Rutgers vs. Penn State
Sunday, March 6, 2022, 12 p.m.
Jersey Mike's Arena
TV: BTN
PxP: Jeff Levering
Color: Jess Settles
Radio: RWJBarnabas Health Rutgers Sports Network
FOX Sports New Jersey 93.5-FM & 1450-AM, XM 384, WOR 710-AM, Scarlet Knights App
Play-by-Play: Jerry Recco
Analyst: Austin Johnson
WRSU 88.7 FM RU Student Radio
The Rutgers men's basketball team (17-12, 11-8 Big Ten) is at home for the regular season finale on Sunday. RU will host Penn State (12-14, 7-11) at noon at Jersey Mike's Arena. The team will hold a pregame ceremony prior to the game at roughly 11:42 a.m. where the team will honor five senior student-athletes and three student managers.
Rutgers will recognize five seniors prior to the game that have made a tremendous impact on the program:
Geo Baker,
Ron Harper Jr.,
Caleb McConnell,
Luke Nathan and Ralph Agee. The quintet has played a combined 405 games at RU, starting in 287 of those. In that span, the group has combined to post 3,803 points, 1,455 rebounds, 826 assists, 417 steals and 178 blocks as Scarlet Knights. The group has been a huge part of changing the culture of Rutgers basketball and bringing the program into a new era under head coach
Steve Pikiell. Dating back to the 2017-18 season when Baker and Nathan were freshmen, RU has claimed 82 victories. In that time, their contributions to the program have helped the team build from a squad that won just three conference games during their first season to a team with three straight seasons of double-digit Big Ten wins and a historic NCAA Tournament appearance in 2021.
The team will also recognize three student managers for their contributions to the program: Tyler Cook (Sport Management/Communications major from Howell, N.J.), Darren Chu (Pharmacy major from East Brunswick, N.J) and Joseph Zeccino Jr. (Accounting Major from Verona, N.J.). Cook is a four-year member of the program, while Chu and Zecchino have been with the Scarlet Knights for three years.
Penn State enters the weekend 12-15, 7-12 following a 60-55 loss to Illinois on Thursday night. The Scarlet Knights are 34-43 all-time and 6-9 against the Nittany Lions as members of the Big Ten. RU has lost the last three games against Penn State, including the meeting earlier this season, as PSU claimed a 66-49 victory at the Bryce Jordan Center.
- Rutgers would claim its 12th Big Ten Conference win of the season, a new program recor
- The win would be the 14th home win this season, improving RU's record at home to 14-3 this season, 42-8 over the past three seasons, and 32-4 in the last two seasons of games with fans allowed in the building.
- It would be just the second time in the past 18 seasons that RU reached 14 home wins, along with the 2019-20 season.
- Rutgers seeks to improve to 16-1 when holding opponents to 65 points or less
- Rutgers would claim its first victory over Penn State since Jan. 7, 2020.
Pending weekend results, Rutgers can be seeded between fourth and sixth in the Big Ten Tournament. To earn the No. 4 seed and the resulting "double-bye" to Friday, RU needs a win Sunday and losses by Ohio State (facing Michigan) and Iowa (facing Illinois).
