Jan. 2, 2015
| DATE | Saturday, Jan. 3 |
| TIME | 7:30 p.m. ET |
| LOCATION | The RAC (Piscataway, N.J.) |
| WEB | ESPN2 / WatchESPN: Mike Crispino (pxp), Sean Harrington (analysis) |
| RADIO | Listen: Penn State Sports Network: Steve Jones (pxp), Dick Jerardi (analysis) |
| GAME NOTES | Penn State Notes | Rutgers Notes |
| LIVE STATS | |
| BLOG | Basketball Blog - Lions Seeking Balance in Road Matchup at Rutgers | Game Blog |
| SOCIAL MEDIA | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | #PSUMBB |
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State remains on the road for its second Big Ten matchup as it takes on Rutgers at 7:30 p.m. Saturday from the Rutgers Athletic Center on ESPN2. Both teams are looking for their first Big Ten win of the season after dropping their respective openers this week.
| QUICK HITS |
BEST SINCE | At 12-2, the Nittany Lions are currently off to their best start in nearly 20 years, since the 1995 team opened 13-0. The loss to No. 4 Wisconsin Wednesday snapped a 10-game winning streak.
RUTGERS | The Scarlet Knights are 8-6 on the season and have won four of their last six. They also dropped their Big Ten opener, falling 51-47 to Northwestern Tuesday.
THE SERIES | Penn State and Rutgers have met 66 times previously with the Lions holding a 37-29 advantage in the series. Both teams were members of the Atlantic 10 Conference from 1976-79 and from 1982-1991. Penn State is 11-12 vs. Rutgers as a conference foe.
LAST TIME OUT | The Nittany Lions fell to Wisconsin, 89-72, Wednesday in Madison. The team shot 53.7 percent from the field (29-54), the highest clip vs. a B1G opponent since 2011 and seventh-best against a conference foe in 15 years. The 72 points were the most points Wiscon
LEADER | D.J. Newbill, the Big Ten leading scorer and sixth in the nation, has paced the Nittany Lions throughout the season with 21.9 ppg, with eight outings of 20-plus points. He produced 29 points at Wisconsin Wednesday, tying the most by a Badger opponent this season.
| POSSIBLE STARTERS |
| THE MATCHUP |
SCOUTING RUTGERS
- The Scarlet Knights are 8-6 on the season ater dropping their inaugural Big Ten opener to Northwestern, 51-47, in the Rutgers Athletic Center.
- Myles Mack leads Rutgers with 13.9 ppg and 4.7 apg after starting in all 14 games. He is shooting 41 percent from the field and a team-leading 84 percent from the charity stripe.
- Kadeem Jack is second on the team in scoring with 12.2 ppg and is one of the top rebounders with 6.5 rpg. Junior Etou has a team-high average of 6.9 boards.
- Rutgers produces 59.5 points per game and is being outscored by an average of 1.7 points by opponents. Four of the Knights' last six games have been decided by five points or fewer with them holding a 4-2 record in those matchups.
- Against the Wildcats Tuesday, Mack shot 6-of-12 to score a team-high 15 points, while also grabbing seven rebounds. Rutgers was down five points with six seconds remaining when Bishop Daniels hit a 3-pointer to make it just a 49-47 game. NU guard Bryant McIntosh made two free throws to secure the victory for the Wildcats.
SERIES HISTORY
- Penn State and Rutgers have met 66 times previously with the Lions holding a 37-29 advantage in the series.
- The Scarlet Knights are 20-13 at home all-time vs. Penn State, including 8-5 mark at the RAC.
- The teams last met in the 2006 NIT with Penn State falling, 76-71, in first-round action in the Bryce Jordan Center.
- In the last meeting in the Rutgers Athletics Center, the Lions came away with a 83-80 win Dec. 1, 2004.
- The Scarlet Knights and Nittany Lions were both members of the Atlantic 10 Conference from 1976-79 and from 1982-1991. Penn State is 11-12 vs. Rutgers as a conference foe.
LAST TIME VS. RUTGERS
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (March 14, 2006) - The Nittany Lions fell 76-71 to Rutgers (19-13) in the opening round of the National Invitation Tournament, ending their season with a 15-15 record. Making their first postseason appearance in five years and ninth in the NIT, Penn State was victimized by All-Big East guard Quincy Douby who led the Scarlet Knights with 32 points hitting 11-of-19 from the field and eight-of-14 from the three-point arc. Rutgers shot 53 percent on the night contrasted by Penn State's 39 percent as the Lions struggled to score.
Penn State was led by senior Travis Parker who posted his sixth career double-double with 21 points and 12 rebounds. Junior Ben Luber matched his career high with17 points hitting a career-best five threes on nine attempts and six-of-12 from the field. The rest of the Nittany Lions struggled to put the ball in the basket combining to shoot 11-of-38 on the night.
NOTABLE GAMES IN THE SERIES
Dec. 1, 2004 (PSU, 83-80): Then-freshman Geary Claxton scored 10 of his 17 points in the second half, including two decisive late-game foul shots, to give Penn State its third-consecutive win of the 2003-04 season. This was Penn State's last visit to the RAC.
Feb. 27, 1991 (RU, 92-70): Rutgers handed Penn State its largest loss of the season in the regular-season finale in Piscataway before the Nittany Lions went on a four-game winning streak through the Atlantic 10 tournament and the second round of the NCAA tournament.
March 21, 1990 (PSU, 58-55): In the National Invitational Tournament quarterfinal in Piscataway, Penn State rallied from a second-half deficit to defeat Rutgers for its first trip to the NIT semifinals.
| BEFORE & AFTER |
LAST TIME OUT
MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Frank Kaminsky had 18 points and 14 rebounds, Nigel Hayes scored 21 points and No. 4 Wisconsin shot a blistering 63 percent from the field to beat Penn State 89-72 on Wednesday.
The Badgers (13-1) won their sixth straight with Kaminsky leading a balanced attack. The preseason All-American had secured his sixth double-double of the season by midway through the second half with Wisconsin comfortably ahead by double digits.
D.J. Newbill scored 29 points for Penn State (12-2), which had its 10-game winning streak snapped. The Big Ten's leading scorer was 5-of-11 shooting in the second half after going 6 of 7 in the first.
Wisconsin's athletic frontcourt asserted control after halftime, with Kaminsky and Hayes getting to the basket at will. Forward Sam Dekker scored 17 after shooting 7 of 10 from the field. [RECAP]
UP NEXT
The Nittany Lions, who open the Big Ten slate with three of their first four games on the road, will welcome Michigan to the Bryce Jordan Center for the lone home game in the stretch. The game will tipoff at 7 p.m. Tuesday and be broadcast on BTN.
The Wolverines are 8-5 on the season and started 1-0 in the Big Ten with an overtime win vs. Illinois. They face Purdue in West Lafayette Saturday afternoon.
Penn State and Michigan have met 42 times previously with the Wolverines holding a 30-12 advantage. The Nittany Lions' last win in the series was Feb. 27, 2013 when they knocked off then-No. 4 Michigan, 84-78, en route to the UM's appearance in the national championship game.