Penn State Basketball: Nittany Lions Look to Right the Ship Versus Rutgers
How will Penn State respond after a triple-overtime loss in the last game?
It’s been a tough season for Penn State head coach Patrick Chambers and his Nittany Lions. Although there was a lot of promise heading into the year thanks to a trio of talented freshmen, things have turned sour during the Big Ten portion of the schedule.
The Nittany Lions have just for conference wins, while suffering six losses. The latest loss came in heartbreaking fashion on Wednesday night in Indiana. Down to the Hoosiers, Penn State came all the way back and eventually went to overtime. The Nittany Lions had a few chances to win throughout, but were unable to pull out the victory and ultimately fell in three overtimes.
Fortunately, next up is a team that’s also been struggling. Rutgers enters the contest with the identical overall record of 12-11 as Penn State. However, Rutgers padded their record during the non-conference schedule and have just one win in the Big Ten.
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The Scarlet Knights were dominated by Iowa in the last game and lost by 20 points.
These two teams met earlier in the year, a game that Penn State won 60-47 at Rutgers. Junior Payton Banks led the way with 20 points, including five three-pointers. Freshman guard Tony Carr provided 15 points and six rebounds in the win. The Scarlet Knights got 16 points from Mike Williams in the loss.
Penn State’s leading scorer on the season is Shep Garner, who is averaging 12.5 points a game. Freshman Mike Wallace leads the team with 8.1 rebounds a game.
Rutgers has been led this year by Corey Sanders, who’s averaging 12.4 points a game. Deshawn Freeman (11.3) and Nigel Johnson (11.0), also average double-digit points.
Saturday’s game at Bryce Jordan will tip at 1:00 p.m. and will be aired live on ESPNU.
