1/24/2021 basketball Edit

Rutgers bounces back, beats Indiana for first win at Assembly Hall

Chris Nalwasky • TheKnightReport

Beat Writer

Rutgers men’s basketball is back.

Sunday, the Scarlet Knights went on the road and defeated Indiana, 74-70, inside Assembly Hall in Bloomington, IN. The win snapped a five-game losing streak and stretch of six losses in seven games.

Rutgers is now 8-6 overall and 4-6 in Big Ten Conference play.

"Our guys had to fight through a lot of adversity today. Proud of them. They stuck together," Scarlet Knights head coach Steve Pikiell said. "I like how we played. It heled on the backwards. Guys came off the bench and responded. You make changes when you feel like there is a need for it. We were well connected today. We figured out a way to win in a place we haven't had any success here on the road."

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Geo Baker led the visitors with 19 points, the most he’s had since scoring 19 against Purdue on Dec. 29, 2020 and 13 four days later against lowa. He made 7-of-his-15 attempts and 4-for-9 from long range.

The two teams went back and forth in the first half with both squads going on multiple runs. The Scarlet Knights went on a key 10-0 run early to take a 15-8 lead and never let up.

Rutgers also ended the first 20 minutes of action with a 9-4 run including a layup at the buzzer after an offensive rebound by Caleb McConnell.

"We've had a lot of slow starts, and we took it upon ourselves and said enough is enough," Rutgers center Myles Johnson said. "We need to start games with high pace. We got the ball rolling early.

After the break, Rutgers went ahead by 10 at 45-35 with a 7-0 burst. Ron Harper Jr. hit a tough fadeaway jump shot, Paul Mulcahy made a free throw, Johnson had a tip-in bucket, and Mulcahy had another layup in transition.

Minutes later, McConnell and Baker each nailed 3-pointers to give the Scarlet Knights a 51-38 lead. Cliff Omoruyi then scored four points himself on two foul shots and a one-handed dunk to go up 14 for Rutgers biggest advantage of the afternoon.

The Hoosiers started clawing their way back with second-chance dunks and a trio of triples in four minutes to make it 62-59. But Baker came back with a trey of his own to put Rutgers back up by six.

Jacob Young, with the shot clock running down, was able to get into the paint on the drive and kissed it off glass for a layup to go up seven. Indiana’s Trayce Jackson-Davis had a dunk on the other end which was followed by a Harper Jr. foul shot after a chaotic sequence. Aljami Durham banked home a 3-pointer with a smile to cut into Rutgers’ lead again, but Harper Jr. again hit a tough shot to make it 70-65.

Harper Jr. would make three more foul shots for a 5-0 run himself as the Scarlet Knights went ahead again by eight at 73-65. Harper Jr. would finish with a double-double, his second of the year, with 15 points and 12 rebounds, a career-high.

A 3-pointer for Indiana set by a double-screen got it down to 73-68 with 1:25 left.

Johnson was able to grab the game-sealing offensive rebound. Baker then made one more free throw and Indiana missed its last shot.

"That definitely felt great getting that rebound and kicking it out," Johnson said. "It was kind of like the icing on the cake. We really needed this win and it just felt so great to secure the game like that. It was in in my hands."

Plagued by a spotty offense for the most part during its skid, Rutgers found life shooting 51 percent from the floor, the most in a Big Ten contest this year, including 36 percent from behind the arc and 70.6 percent from the free-throw line. Coming into the game, it was second to last in the entire country in free throw percentage with a 56.96 clip.

While Indiana shot 43 percent as a team and a whopping 63 percent on 3-pointers, Rutgers had eight steals and seven blocks. Rutgers out-rebounded Indiana 32-29.

Rutgers shook up its starting lineup, inserting Mulcahy and McConnell for Young and Montez Mathis. Baker also had five assists and a steal. Mulcahy finished with nine points and three assists, Johnson had eight points on 4-of-4 shooting with eight rebounds, five rebounds, and three steals. McConnell tallied seven points, four boards, and two steals and Omoruyi and Young each recorded eight points for the balanced attack.

"We have a lot of talented guys," Baker said. "We're very dangerous when we share the game. It was a huge emphasis in practice and it showed."

Jackson-Davis, who has scored over 30 points multiple times in his career, finished with 13 points and seven rebounds on just 4-of-10 shooting.

"I thought Myles did an unbelievable job," Pikiell said. "Trayce Jackson-Davis is one of the best players in the country. He did a good job on him. Myles stepped up. Caleb gave us great energy. Jacob gave us great energy off the bench. Cliff was a real bright spot. Ron was very involved the whole game and was vocal."

A month ago, Rutgers was ranked as the No. 11 team in the nation. Sunday, the Scarlet Knights got back looking like like that team.

"The main focus was just the little things," Baker said. "We know we're a talented team. We know we have skills, but the things that we've been lacking had nothing to do with skill. It just had to do with effort, attitude, and being a teammate and positive energy. Those are little things that we need more of. Today we had that."

Next up, Rutgers returns to the RAC in Piscataway to take on Michigan State on Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. on FS1.