Big Ten standings get tighter with No. 24 Rutgers' loss to No. 18 Indiana
The race for the No. 2 spot and/or a top for finish in the Big Ten is on.
Tuesday night, No. 18 Indiana edged No. 24 Rutgers, 66-60, at Assembly Hall in Bloomington, IN. The win for the Hoosiers snapped a six-game winning streak for Rutgers in the head-to-head series.
Indiana has won three-straight games and seven of eight.
Rutgers is now 16-8 on the season and Indiana is 17-7. Both teams are 8-5 in Big Ten play and tied for second in the conference. Illinois, Northwestern, Iowa and Michigan are each 7-5 and Maryland and Michigan State are each 7-6.
The Scarlet Knights go to Illinois on Saturday at 2:00 p.m., a place that hasn't been kind to the team from New Jersey over the years.
Playing without Mawot Mag, who is out for the rest of the year with a torn ACL injury, Rutgers found itself down by 14 points on the road. Rutgers couldn't buy a bucket as it shot just 39.7% from the floor in the contest.
It shot numerous 3-pointers and connected on only 8-of-25 (32%). The 25 threes were the second most it put up this year (it had 26 attempts versus Coppin State). Seniors Caleb McConnell (1-for-12) and Paul Mulcahy (1-for-4) scored only two points each. Mulcahy bucketed 17 points in the second half alone in the previous game against Michigan State.
Rutgers was also out-rebounded 35-31, outscored in the paint, and led for a mere 36 seconds in the game early on. Indiana also went 17-for-24 from the free-throw line while Rutgers went 6-of-10.
Despite all of that, Rutgers had a chance to tie the game with 3:02 left, but a McConnell 3-pointer missed. About 30 seconds later, Trayce Jackson-Davis secured a rebound of a miss from Race Thompson and scored two points on a layup. The ball fell right into his lap on a poor shot.
Indiana was then able to keep Rutgers at bay from there. Jackson-Davis finished with 20 points (8-for-14), 18 rebounds, six assists, and a block. Miller Kopp also netted 18 points for the Hoosiers. He was 4-for-6 from behind the arc. The inside-outside combo proved deadly.
"They really got out and played quickly," Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell said. "There was too much Trayce Jackson-Davis out there, but our guys fought the whole time. We could have tied it up there with three minutes left with an open three. We needed to get that one down, but we fought and it's a tough life on the road against a really good basketball team. I give Indiana a lot of credit. They were physical from the start and played really good basketball. There was a lot of Trayce Jackson-Davis and Miller Kopp and that's probably a great combination for them moving forward. They did a great job and got us today."
Indiana scored 38 points and shot 60.9% from the floor in the first half. It also had 10 assists on 14 field goals and was 7-of-10 from the free-throw line. Rutgers did a better job in the second half holding Hoosiers to 28 points, 32% shooting, and five assists. The Hoosiers were credited with six fast break points in the first half and none in the second.
Indiana scored 17 points off turnovers to Rutgers 10. The Hoosiers committed four more turnovers than the Scarlet Knights. The difference was made at the foul line. Rutgers held Indiana without a field goal for a stretch of eight minutes, but it was still able to tally points at the charity stripe.
"I just thought we gave up too many points in transition. I tell our guys all the time that we can't defend the foul line. They got us by a high number from the free throw line. That really was the difference. They scored 11 extra points at the line," Pikiell said. "We have to defend these guys without fouling. That becomes a huge key in this game and it is just another way to score. When the defense was set, I felt pretty good about it. But we have to defend without fouling."
Cliff Omoruyi paced Rutgers with 15 points, thought he had just four rebounds. Cam Spencer totaled 14 points with three steals to bring him to 57 on the year, the 10th-most in a season for a Rutgers player.
To Rutgers, this was just another game on the schedule. Everyone knows about the winning streak it had coming into the contest with the Hoosiers and how it won each game with toughness.
Jackson-Davis was relieved to finally have won against the Scarlet Knights.
"It's very important," he said. "They're a tough team. They always bring it. They have a lot pieces. "To finally get over that hump is big for us. We have to keep moving forward."
Rutgers, a team that shows fight night in and night out, will look to get back on track again on Saturday against the Fighting Illini.
"We have to battle back and it doesn't get any easier here," Pikiell said. "We're still on the road again. Three straight trips here on the road away from Jersey Mike's. It's not easy right now."
Follow Chris Nalwasky on Twitter @ChrisNalwasky.
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