Penn State's regular season came to an end with a disappointing loss as the Nittany Lions fell to Rutgers 74-62 in their regular-season finale Sunday afternoon. Despite hopes of finishing with momentum heading into the Big Ten Tournament, Penn State struggled early as Rutgers built leads of 20-10 and 37-14 before eventually stretching the advantage to 43-21 at halftime.
The Lions couldn't find their footing from the opening tip. Penn State wouldn't get closer than 12 points the rest of the way as Rutgers closed out the victory. While Penn State scored 13 of the first 21 second-half points to pull within 17 at 51-34, the Scarlet Knights' early dominance proved too much to overcome in a game that lacked urgency for both sides as Penn State had already locked in 18th place in the conference.
On the bright side for Penn State, several players put up solid individual numbers. Freshman Ivan Jurić led the Nittany Lions with 16 points and six rebounds, while Freddie Dilione V finished with 14 points and six boards, and Kayden Mingo contributed 13 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Senior Josh Reed tallied 12 points and a team-best eight rebounds. The effort was there individually, but the team's defensive struggles—allowing 79.6 points per game with opponents shooting 50.2% against the defense—continue to haunt the squad.
Penn State finishes the regular season at 12-19 overall and 3-17 in Big Ten play, while Rutgers improved to 13-18 on the season and 6-14 in conference action. The Lions will head to the Big Ten Tournament as they look to make a deeper postseason run.