Rutgers Scarlet Knights vs Penn St. Nittany Lions Box Score on Jan 21, 2021

Izaiah Brockington scored 17 points as host Penn State never trailed and recorded a 75-67 victory over struggling Rutgers on Thursday night in University Park, Pa.

Brockington helped Penn State (4-6, 1-5 Big Ten) end a five-game losing streak as Penn State led by as many 17 before withstanding a late Rutgers comeback attempt.

Penn State leading scorer Myreon Jones also scored 17 after going scoreless in the Nittany Lions' impressive first half. Seth Lundy added 16 and 10 rebounds.

Penn State rebounded nicely from Tuesday's loss to No. 22 Illinois by shooting 49.1 percent and outrebounding the Scarlet Knights (7-5, 3-6) by a 40-27 margin, which included 12 offensive boards.

Rutgers got within four points down the stretch in the second half several times but could not complete the comeback and dropped its fifth straight since beating Purdue on Dec. 29.

Ron Harper Jr. led the Scarlet Knights with 18 points on 7-of-15 shooting. He scored 14 points in the second half and made several shots to keep Rutgers within striking distance in the final minutes.

Myles Johnson added 14 points for Rutgers, who shot 44.3 percent but could not overcome shooting 36.7 percent in the first half and missing 11 of its first 17 shots after halftime.

Penn State started quickly and held a 15-4 lead on a layup by Sam Sessoms less than seven minutes into the game, and the Nittany Lions expanded their cushion to 30-18 on a jumper by Sessoms with 4:42 remaining. Another Sessoms jumper upped the lead to 34-20 with 2:21 to go and Penn State held a 34-24 lead at halftime.

The lead grew to 47-30 on a 3-pointer by Trent Buttrick with 16:01 left shortly after Rutgers pulled its starters. Rutgers used an 11-0 run to get within 54-47 on a layup by Geo Baker with 7:56 remaining and Harper's jumper made it 68-64 with 2:45 remaining.

The Scarlet Knights were within 70-66 on a layup by Johnson with 1:57 remaining but Harper missed a short jumper with 74 seconds left, and Lundy hit two free throws for a 72-66 lead with 48 seconds to go.

After a free throw by Jones made it 73-67 with 26 seconds left, Harper missed a 3-point try five seconds later.

--Field Level Media