Sports Properties Radio Network (WCTC 1450 AM/WOR 710 AM/XM 383; Jerry Recco & Joe Boylan); WRSU 88.7 FM (Justin Sontupe and Jake Ostrove)

Series Record: Penn State leads, 41-33
Last Meeting: Penn State 66, Rutgers 65 (March 6, 2019)
 
OPENING TIP: Rutgers returns home to face No. 20 Penn State at a sold-out RAC, the second sell-out of the season, after securing a 79-62 win at Nebraska on Friday. The Scarlet Knights are 10-0 at the RAC, with their last home loss coming to PSU on Senior Day last season. RU downed No. 22 Seton Hall at home on Dec. 14. After defeating No. 16 Ohio State and No. 22 Iowa last season, a victory over the Nittany Lions would provide Rutgers multiple ranked victories in consecutive seasons for the first time since the 2001-02 and 2002-03 campaigns.
 
RU will work to improve to 12-3 and secure the team's best record through 15 games since the 1975-76 undefeated regular season. The Scarlet Knights were last two games over .500 in conference play in February 2002 (7-5). Rutgers last began league play with a 3-1 record as a member of the Atlantic 10 in 1994-95 (4-1). A 12-3 start would also signal Steve Pikiell's best record through 15 games in his head coaching career.
 
Myles Johnson and Ron Harper Jr. both had double-doubles in Lincoln, marking the first time two RU players produced the feat in a Big Ten game. Caleb McConnell, starting in place of the injured Geo Baker, was 8-of-8 from the field to score 20, as Rutgers led by as much as 22 points en route to its largest margin of victory in a Big Ten road game.
 
THE OPPONENT: Penn State has won five straight and is coming off an 89-86 win over No. 23 Iowa at the Palestra in Philadelphia on Saturday. It was PSU's second ranked victory after defeating then No. 4 Maryland on Dec. 10. The Nittany Lions lead the Big Ten in blocks (6.3), steals (9.4), turnover margin (+3.1) and turnovers forced (15.8). Seniors Lamar Stevens and Mike Watkins lead the team in scoring (16.4) and rebounding (9.0), respectively. Four PSU players boast double figure scoring averages.
 
THE SERIES: Tuesday marks the 75th meeting in a series dating back to 1922, with Rutgers 21-16 at home and 9-8 at the RAC. PSU holds the overall advantage 41-33. RU and Penn State were both members of the Atlantic 10 from 1976-79 and from 1982-1991. In front of a sold-out crowd in last season's home finale, Rutgers fought back from a 20-point deficit to get within one point, but could not score on the game's final possession in a 66-65 loss. Johnson had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds, while Harper Jr. contributed 14 and McConnell 12.

RUTGERS RATED
RPI: 26
NCAA NET Ranking: 29
Sagarin: 40
Basketball Power Index (BPI): 42
Ken Pomeroy: 43
 
HEAD COACH STEVE PIKIELL
Overall Record (years): 247-213 (15th)
Rutgers Record (years): 55-57 (4th)
Record vs. Penn State (RU): 2-3
Record vs. Penn State (overall): 2-4
 
SCARLET KNIGHT NOTABLES

• Rutgers is undefeated at home (10-0), when shooting a better percentage than its opponent (9-0) and when limiting foes to less than 60 points (8-0).
• Rutgers has out-rebounded its opponent in 13 of 14 games this season.
• Myles Johnson leads the Big Ten in FG% (71.8), is 2nd in offensive rebounds (3.9), 7th in rebounding (9.1) and 10th in blocks (1.6). 
• Johnson is fifth nationally in FG%, seventh in offensive rebounding % (18.4) and 16th in offensive rebounding (3.9).
• Akwasi Yeboah ranks 43rd among active players in career points (1,446) and 48th in rebounds (620). He is 12th in the Big Ten in 3PT% (41.0).
• Rutgers is seventh nationally in rebound margin (+10.3), 16th in scoring defense (59.6), 17th in both rebounding (41.5) and FG% defense (37.4). 
• Rutgers is a young squad, ranking 236th in experience per Pomeroy. The starting lineup for the last game featured four sophomores, with all eight players that saw game action against Nebraska in their first or second year of action in an RU uniform.
• RU's 20-point win over No. 22 Seton Hall on Dec. 14 was its largest margin of victory over a ranked foe in program history.
• After five sell-outs in 2018-19, its most since 2004-05 (7), Rutgers welcomed 8,329 fans vs. Seton Hall, its largest crowd in 18 seasons.
• Rutgers had 23 second chance points (23-5) in its victory over Wisconsin on Dec. 11, its most ever in a Big Ten game.
• Rutgers announced the signings of 6-7 F Mawot Mag, 6-8 F Oskar Palmquist and 6-10 F Dean Reiber.
• Rutgers entered the Fall 2019 semester with a 3.06 cumulative team GPA.
• Rutgers posted a 4-0 record against professional club teams during a tour of Spain in August. RU outscored its opponents 387-284 and had five players with double figure scoring averages.
• Of Rutgers' 11 scholarship players, 10 are 6'4 or above and seven are 6'6 or taller.

QUOTABLE
"Penn State is playing really well. Pat Chambers has done a really great job. He's got a ton of really good players. They pass the ball and play the right way. They're good defensively and they can score. Hopefully the RAC is jumping. It's a sellout. That's exciting especially during winter break. We have a huge ranked team that's playing as good as anyone coming in our building and that's a great opportunity for us. Our guys are good at being one game at a time. We have a sold out RAC with two days to prepare. We have to be ready to play and they're going to come in here with a ton of confidence."

- Rutgers Head Coach Steve Pikiell 
 
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