The No. 11 Rutgers men's basketball team fell on the road at No. 23 Ohio State, 80-68, at Value City Arena in Columbus, OH. on late Wednesday afternoon.
Rutgers (6-1, 2-1) led by as many as 16, but foul trouble inside to centers Myles Johnson and Mamadou Doucoure and a back injury to guard Jacob Young doomed the previously unbeaten Scarlet Knights.
Rutgers held a 10-point, 38-28 advantage at halftime, but Ohio state (7-1, 1-2) outscored it 50-29 in the final 20 minutes and went on a 29-6 run after Johnson fouled out with 8:44 remaining.
The Scarlet Knights caught fire from long range early, making 7-of-13 attempts in the opening half to help build a 13-point lead, but made just 25% of its shots from deep after the break.
Playing without freshman center Cliff Omoruyi, Johnson started, as he did much of last season, and he struggled with foul trouble as did backup big Doucoure (four), who will continue to see minutes as long as Omoruyi is out.
Ohio State out-scored Rutgers in the paint (38-20).
The Scarlet Knights still utilized a short, seven-man rotation with starters Jacob Young, Paul Mulcahy, Montez Mathis, Ron Harper Jr., and Johnson, Geo Baker and Doucoure off the bench.
Dean Reiber saw action in the waning minutes at center.
Rutgers made just 9-of-16 free throws.
Below you can see the full box score, Rutgers' player of the game, the play of the game, and who the Scarlet Knights will take on next.
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RUTGERS PLAYER OF THE GAME: Ron Harper Jr.
Harper Jr., continued his tear with 20 points with six rebounds. The conference's second leading scorer has netted at least 15 points in every game.
RHOOPS PLAY OF THE GAME: Doucoure dunks it after an assist from Young plus the foul.
UP NEXT: Rutgers returns home to the RAC to face Purdue next Tuesday, Dec. 29 at 7:00 p.m. You can watch on FS1.
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