PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Some late game heroics from junior guard Corey Sanders helped Rutgers snap a three-game skid with a 64-60 victory over Wisconsin. The victory moved the Scarlet Knights to 11-6 on the season and marked their first Big Ten triumph of the season.
The win was much needed after three straight losses to Stony Brook, Hartford and Purdue.
“We had good practices, we plugged away and it hasn't been easy for us,” head coach Steve Pikiell said. “We continued to work at it. I'm proud of these guys and their effort. We beat a really good team. I have tremendous respect for Wisconsin; 16 straight trips to the NCAA tournament and a real good team. So a good win today and happy and thankful Rutgers Nation was here and made the place loud."
Rutgers and Wisconsin were on the see-saw for more than half the game, with a lot of back and forth. Neither team could manage to sustain a lead as most were small and changing.
Rutgers started to pull away late in the game, taking a 53-46 lead with 3:42 to play. But that lead quickly disappeared in a matter of just 99 seconds.
"We've been in that predicament already,” said senior forward Deshawn Freeman, who finished with 15 points. “Coming out of the timeout, we knew what to expect. I told Corey and Geo [Baker] to win the game for us.”
Sanders did just that as it was his time to shine.
With the score locked at 53-53, he hit a long jumper with the shot clock winding down and followed it up with a three-pointer.
"We just came down and coach drew up plays during the timeout, our go-to plays and the same plays, if you go look at it, as we did against Seton Hall," said Sanders, who finished with a game-high 23 points. "Deshawn told me to come out and be aggressive and to get our shots up. He gave me some room, I pulled up and it fell for me. I got the switch on [Ethan] Happ, and he's such a long defender so it's hard to go by him. I've been working on that shot in the gym at night, so I put it up there.”
That proved to be the difference as Rutgers did not look back and held on for a 64-60 win.
"These guys have been great. They stayed the course and plug away,” Pikiell said. “I like this team a lot. I know we had a stretch there where we didn't play as well as we would like, but you have to learn. When you're building a program, you have to learn from those things. I think that they did and they came back and practiced well and they got rewarded today against a good team. But our defense was good today from start to finish. That's a big key for us and we grinded out a win.”