STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – Rutgers men's basketball led from start to finish and earned its first Big Ten road win of the season with an 85-72 victory over Penn State Tuesday night at the Bryce Jordan Center.
The Scarlet Knights (11-15, 4-11 Big Ten) set the tone immediately, opening the game on a 9-0 run and never trailing. Rutgers carried a 39-20 lead into halftime — its largest halftime advantage of the season — and led for 39:54 of game time in a wire-to-wire performance.
Junior guard Tariq Francis controlled the game from the opening tip. Francis scored 15 of his game-high 22 points in the first half and finished 7-of-12 from the field and 7-of-8 at the free throw line, adding seven assists. It marked his ninth 20-plus point effort of the season.
Rutgers shot an efficient 56.6 percent (30-of-53) from the field and knocked down 20-of-23 free throws (87 percent). The Knights were especially sharp in the second half, shooting 60 percent from the floor to answer multiple Penn State pushes.
After the early 9-0 burst, Rutgers continued to build separation behind its defensive pressure. The Scarlet Knights forced 15 Penn State turnovers and converted them into 28 points. RU also produced 12 fast-break points and received 28 points from its bench.
A decisive stretch midway through the first half pushed the margin to double figures for good. Rutgers used an 11-3 run to extend the lead to 25-12 and later closed the half with a strong defensive stand to take a 19-point cushion into the break.
Penn State (11-16, 2-14 Big Ten) trimmed the deficit to single digits midway through the second half, but Rutgers responded each time. A key sequence with just under two minutes remaining saw Francis drill a three-pointer off a turnover to push the lead back to 13 and effectively seal the game.
Four Scarlet Knights scored in double figures. Along with Francis' 22, Dylan Grant added 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting, Harun Zrno scored 13 points with three three-pointers, and Lino Mark chipped in 12 on an efficient 5-of-6 from the field.
Darren Buchanan Jr. reached a major milestone in the second half, scoring his 1,000th career collegiate point on a layup with just under seven minutes remaining.
Rutgers finished with 36 points in the paint and 26 rebounds, holding Penn State to 3-of-17 shooting from three-point range (17.6 percent). The Knights have now won five of the last seven meetings with the Nittany Lions and own 39 all-time victories in the series.
Rutgers heads to Minnesota Friday for a game at noon on BTN looking to win three straight.
