In a battle of the Big Ten Conference's two best defensive teams, there were late offensive fireworks in Rutgers' 65-62 win over Northwestern at Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Ill.
Cam Spencer for Rutgers (12-5, 4-2 Big Ten), like he did last week at then-No. 1 Purdue, drained a 3-pointer to put his team ahead with 14 seconds remaining.
A mishandled ball led to a tie up. With the arrow pointing to Rutgers, it inbounded the ball and got ball in Spencer's hands again, who made both foul shots to go up 65-62.
The Scarlet Knights' scored the game's final seven points. Spencer made six shots from behind the arc and finished with 23 points.
Northwestern's (12-4, 3-2 Big Ten) two-game winning streak was snapped. The Wildcats, who received votes in the latest AP Top 25, were looking to move to 4-1 in the Big Ten for the first time since 1967-68.
Northwestern had won four of seven in Evanston coming in, but Rutgers has now has six wins in the last eight overall meetings against NU. Rutgers is 4-2 in league play for the second straight year. The Wildcats lead the all-time series 11-7 which began in 1969, but Rutgers started the matchup between the schools 1-9.
Julian Roper II hit a long 3-pointer with the shot clock running down from Chicago to give Northwestern a 62-58 lead. Paul Mulcahy hit two free throws to make it 62-60.
A 10-0 run gave Northwestern its first lead off the ball game with 4:30 to go. Chase Audige got to the rim and laid the ball off the glass for an easy two. Audige had seven points in the surge.
Aundre Hyatt responded with a 3-pointer for Rutgers to go back up 55-53. Ty Berry and Spencer traded triples to knot the score at 58-58.
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Northwestern converted from long range and handled Rutgers 1-3-1 zone after halftime. Boo Buie also used Rutgers' defensive aggressiveness to his advantage by faking a handoff on the perimeter and then taking a pass near the basket to cut Rutgers' down to 33-31.
Spencer drained two 3-pointers to push Rutgers' advantage back up to 39-31. The first came off a Hyatt offensive board.
Rutgers ramped up the defensive pressure and held Northwestern scoreless for over three minutes while it went on a 7-0 run to take a 49-39 lead. Hyatt drove to the hoop for a layup, Paul Mulcahy hit an open 3-pointer, and Caleb McConnell hit a shot up close after a rebound.
Both teams played a virtually clean first eight minutes or so as there no media timeouts until the 12:39 mark. The Scarlet Knights made six of their first 10 shots and seven of 12. Mawot Mag and Spencer each had five points on 2-of-2 shooting early as Rutgers built a 16-11 lead.
Rutgers and Northwestern each cooled off between the 11:22 mark and the under-eight timeout at 7:26. Just two baskets went in on 12 attempts. Stout defense continued through the under-four break. Rutgers missed its four shots in a row and was 1-of-9 over a stretch that of went almost four minutes. Northwestern couldn't capitalize, however, and McConnell had a put-back layup after a Cliff Omoruyi layup to give Rutgers a 27-17 advantage.
Audige beat a 2-3 zone with a much-needed 3-pointer from the right wing for the Wildcats. A flop call led to a made technical free throw by Buie. Audige was called for a flop earlier in the half as well.
The Scarlet Knights led 29-24 at halftime.
Hyatt scored 10 points in the game, Mag had nine, and Mulcahy tallied 12 with six assists and six rebounds. Omoruyi pulled down 11 rebounds with three assists and one foul.
Last year, Northwestern pulled out a 79-78 win in overtime at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Key stat(s)
Time led: There were two ties in the opening half, but Rutgers led for 18:01 in the first 20 minutes of play. Rutgers led for the initial 33:31 of the game before Northwestern went up 52-51 with 4:30 to go. In its entirety, Rutgers led for 34:19.
Assists: Rutgers made 12 field goals by halftime and assisted on eight of them. It tallied 16 on 23 made buckets for the game.
3-pointers: Northwestern was just 3-of-12 from behind the arc in the first stanza. Meanwhile, Rutgers hit 4-of-7. The Wildcats did made two in a row which helped cut down their deficit near the break.
2nd half fouling: Rutgers was called for only three fouls in the first half which is fantastic for a road team in the Big Ten. The officials seemed to remember that Northwestern is the home team as it got a big whistle after halftime. The Wildcats were in the bonus already at the 12:22 mark and the double-bonus at 7:23.
Flops: Three were called in the game, two on Mulcahy and one on Audige.
Turning point: Cam Spencer's two 3-pointers about a minute a part
Northwestern had cut Rutgers lead down to two points, but an offensive rebound by Hyatt led to a pass out to Spencer who drained a triple. Spencer made another high arcing three two trips down the court later.
Rutgers player of the game: F Aundre Hyatt
Mag started the game and was effective with five early points, but he was otherwise in foul trouble. Hyatt came in and provided a jolt in his place.
RHoops play of the Day: G Cam Spencer's go-ahead 3-pointer with 14 seconds left.
Didn't this just happen last week? Onions.
Up next: Rutgers returns home to Jersey Mike's Arena to face Ohio State in a rematch on Sunday afternoon on 2:15 p.m. The sold-out game will be televised on BTN.
The last time the two teams met, Ohio State won on a buzzer-beater after officials missed a slew of calls in the final seconds.
Follow Chris Nalwasky on Twitter @ChrisNalwasky.
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