Penn State Basketball Gets 'Stuck in the Mud' in Loss to Rutgers

The Nittany Lions dug another deep first-half hole, leading to frustration on the court.

Penn State Nittany Lions head coach Mike Rhoades gestures from the bench during the first half against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at Bryce Jordan Center. | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

STATE COLLEGE | Penn State men’s basketball had one of its slowest starts of the season and lost 85-72 to Rutgers on Wednesday night at the Bryce Jordan Center.

“We had a really good shootaround today and great spirit, but we must have left it there because the start of the game just put us in a hole, we were stuck in the mud,” Penn State coach Mike Rhoades said after the game. 

The Scarlet Knights got off to a quick start, going up by 11 points in the first six minutes of the game. It took another 30 seconds for the Nittany Lions to get their first points off a jumper by Kayden Mingo. Rutgers led by 19 at halftime.

After his team split road games last week at Washington and Oregon, Rhoades discussed how Penn State has handled games inconsistently mentally. The Nittany Lions were in a similar situation against Rutgers and struggled moving on to the next play.

“Looking up and seeing we’re down by so much, you know, makes us anxious to make a play and get the game back to one possession,” Mingo said. 

Penn State (11-16, 2-14 Big Ten) entered the game favored in a conference game for the first time this season. However, first-half turnovers were an issue for Penn State, as Rutgers scored 19 points off 10 takeaways. 

“It really killed us,” Rhoades said. 

Penn State played much better in the second half, scoring 52 points, but after being down 39-20 at halftime, the closest it got was eight points. 

“You shoot 68 percent at home in the second half, you’d think you’re right in the game,” Rhoades said. “But we put ourselves in too big of a hole in the first half, and that was disappointing. Credit to Rutgers, I thought they came in here and took it to us.”

RELATED: Mike Rhoades remains confident Penn State is on the right path

Visible frustration from the Nittany Lions

Penn State Nittany Lions head coach Mike Rhoades gestures from the bench during the first half against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at Bryce Jordan Center. | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

With the loss, Penn State fell into sole possession of last place in the conference. That produced frustration, which some players did not hide. For instance, after baskets fell for the Scarlet Knights, Nittany Lions senior Josh Reed stood on the baseline, slamming the basketball hard before inbounding it back in play. 

Reed scored a career-high 22 points, but Rhoades said that “when he’s frustrated, it makes the game harder.” Rhoades wants his players to respond rather than react. 

Reed and guard Kayden Mingo have been Rhoades’ go-to leaders on the court because of how they step up and communicate. As frustrating as this stretch has been, Rhoades said it hasn’t stopped the team from showing up and still putting in full effort. 

“We have some really good souls in there and, you know, is everyone perfect? No, but there’s nobody trying to wreck the boat,” Rhoades said. “There’s nobody showing up the wrong way. It’s hard but it is what it is.”

Rutgers proves to be the better young team

Rutgers Scarlet Knights forward Dylan Grant (9) shoots the ball as Penn State Nittany Lions guard Kayden Mingo (4) defends during the second half at Bryce Jordan Center. | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

Penn State has one of the youngest teams in all of college basketball, but Rutgers (11-15, 4-11) also has a very young roster compared to other teams in the Big Ten. The Scarlet Knights have seven freshmen on their roster and, before defeating Penn State, had not won on the road this season. 

“They’ve overcome a lot, so they have a great spirit about them,” Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell said. “They really followed the scouting report today … so they’re starting to soak in the things that are really important in these games. I think our veterans are leading, but it’s our practices. We’ve been practicing with a little different zest, so that’s a big part of it.”

Freshman guard Lino Mark came off the bench, played 16 minutes, scored 12 points and missed only one shot from the field. Rutgers had 28 overall bench points, which was pivotal.

Like Penn State, Rutgers has struggled this season, losing to the Big Ten teams with older, more experienced rosters. But Pikiell said the Scarlet Knights are handling the tough stretch well.

“Our defense got us off to a good start, so these guys are getting better,” he said. “If you come to our practices, these guys work. It’s a really good group and we’re starting to kind of put it together.”

Penn State had several moments this season where it played good stretches of good basketball, but it just hasn’t been consistent enough to win, or in some cases, keep games close and remain in striking distance.

“They just had juice, man,” Rhoades said about the difference between the teams. “The start of the game just really crushed us.”

Up next

Penn State goes back on the road to face No. 9 Nebraska on Saturday. Tipoff is slated for 2 p.m. ET in Lincoln.

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