Behind the dazzling 40-point performance of senior forward Keith Hughes, Rutgers snapped Penn State's 24-game home winning streak with an emotional 79-78 win last night at Rec Hall.

Rutgers (12-6 and 7-3 in the Atlantic 10), which never trailed in the game, held on to third place in the A-10 with its first win at Rec Hall since Jan. 12, 1985.

"Anytime you beat a team like Penn State on their home court, it's a big win," Rutgers coach Bob Wenzel said. "These are the games that, in my time here, we haven't won -- now we've gotten rid of that monkey."

The Lions (12-6, 5-4), which trailed by 12 with 9:44 remaining, rallied late in the second half and had a chance to win the game in the closing seconds.

"We had a good run there in the second half, but not good enough. We didn't play well the first half, that's for sure," Coach Bruce Parkhill said. "We've been dodging bullets for several games. We're not physically talented enough to coast and still hang in there. We have to play real well and real hard for 40 minutes and we didn't."

Forward DeRon Hayes, who netted a career-high 23 points, sank a 16-foot jumper from the top of the key to knot the score at 75 with 2:37 remaining. The Lions outscored Rutgers 16-4 during the run.

The red-hot Hughes, whose point total is the most ever by an opponent at Rec Hall, was silenced down the stretch by the resurgent Penn State defense. Abandoning the zone, The Lions went man-to-man. That and a scrambling Lion press pestered Hughes late as he missed his last seven shots.

Hughes' only points in the final 10 minutes came from the foul line. Following a Dabbs put-back, Hughes hit the front end of a one-and-one to build the Scarlet Knights' lead back to three at 78-75.

James Barnes answered by netting a foul shot on the ensuing series. Then Hayes erased a Lion deficit once again by nailing another jumper to the right of the foul line with 39 seconds remaining. The Scarlet Knights then worked the ball down court, attempting to run down the game clock and sink the game-winner.

Guard Earl Duncan penetrated on Monroe Brown and drew a foul with only nine seconds remaining. The senior, who finished with 18 points, buried the second shot after the first rolled out, giving the Rutgers a slim one-point lead.

Lion point guard Freddie Barnes immediately pushed the ball up court, looking for a shot before the Scarlet Knights could get set on defense. Rutgers denied the ball inside and forced a Penn State timeout with four seconds remaining.

"We told the guys to come down and . . . if they got something they felt good about to go ahead and take it and if they didn't to call a timeout," Parkhill said.

Forward James Barnes inbounded the ball to Hayes who was immediately covered by a pair of Scarlet Knight defenders in the corner. Pressed, Hayes fed back to Barnes who couldn't get a handle on the ball. The loose ball fell to the ground as time expired.

Penn State started sluggish once again. Rutgers jumped out to an early five-point lead after the teams traded turnovers out of the gate.

The Lions found themselves in early foul trouble as James Barnes picked up his second with 16:27 in the half and sat out the rest of the period. Center Dave Degitz missed over six minutes after picking up a pair of fouls himself.

With the duo out of the contest, Rutgers took over. Hughes and center Brent Dabbs sliced through the lane with ease and set crossing picks for each other in the paint, getting themselves free from the smaller Lion reserves.

"Our game plan was to go inside and to be physical with them. We know they like the inside game," Hughes said. "Tonight, we took it to them."

Hughes' animated play posed an insurmountable obstacle for a Penn State team trying to chip away at a Rutgers lead -- a lead which grew to 10 late in the half. Hughes combined his powerful inside penetration with a sizzling 5-of-7 from the 3-point line.

"Teams want me to take the 3-pointers because I'm known for my inside game," Hughes said. "They gave it for me and I took it. It opened the court up for me."

The Lions hung tough in the half and, on the strength of two Freddie Barnes' 3-point strikes pulled to within one, trailing 45-44 at the intermision. Barnes finished with 21 points, including 3-of-6 from long range, to tie his career high.