Rutgers: Penn St. pulls an inside job on Knights:
“Just when Rutgers was getting a little full of itself — and starting to receive some attention for a couple of solid victories to start the year — the Scarlet Knights were dealt a sobering reminder last night: Their inside weaknesses can be exposed at almost any time by any team.
“That includes a Penn State team picked to finish last in the Big Ten and suddenly forced to rely on an all-freshman starting backcourt.
” ‘It’s a major shocker for us,’ Rutgers coach Gary Waters said after the Knights were dealt an 83-80 loss by Penn State at the Rutgers Athletic Center in Piscataway. ‘I don’t know if it’s a wake-up call, but it will definitely send me back to the drawing board.
‘St. Mary’s scored 50 of its 58 points inside. Charlotte scored inside. Now this. We’ve got some problems in there.’
“And the Nittany Lions (4-2) exploited all of them.
“They forced Rutgers big men Byron Joynes and Jimmie Inglis into foul trouble, then forced promising freshman forward Ollie Bailey to the bench for a prolonged stretch in the second half because
Waters was unhappy with his defense.
“The Nittany Lions scored inside with burly Aaron Johnson and they also managed to squeeze out gutsy performances from the only two guards they had available after second-leading scorer Marlon Smith was sidelined for the game with an ankle injury after just three minutes.
“With sophomore Ben Luber on leave from the team — he started the first three games at point guard — that left all of the backcourt responsibilities to freshmen Mike Walker and Danny Morrissey.
“Walker, playing the full 40 minutes, had 15 points on 6-for-9 shooting. Morrissey, logging a career-high 37 minutes, had 12 points and six assists.
” ‘I didn’t see this coming,’ Rutgers senior Ricky Shields said. “I don’t know if we had an aura of invincibility, but that team was prepared to win and snuck one out, just like we did at Charlotte.’ ”