PISCATAWAY - It was a big-time college basketball atmosphere, with all the trimmings.

Bobbleheads of the head coach were distributed to the sellout crowd, while an overflowing student section did its level best to impact the outcome from beyond the baseline, and well-heeled alumni crowded close to the court.

And it happened on a Wednesday night at the Rutgers Athletic Center, against a Penn State team that showed up with a 12-17 record for the Scarlet Knights’ last home game.

Unfortunately, while the home team’s young talent gave everyone a glimpse of what the fuss is about, their dramatic late comeback fell short, 66-65. Trailing by 20 points early in the second half, it came down to the final seconds as Josh Reaves blocked a Myles Johnson shot from right under the basket just before the buzzer, after Geo Baker, who was held scoreless, and Caleb McConnell missed open looks in the final 10 seconds.

But even with the disappointing finish, the overall scene Wednesday night was in stark contrast to the one that played less than two miles away last November, when HighPoint.com Stadium was completely devoid of any excitement for the home finale against Penn State, the half-filled stands a sign that even Nittany Lions’ fans decided it wasn’t worth the effort.

The evidence is mounting.

Rutgers is becoming a basketball school now, not a football school, with the excitement surrounding Wednesday night’s game a sign of the metamorphosis the hoops program is undergoing in Year 3 under coach Steve Pikiell, with the fifth sellout of the season, the most in 14 years, on the heels of their first road win over a ranked opponent in 11 years, while seven conference wins is their most in 13 years, when they had their last winning season.

``Unbelievable environment,'' Pikiell said. ``I want to thank everyone for coming out. This is not how we wanted to end this last game.

``I'm really excited about the RAC. It’s become a tough place to play. When we go on the road, every place is tough. Every place, and now this is becoming a tough place to play. I’m really excited about that, and I’m really excited about my team.''

Unfortunately, Rutgers saw its hopes of getting a bid to the NIT all but extinguished, having lost all five games in which the RAC was packed this season.

Against the Nittany Lions, the Scarlet Knights got off to an incredibly shaky start and were never quite able to recover. When they trailed 37-19 at halftime, they were 0-for-10 from downtown.

In the second half, a basket by Ron Harper Jr., followed by a steal and slam dunk by McConnell cut Penn State’s lead to 45-34, forcing a Nittany Lion timeout. After the break, it was Harper scoring on a tough drive in transition to get the deficit down to single digits with 14 minutes to play.

The key run began with Rutgers trailing 53-40 with 11:40 to play. Over the next seven minutes they went on an 18-8 run, with Ron Harper Jr. playing a key role in comeback. His 3-pointer cut it to 58-48, and later his steal and subsequent 3-pointer at the other end cut the deficit to 60-55 with 6:22 to play.

The lead was down to 66-65 on Myles Johnson tip-in with 1:40 to play. But with the ball with a chance to win the game at the end, the blocked shot inside in the final seconds ended the comeback threat.

Harper Jr. led the Scarlet Knights with 14 points, while Omoyuri added 12 points.

``We don’t like to lose, so right now, we’re just really mad at ourselves,'' said center Shaq Doorson, who was honored on Senior Night. ``The crowd came out here to support us and they had a lot of energy, so in the second half we made sure we came out with a lot of energy and the crowd got us into it.''

Still, the job Pikiell has done making Rutgers not just respectable again, but dangerous to virtually anyone, if they play well. Meanwhile, football, which opened spring practice Thursday, reverted to laughing-stock status with a 1-11 campaign.

This was the latest evidence of the change that's happening at Rutgers.

The Scarlet Knights came out in the second half and played with passion, but their inexperience hurt them more than anything on this night.

``I was proud of our team, especially the second half,'' Pikiell said. ``When you get down 20 points in a Big Ten game it’s hard to come back.

``You can’t spot them that many points, but I’m proud of our guys, they responded at halftime . If we play like that we’ll be fine, but we have to play like that for 40 minutes.''

But the good thing if you're a Rutgers' fan is that this program is on the upswing, and there figures to be a lot more nights just like this, likely with different results, in the years to come.

Stephen Edelson is a USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey columnist: sedelson@gannettnj.com.