D’Marco Dunn drew into the starting lineup and finished with 14 points, seven rebounds and three steals as visiting Penn State pushed past Rutgers 61-46 on Wednesday night in Piscataway, N.J.
Dunn started because Penn State’s leading scorer, Kanye Clary, sat out with a face injury he suffered in Saturday’s loss to Minnesota. Ace Baldwin Jr. posted a game-high 15 points to go with seven assists, five rebounds and five steals for the Nittany Lions (10-11, 4-6 Big Ten).
Gavin Griffiths led Rutgers with 11 points and Jamichael Davis scored 10 as the Scarlet Knights (10-10, 2-7) lost their third straight game.
Both teams converted on less than 40 percent of their shots from the floor, but Rutgers wound up with a season low in points, made just 1 of 17 3-point attempts and committed a season-worst 20 turnovers. The Scarlet Knights suffered a field-goal drought of 9:03 to wind down the first half.
The Nittany Lions survived 16 turnovers of their own.
Rutgers opened the game with a 6-0 run and led 12-5 after Griffiths’ baseline dunk at the 12:38 mark. Griffiths scored again to make it 14-7 with 10:01 to play in the half before the Scarlet Knights went cold.
Dunn’s layup and 3-pointer kickstarted a 14-2 Penn State stretch, which saw Baldwin give Penn State its first lead at 16-15 with a steal and breakaway layup.
Penn State led by eight before Rutgers finally ended its field-goal drought at the 58-second mark. Derek Simpson made four free throws in the final minute to cut Penn State’s lead to 26-24 at halftime.
The Nittany Lions scored eight of the first 10 points of the second half but Cliff Omoruyi and Davis answered with layups. Two possessions later, Griffiths made Rutgers’ first and only 3-pointer of the game to bring it within 37-33 with 13:41 to play.
With 4:46 to go, Zach Hicks had a 3-pointer bounce off the rim and drop. That gave Penn State a 51-41 lead, the first double-digit lead for either side.
–Field Level Media
