2/1/2022 basketball Edit

Comeback effort for Rutgers falls just short in OT against Northwestern

Chris Nalwasky • TheKnightReport

Beat Writer

Rutgers played the second half of its game against Northwestern on Tuesday like its season was on life support.

The Scarlet Knights were dead in the water. Lifeless. But they made a charge thanks to Paul Mulcahy, but it wasn't enough as Northwestern defeated Rutgers in overtime, 79-78, at Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Ill.

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Northwestern led by as many as 24 points with just under three minutes into the second half. Rutgers outscored the Wildcats 47-25 in the final 20 minutes. Cliff Omoruyi tied the game with two-handed slam dunk with 1.9 seconds to go. Mulcahy had the assist.

Mulcahy netted a game-high and career-high 31 points. Omoruyi finished with 22 points and Ron Harper Jr. had 16. Rutgers led just once at 72-70 on turnaround layup by Mulcahy in overtime.

"Our guys kept fighting," Rutgers head coach Steve Pikiell said. "Proud of them for that. Can't spot them 24 points. Giving up 43 points in the first half is not Rutgers basketball. We turned the ball over a lot at a alarming rate. Paul willed us. Cliff made some huge plays. Didn't get the stops in the first half."

Mulcahy made 10-of-13 shots from the floor including 2-for-3 3-pointers. He was also 9-for-11 from the foul line and had seven rebounds, seven assists, and four steals.

"Really spectacular. Grit. Will. He was great," Pikiell said. "He got to the free-throw line, got downhill, made shots. I just loved him directing the entire game. He willed us back into this basketball game."

Rutgers' comeback was not only fueled by the efforts of Mulcahy, Omoruyi, and Harper Jr. on the offensive end, but its zone defense and full court press. Northwestern had 21 turnovers and Rutgers scored 28 points off of them.

The Wildcats shot 59.3% in the first half and went 6-for-13 from behind the arc compared to 39.1% overall in the second half and just 2-of-12 from deep.

"We weren't stopping them playing man-to-man," Pikiell said. "We have different things we can go to. We took them out of rhythm. You have to do those things."

Rutgers also cashed in its chance at the foul line.

"We're a much-improved free-throw shooting team," Pikiell said. "All of those free throws came in the second half basically."

Boo Buie had 18 points to pace Northwestern. Chase Audige also had 15 points while Robbie Beren netted 11 points and Pete Nance had 10.

"You have to play 40 minutes. This is a big boy lead," Pikeill said. "Every team is good especially on the road. Give Northwestern credit. They made a couple more plays than us. They were one more better in overtime."

After Mulcahy hit a driving layup to make it 79-78 with nine seconds left, Buie missed a free throw. The rebound was grabbed by Harper Jr. who went the distance and put up a pull-up jumper that was just on line but just short.

Audige got the rebound. He missed his both of his foul shots on the other end, and a last-ditch, one-handed heave by Mulcahy dropped to the court as the buzzer sounded.

"We had no timeouts left. I trust Ron," Pikiell said. "The turnover before (on Geo Baker) hurt us. When you're in that situation and you have the ball in your leading scorer's hand -- I trust Paul, I trust Ron, and I trust Geo. It doesn't come down to that shot. It starts with that first half. It's a hard way to play."

Baker, Rutgers' second-leading scorer, didn't score. He missed all seven shot attempts including all four from long range.

"Geo will bounce back," Pikeill said. "Geo makes a lot of shots and we'll go over some of that with him. Really just disappointed with how we got started defensively and the turnovers were costly."

This was a game Rutgers had to have if it wanted to try and extend its season in March. This Northwestern game was a Quad 2 contest that would have help its NET ranking.

Now, the Scarlet Knights enter the gauntlet of the Big Ten where the next five games are against ranked teams. All but one of the remaining games are Q1 games.

"We played a great 25 minutes. Unfortunately it's a 40-minute league and you can't get off to a start like that," Pikiell said. "That's on me. Twenty-four points we spotted them but just kept fighting for that. Proud of them for that. We'll bounce back."