PISCATAWAY, N.J. - The Scarlet Knights took one of the toughest losses of the season on Wednesday night at Jersey Mike's Arena.

In a game where the team had the most turnovers since 2019 (20), shot 1-for-17 from three-point and shot 50 percent from the free throw line (11-for-22) RU was defeated 61-46 by Penn State. The Nittany Lions defense held the Scarlet Knights to a season-low 46 points.

Rutgers opened the game up 12-5, holding PSU to 2-of-11 shooting (0-of-7 from three-point). Penn State used an 11-3 run to take the lead for the first time at 16-15.

After a 3-of-15 start, they made six straight shots to take a five-point lead. RU answered back with a 6-0 run to close the half. Despite a season-high 13 turnovers in the half, RU got within one possession, with the visitors taking a 26-24 lead at the break.

In the second half, Gavin Griffiths hit a three for RU to make the score 37-33 PSU as RU had a 4-of-7 shooting stretch. However, PSU would pull away for a 61-46 win.
 
Postgame Notes

• Cliff Omoruyi had three blocks, now with 62 on the season.
• He had multiple blocks for the 16^th time in 20 games.
• He becomes the first RU player with 60+ blocks in consecutive seasons since Hamady Ndiaye in 2008-09 and 2009-10.
• He is now 18^th on RU's single-season block list.
• Gavin Griffiths had a team-high 11 points, his most ever points in a Big Ten game and most points since December 9.
• Jamichael Davis had 10 points, his most in a Big Ten game.
• Derek Simpson tied his career-high with eight rebounds.
• Rutgers, who had a season-low in points, was undone by its first 20+ turnover game since Dec. 3, 2019 vs. Pittsburgh. 

Postgame Quotes

Head Coach Steve Pikell
 
Opening Statement:

"Appreciate you guys being here, appreciate the fans, they were awesome today. Unfortunately, we didn't see Rutgers at its best, but we'd like to congratulate Penn State. The main thing they do is cause turnovers and we've talked about that. We got to flip this quickly, we have one day to prepare for a road game. Don't feel sorry for us, we got to get better as a group and make sure this doesn't happen again".
 
On  ball security:

"It came from a lot of different areas, everyone played a role, we spent a day and a half trying to work on these things. It wasn't so much in the full court that they turned us over, it was in the half-court; careless, 2 feet jump shots, that's what we talked about. Penn State is very handsy, and they play in a unique way, very different from any teams we've faced. So I wish I had a bit more prep time but obviously we can make some free throws and a couple threes, that would help us. We just didn't take care of the basketball, so obviously those were the results".
 
On starters  minutes in the second half:

"I was playing guards that can make plays. They're a different kind of team; I wanted guys that can go downhill and take advantage of how they play. The ball handlers I had in there, Jamichael, Derek, and Noah, are guys that can put the ball on the deck; they play a bit differently. I just wanted to have a bit more guard play with the way we were turning the ball over today".
 
On offensive struggle:
"That has been consistent, although we have been taking care of the ball. Today we jumped up high on that mark. We have some really good free-throw shooting days. Obviously we didn't make any easy baskets or any threes tonight, but I do believe we have guys who can do that, but we didn't today".
 
On missing shots:

"They're a disruptive team so they didn't allow us to run a lot of sets. We threw it into Cliff a few times and they doubled quickly on him. We didn't finish the ones that we got. That's something all year long we've worked on tremendously everyday. Different kinds of layups, different kinds of physical contact with layups. There's been some games that we've been really good at. Today obviously we were bad in all those areas and if you add the turnovers you're not going to score a lot of points. We never really gave ourselves a chance. We can't do that".
 
On second half:

"I think we turned the basketball over the first three possessions. We talked about it at halftime and we came into that first media timeout we added three more turnovers to the equation. That's what happened. That's why they continued to kind of jump on us."
 
On looking at player combinations and rotations:

"I'm going to look at everything quite honestly. We need to really figure this out and it's on me. The good part is I've done it before, and I need to figure this out in a great league. One hundred percent we'll be looking at everything."
 
On playing the younger guys:

"There's a lot of season left. We're going to try and win each game. Today I played more guards than forwards. I go one game at a time. I don't know what it's going to take for Michigan right now. Maybe we'll play three big guys together. I don't know what it's going to take. But every game we try to win and our young guys are playing well. Gavin's been playing well and he's been practicing well. J-Mike (Jamichael Davis) always gives us great effort. Derek is a sophomore and young. We're going to play whoever I think will help us win the next game."
 
On the remainder of the season: 

"It was a tough loss today. We're all competitive and those things happen. We want our guys to be competitive too. There were stretches tonight where we were. Once you don't score, once you turn the ball over it affects both ends of the floor. One thing you need to be able to do in this league is take a punch and you got to get off the mat and you got to get ready for the next game and we'll do a good job with that. Hopefully we'll make some free throws and make some layups and that will make life a little bit easier for us."
 
On Mawot Mag's struggles:

"He has taken a few days off with his knees. It's been a different kind of year for him but he's a great worker. Consistency has been a big problem for us all year. We were a bad rebounding team and then we became a good rebounding team. Consistency has to be something I really need to figure out and I just want these guys to play for forty minutes. We have shown signs of this team being really good and just need to keep fighting".
 
On late-game substitutions:

"It's dependent on how exhausted the guys are. When I look at Cliff, I know the first five minutes are the hardest to play. I want fresh bodies because of the way this team plays, and quite honestly this second-team has practiced really well. I knew I would have to play a lot of guards due to the way Penn State plays, and I wanted my guys to get a feel early on what type of game this would be".

Penn State Head Coach Mike Rhoades:
 
Opening statement:

"Great, great basketball environment. My first time here. Really impressive. Crowd, arena... that was fun for us. But that's an exciting Victorian game. Just really proud of our guys. I thought this was the most unselfish game we've played all year long on both ends of the court. I just thought we had the next man up. Guys helping each other. I thought a couple of guys got off to a slow start. And they rebounded and figured it out and really helped us. Q was really good today, especially that second-half and just so many different guys contributed. But I thought our defense guarded the three-point line which was huge and didn't give them opportunities to hurt us because that's hurt us throughout Big 10 play. I thought we rebounded when we really need to. I thought Ace was a maestro today running the game on both ends of the court kept his team together. That was an impressive, impressive game by our point guard. So great team, great road win. We finally got one. There's a formula there for how we have to be on the road. So I'm just glad our guys found a way to win." 

On Jersey Mike's Arena: 

"Yeah, but I loved it. This is really cool. I said it to everybody, the fans are on top of you, it goes straight up. It's a basketball arena. It's not a convocation center where you do all this other stuff. That's a basketball arena. And that was really cool and a lot of fun and I love playing on the road because that's when your team becomes the closest. I've heard about how hard it is to win here. I heard what happened last year. I've watched a lot of Big 10 games and scenes. I mean, even the Purdue game the other day. How awesome of a game that was. But Penn State basketball is moving forward is. You got to go on the road in the Big 10 and beat people on their court. This was a first step for us today and to do it here hopefully gives our guys confidence to do it."