Rutgers Escapes Penn 70-69 Behind Francis’ Career Night

After a tough outing at the Prudential Center, Rutgers men’s basketball returned home to Jersey Mike’s Arena to face off against Penn. With Rutgers fans expecting a nice bounce-back victory, it nearly did not happen, but an improbable late comeback and a Tariq Francis game-winning three-pointer gave the Scarlet Knights a 70-69 victory. Francis finished with 34 points, setting a career high in the process and putting the team on his back.

Penn got off to a strong start, with TJ Power and Michael Zanoni nailing three-pointers to jump out to a 10-2 lead in Piscataway. The Quakers came into the game shooting over 40% of their shots from distance, and they continued that trend early in this contest.

Denis Badalau banked in the opening shot of the game for the Scarlet Knights, and Tariq Francis scored a couple of paint buckets early after a quiet showing against Seton Hall. Rutgers rebounded from a slow start to cut the Penn lead to 12-8 with the Quakers going on a scoring drought over three minutes. Penn built a 21-15 lead with under eight minutes to go, but Francis continued to deliver, cutting the lead to three.

However, Power hit another triple, and the Quakers built their lead to 26-18 around the five-minute mark of the first half. After the Scarlet Knights started 0-9 from beyond the arc, Harun Zrno connected from downtown to cut the lead back to five points.

But the trend repeated, Rutgers cut the lead to three before Penn scored back-to-back baskets on a fast-break, and Cam Thrower hit an open three-point shot to push Penn to a 31-23 lead. Francis finished the first half with 14 points, and the Scarlet Knights closed to within four, trailing the Quakers 33-29 at halftime.

The Quakers started the second half the way they did the first, scoring the first four points of the second half to push out to a 37-29 lead, but Jamichael Davis responded with a timely three-pointer to draw Rutgers within five once again. Davis pickpocketed Power on the other end before taking it to the rim for an and-one finish, as the Scarlet Knights cut the lead back to four points before turning the ball over on the next possession.

Rutgers finally drew even at 39 on a pair of Dylan Grant free throws and another basket by Grant, as the Scarlet Knights forced a pair of turnovers in the backcourt and converted them into four quick points. From there, it was a back-and-forth affair, with Rutgers pulling ahead 45-44 on a Grant second-chance dunk but Penn leading 48-47 after the twelve-minute media timeout.

Penn continued to show their strength, pulling ahead 53-49 into the final ten minutes as the Knights went on another extended scoring drought, but Rutgers once again pulled within one, cutting it to 54-53 at the eight-minute media timeout. Momentum shifted again in Penn’s favor as the Quakers pulled ahead 58-55 off a wide-open dunk by center Dalton Scantelbury.

With Rutgers failing to secure rebounds, Zanoni hit a three-pointer to give Penn some breathing room before Thrower hit a baseline jumper from the midrange to give the Quakers a 66-59 lead with under two and a half minutes to play. The Quakers held a six-point lead with under ninety seconds to play, with TJ Power sneaking under the basket to put back his own miss.

After a successful challenge from Steve Pikiell, the Scarlet Knights won back possession down six points, but Francis split a pair of free throws upon being fouled to cut the lead to five points. A pair of fouls from Penn resulted in Francis cashing in four free throws to cut the lead to 68-67 with under half a minute to play.

Rutgers played the free-throw game, as Power split a pair from the charity stripe, and a bad look from Harun Zrno missed. Power was sent right back to the free-throw line, but came up empty, and Francis pulled up from distance as time ran down to give the Scarlet Knights the lead with less than a second remaining. Power’s inbound pass hit the jumbotron as he was looking down the court like a quarterback, and Francis officially sealed the game at the line, making sure the Quakers would not have sufficient time to get a final shot off.

Francis tied his career-high with 34 points, going 9-14 from the field and 15-19 from the free throw line, hitting 1-4 threes but connecting on the most important one to push Rutgers over the edge. Outside of Francis, the Knights did not have much help. Grant and Davis finished with eight points apiece, while Zrno cooled off after three straight games in double figures, adding five points in a game where every point counted.

Power led the Quakers with 19 points and 13 rebounds, with Zanoni adding 12 and Scantelbury scoring 13, surprisingly having his way at the rim as Ogbole played just six minutes as Pikeill opted for a smaller lineup. Consequently, Rutgers was outrebounded 42-29, including 30-21 on the defensive end. Both teams had poor shooting nights, but the Knights were just 3-20 from downtown, a measly 15% from beyond the arc.

Despite Rutgers trailing in field goal percentage, three-point percentage, rebounds, and assists, they did capitalize on eight steals. Penn turned the ball over 14 times, which resulted in 21 points for Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights will now have another long layoff, next taking the court on December 29th against Delaware State.

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