Box Score HAPPY VALLEY, PA. – Rutgers men's basketball pulled off one of the biggest comebacks in school history on Sunday night in Happy Valley.
Propelled by a career-high 16 points from freshman guard
Derek Simpson, RU had a 19-point comeback to beat Penn State 59-56. The victory marked the biggest comeback win at RU since 1996 when Rutgers defeated Pittsburgh following a 20-point deficit on Feb. 21.
With RU trailing by two points and 1 minute and 30 seconds on the clock, the Mt. Laurel, N.J, native drove to the hoop and converted on an and-one layup to put RU up one. A put-back follow on RU's next possession by junior center
Clifford Omoruyi gave Rutgers the 59-56 lead.
On the final possession for Penn State, the Nittany Lions missed two three-point attempts followed by a pair of offensive rebounds. A strip block by senior guard
Cam Spencer sealed the victory in the final seconds.
"I want to give a big shout out to Cliff (Omoruyi) and Antwone (Woolfolk)," Simpson said. "They were setting me really good screens and got me open, but I thought the guys really stayed together. We didn't have those blank looks on our face the whole game, we pulled it out and I'm really thankful for our guys".
"Oh, man, I didn't know Derek was a freshman tonight," Fifth-year forward
Caleb McConnell said. "Derek was awesome tonight. We got him going. He found a hot hand. Derek got downhill and just created plays and then he just made it happen as well. That's something that Derek has been doing all season and it was just a matter of time."
RU held Penn State to zero field goals in the final nine minutes of the game. Simpson made six baskets, and four free throws in the performance. He added six rebounds and a pair of assists on the night. Spencer converted on five-of-11 attempts from the field and dropped 13 points.
McConnell locked up Jalen Pickett of PSU to zero points in the second half after he scored 11 in the first. To cap off the 19-point comeback, McConnell drilled a three-pointer from the wing to nod the score 54-54. McConnell finished five-for-11 from the field with 12 points, four assists and a steal.
"This team is tough," McConnell said. "I feel like when we stick together, we can come over, and we can figure out anything, especially something like this. I feel like that's what we did. We have players stepping up. Derek, Oskar (Palmquist),
Antwone Woolfolk and our bench. We just made the little plays and we just stuck together throughout the whole game."
Omoruyi had a game-high 13 rebounds and scored nine points on four buckets.Senior forward
Oskar Palmquist hit a pair of three-point shots for six points off the bench.
Rutgers shot 28 percent in the first half and trailed by a score of 31-21. A 9-0 run by PSU to start the second frame set up an incredible run for the Scarlet Knights in front of the Nittany Lions home fans.
Simpson led the way with nine points in the first half and kept the Scarlet Knights in the game.
"That's our culture," McConnell said. "When our backs against the wall, we stick together, we show grit, we grind and, and that's why we're able to do things like this. That's kind of what we've been preaching all year. Stay together, stay together, stay together and when we do us, we get us results. That's what we showed tonight."
Rutgers moved to (6-6) in Quad 1 games and becomes the 16th team in the nation to accumulate six Quad 1 wins.
Up next for the Scarlet Knights is another matchup on the road against the Minnesota Gophers on Thursday night at 7 PM.
Gallery: (2-26-2023) Rutgers MBB Takes on Penn State
Postgame Quotes
Head Coach Steve Pikiell
Opening Statement:
"This was a great college environment; I have a lot of respect for Penn State. What Coach Shrewsberry is doing here is great, and the crowd was really into it. This was a great game and they got to us early, but we hung in there. This was the typical Big Ten basketball game and we're lucky to come out with the win here."
On late game comeback
"Our bench was terrific. Derek (Simpson) came in and certainly did not play like a freshman. He got us going and we hung around. I like this team a lot. They have been great all year. We fought through foul trouble, and I thought we had some decent looks. We just stayed the course and I'm proud of our guys. Our defense was key down the stretch, and we made some timely plays too. To be able to make a comeback like this on the road is a really good sign".
On Derek Simpson's performance
"He's playing a lot more minutes ever since Mawot (Mag) has gone down and he's practicing better. He was very confident today and he got it going. We needed all of his points and he, as well as Oskar (Palmquist) and Wolf (Antwone Woolfolk) gave us great minutes today. Our bench was excellent on offense and defense. They have a really good offensive team, so you need to guard great players, but it's a good sign for Derek moving forward. We need him to be this kind of a player".
On Oskar Palmquist's impact
"Talk about a guy who's stayed ready and stayed the course, he's really giving us some fire off the bench. We had to change our rotation and we were getting really great minutes off Aundre Hyatt, but we also needed new bench production and Oskar has been tremendous. I'm really proud of him, it's not easy when you're not playing a lot and you have to keep fighting. He's poised out there and we need him to continue that."
On limiting Jalen Pickett to zero points in the second half:
"He's terrific and he has been playing him so well. We tried to give him different looks. Caleb (McConnell) got in foul trouble guarding him and Paul Mulcahy had him and got into foul trouble. He causes a lot of matchup problems. We just tried to give him different looks and keep him off guard. You have to do that with a player who is in great rhythm like that. We were fortunate in the second half he didn't get it going."
On the postgame handshake line:
"Yeah I don't know I was the first guy through. I just know it was really loud in there and the students made it really hard for us. I was in the front of the line, but those handshake lines sometimes get testy."
On the offense opening up with Derek Simpson in the game:
"He had it going today. We have been a really good team at finding who's hot. We had Cam Spencer against Wisconsin. Today was his day some days it is Cliff's (Omoruyi's) day some days it's Caleb (McConnell's). Aundre Hyatt had his game against Penn State the first time. I think that is kind of how we try to attack this thing. He certainly was ready and I liked his approach today and the swagger he had going downhill and making some big plays for us."
On how he gets the team to feel the urgency this team of year:
"They have been here before in Caleb and Paul. It is always this way in this league. It is the best league in the country as you guys can see from top to bottom the competitiveness and how good everyone is. We are adding two more schools next year in UCLA and USC. It is a grind. This is our sixth out of eight games all on the road It is the toughest stretch I have had as a coach in this league when you are playing that many road games. We have got to stay healthy, but we haven't been good at that this year. You just have to fight through the grind of the season. The grind of the great coaches and the grind of the great players on the other side."
On the adversity of fighting through injuries all year:
"We have done it before all year long. Caleb missed a bunch of games. Paul missed a bunch of games and Mawot is out for the year We have had to fight through all year long so it is a long season and a lot of things that got into it.
On the rotation of the power forward position:
"We need everybody. We love Aundre. Today we needed everybody to check in the game. Foul trouble, everything, Aundre has been really good for us. We can move Oskar around to a lot of different positions too. They're very versatile guys. We need everybody on the roster. The next game could be Dean Reiber's game. It could be someone else. We need everyone and we always utilize our entire roster at some point in time during the year."
On having veteran players and Caleb's impact:
"These guys, Caleb, Paul and Cliff, these guys are winners. They've been through this. They know the rigors of this league. I don't think people really realize how hard it is, traveling and doing the things that these guys have to do on a daily basis. You can't play well every night even though that's what's expected. But they continue to fight through it. They had a great practice and prep and we got great senior leadership and these guys have been through a lot. I trust them. Caleb's always willing to play the best player on the team. He embraces that role. Very few guys do that and that's what makes him special. But they work. He's been in the training room for about the last 48 hours, and to do what he did tonight with the back that he has right now was just amazing."
