Men’s basketball returns home to host Penn State on Tuesday

PISCATAWAY, NJ – Rutgers men’s basketball returns to Jersey Mikes Arena on Tuesday night for the team’s first home game since November 20th. The Scarlet Knights will play their first Big Ten home game of the season when they host Penn State on Tuesday at 7 p.m., broadcast on Air Peacock.

Since the start of the 2019-20 season, Rutgers is 72-19 at Jersey Mike’s Arena. That includes a record of 4-0 at the start of this season and 16-5 over the last two years.

Winter Village will return for the next two home games. RU fans can enjoy a family-friendly pre-game event with culinary entertainment and programming three hours before the game.

 

Rutgers enters the game with an overall record of 5-4 and is looking to end a three-game losing streak, all against top majors that were nationally ranked at some point this season (No. 9 Alabama, No. 20 Texas A&M and Ohio). State, which ranked 21st in the second week poll).

Rutgers has scored at least 66 points in every game this season, reached 75 points seven times and averaged 79.7 points per game this season. Rutgers has never averaged more than 69 points per game under a head coach Steve Pikiell. The last time RU averaged over 70 points per game was 2013-14 (71.1 ppg). In fact, RU has averaged over 70 points per game for a full season since the start of the 2001-02 season.

The team is led by a duo of first-class newcomers. Guard Dylan Harper remains third nationally with 23.3 points per game Ace Bailey’s 17.9 points per game is sixth in the Big Ten. A newcomer also leads the team in blocks (Lathan Sommerville9). This trio of freshmen also represent three of the team’s top four rebounders, while Bailey leads the squad with a rebounding average of 6.0.

 

Penn State enters the game with an 8-1 record and most recently won its conference opener with an 81-70 victory over No. 8 Purdue. The only loss came in a neutral game against Clemson, with PSU also picking up a win over ACC opponent Virginia Tech.

Penn State ranks third nationally in field goal percentage (51.9%), fourth in offensive scoring percentage (90.1 ppg), fourth in steals (11.1), sixth in forced turnovers (18.0), ninth in goals rate (22.3) and 15th^Th in assists per game (18.4).

Ace Baldwin, the reigning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, leads the Nittany Lion with 15.1 points per game and has 73 assists and 19 steals. He ranks fourth nationally in assists per game (8.1). Yanic Konan Niederhauser, a Swiss native and Northern Illinois native, scored 13.3 points per game and a team-high 6.0 rebounds on 69.2 percent shooting (seventh nationally).

 

Penn State leads the all-time series 45-37 against Rutgers. RU has won three of the last four games in the series and is 7-9 against the Nittany Lions as a conference opponent since joining the Big Ten in 2015. The 37 wins over PSU are the program’s fourth-most wins against a single opponent. and most of any Big Ten team (behind Lehigh, Lafayette and Princeton). The teams played just once last season, a 61-46 Penn State victory in February at Jersey Mike’s Arena. Since 2015, RU is 4-4 in home games against Penn State.

– Four wins in the last five games against PSU
– 38^Th All-time win against Penn State
-Win the Big Ten home opener for the fifth time in the last six years.

Rutgers stays home for the Garden State Hardwood Classic on Saturday. Game time against Seton Hall is 3 p.m.