PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The No. 20 Penn State men's basketball team (12-2, 2-1) meets Rutgers (11-3, 2-1) at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 7 at The RAC. The broadcast will be carried by the Big Ten Network and available on Fox Sports Go mobile app.
The Nittany Lions and Scarlet Knights split their two games in 2018-19 with each team winning on the road. Three of the last four games between these two teams have been decided by four points or less.
Tuesday's away game at Rutgers is the Nittany Lions' first true road game since a loss to then-No. 6 Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio, on Dec. 7.
WATCH: BTN & Fox Sports Go mobile app
Brandon Gaudin (pxp) & Bob Wenzel (analyst)
LISTEN: Penn State Sports Network
Steve Jones (pxp) & Dick Jerardi (analyst)
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ROSTER: Penn State | Rutgers
SCHEDULE: Penn State | Rutgers
STATS: Penn State | Rutgers
GAME NOTES: Penn State | Rutgers
MEDIA GUIDE: Penn State | Rutgers
RUTGERS
Coach: Steve Pikiell (Connecticut, 1990)
Record at Rutgers: 55-57 (Fourth season)
Career Record: 247-213 (15th season)
2019-20 Record: 11-3, 2-1 Big Ten
Top Scorers
#24 Ron Harper So., F – 11.7 ppg
Rebounder
#15 Myles Johnson, So., C – 9.1 rpg
Top Assists Leader
#0 Geo Baker, Jr., G – 4.0 apg (out last game w/injury)
PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS
Coach: Patrick Chambers (Philadelphia, 1994)
Penn State Record: 139-142 (Ninth season)
Career Record: 181-170 (11th season)
2019-20 Record: 12-2, 2-1 Big Ten
Top Scorer
#11 Lamar Stevens, Sr., F – 16.4 ppg
Top Rebounder
#24 Mike Watkins, Sr., F – 9.0 rpg
Top Assists Leader
#0 Myreon Jones, So., G – 3.0 apg
STARTING 5
Three of the last four games between Penn State and Rutgers have been decided by four points or less. Each team won on the road during the 2018-19 season with the games decided by a combined total of five points.
With its win over Iowa Saturday at The Palestra, Penn State won its first league game of the new year for the eighth time in 28 Big Ten seasons and second time in the coach Patrick Chambers era.
Penn State is 21st in the kenpom.com rankings, its highest rating this season.
This is the fourth time in Penn State's Big Ten era (28th season) it has reached 12 wins in 14 games (1995-96: 13-1; 2014-15: 12-2; 2008-09: 12-2 & 2019-20: 12-2).
Senior forward Lamar Stevens, fourth on Penn State's all-time scoring list (1,889 career points), needs 11 to reach 1,900. Stevens is seven field goals shy of 700 in his career, and would become one of only three Nittany Lions to reach that total.
SERIES VS. RUTGERS
Of the current Big Ten opponents, Penn State and Rutgers have the most previous meetings with 74. Penn State leads the overall series 42-32 and is 5-3 in Big Ten play vs. the Scarlet Knights.
Neither team has won two games in a row in the series since Penn State won the final meeting of 2015-16 (2/20/16) and first of 2016-17 (1/1/17).
Series streak: Penn State, W1
Overall series: Penn State leads 30-17
at Rutgers: Rutgers leads 22-16
Last game: at Piscataway, N.J.
Penn State 66, Rutgers 65, 3/6/2019
Chambers vs. Rutgers: 5-3
LONGEST SERIES VS. BIG TEN FOE
Penn State and Rutgers have played the most previous games among all teams on the current Big Ten roster at 74 (42-32 PSU series advantage) as well as the earliest game. The first contest between the Nittany Lions and Scarlet Knights took place on Feb. 24, 1922, seven seasons before a Dec. 31, 1928 game with Northwestern.
BEST OF BOTH WORLDS
NIttany Lion freshman Seth Lundy will have two "homecomings" of sorts after Penn State's game in Philadephia Saturday. Lundy is from Paulsboro, N.J., and played at Roman Catholic.
JUST DOWN THE STREET
Assistant coach Kevin Freeman, in his second year on the Penn State staff, played at nearby Paterson Catholic.
WHEN PENN STATE IS RANKED...
Penn State is 18-11 when playing as a team ranked in the Associated Press poll, a record which includes a 3-0 mark this season.
BY THE NUMBERS
2 - Lamar Stevens is one of only two active NCAA student-athletes with at least 1,800 career points and 750 career rebounds.
4 - Four Nittany Lions are ranked in the Big Ten's individual list for steals: Wheeler (1), Stevens (t-3), M. Jones (t-6) and Brockington (t-12).
5 - The two games between Penn State and Rutgers in 2018-19 were decided by a total of five points: Jan. 26, Rutgers 64-60; March 6, Penn State 66-65.
8 - Penn State has scored at least 80 points eight times this season with three games of 90 or more points in 2019-20.
17 - Penn State's NCAA NET rating as of Jan. 6, 2020.
24 - Saturday's win over Iowa saw 24 lead changes, most in any game for Penn State since at least 2011.
40 - Penn State's class of 2020 earned a top-40 ranking from 247Sports.
63.6 - Average PSU score in eight meetings vs. Rutgers as a B1G opponent.
LAST TIME OUT: LIONS ELECTRIFY PALESTRA WITH FIFTH-STRAIGHT VICTORY
Penn State extended its win streak to five games with an 89-86 win over No. 23 Iowa Saturday in The Palestra. The teams battled for 40 minutes as PSU secured the win by making its final five shots and Myles Dread made six free throws in the final 30 seconds.
Philadelphia product Izaiah Brockington turned in a career-high 23 points, scoring 15 points in the second half. He and Curtis Jones Jr. were catalysts with 39 of Penn State's 46 bench points as Lamar Stevens and Mike Watkins were hampered by foul trouble. Curtis Jones went 4-5 in the second half and was 3-3 in 3-point field goals.
The sell-out crowd witnessed 24 lead changes and 10 ties. The Nittany Lions surged in the final 4:37, going 5-5 from the floor keyed by Watkins dunk to pull Penn State within two points, 76-74. Curtis Jones Jr. knocked in a 3-pointer with 3:03 from the left wing to give the Nittany Lions their first lead, 77-76, in more than 10 minutes.
Iowa's Lukas Garza scored his game-high 34th point on a free throw to tie the game at 79. Watkins' fast break dunk, for an 81-79 PSU lead, was followed by a critical Watkins' block with 65 seconds left.
Iowa pulled within two, 83-81. Dread made two free throws to nudge PSU to 85-81, and added four more. Hawkeye Joe Toussaint had 16 points in the second half, with two baskets in the final three seconds.
The Nittany Lions trailed by as many as seven points in the second half. PSU held an eight-point lead with 3:02 before the break, but the Hawkeyes had a 9-0 run to grab a 38-37 lead. Dread grabbed an offensive rebound and hit a jumper for a 39-38 PSU halftime lead.
Four Nittany Lions finished with double-digits in scoring, as Stevens and Curtis Jones Jr. had 16 and Dread 14. Dread grabbed a team and career-best seven rebounds and had a team-best four assists.
