UNIVERSITY PARK, PA -- Rutgers' men's basketball's two-game winning streak came to an end, as RU fell to Penn State 80-72 at the Bryce Jordan Center Monday night. The Scarlet Knights now stand at 10-9 overall and 3-5 in the conference ahead of Saturday's game against No. 8/8 Michigan State at Madison Square Garden.
The reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Week, Ace Bailey, led the way with a game-high 30 points. It was Bailey's second highest output of his career, just behind a 39-point performance at Indiana earlier this month. Bailey shot 13-of-15 from the field (86.7%). It marked the third most field goals made in a Big Ten game for an RU player, and the second best field goal percentage, the best percentage of any qualified RU player in a league game, just behind Caleb McConnell's 8-of-8 performance against Nebraska in January of 2020. Bailey leads the team in conference games, averaging 20.8 points per game against league foes.
Rutgers shot a season-best 47.6% from behind the 3-point line (10-of-21).The team's 17 assist and 9 steals were the second most this season. The team was undone by a season-most 17 turnovers.
Lathan Sommerville scored 12 points in the contest. It was his second highest output of the year, just behind 14 points in the season's second game on November 11.
Freshmen Dylan Harper and Sommerville got the scoring started for RU, combining for an early 9-2 advantage. Ace Bailey added 10 points in 15 minutes including back-to-back three-pointers with under four minutes remaining in the first half. Penn State's eight threes and Rutgers' 12 turnovers allowed the Nittany Lions to take a 37-35 lead into the break.
Bailey picked up where he left off in the second half with 20 points after the break. He made four three-pointers and was a game-high +12.
There were four ties and 13 lead changes before Penn State went on an 11-0 run midway through the second half. Rutgers suffered a four-minute scoring drought in that span. After trailing by 10 at the final media timeout, Rutgers made it a two-point game with under two minutes remaining, but strong Penn State free-throw shooting made the deficit too large to overcome.
Penn State shot 22-for-27 from the charity stripe, Rutgers 11-for-14. Penn State hit 10 threes on 48 percent shooting, Rutgers finished with seven. RU shot 50 percent overall from the field.
Rutgers won the rebounding battle 34-22 led by Bailey and junior Emmanuel Ogbole - they each finished with seven. Sommerville added six himself.
The Scarlet Knights and Nittany Lions split the season series at one apiece after Rutgers defeated them 80-76 at home on Dec. 10.
