Rutgers MBB holds off Minnesota in OT on the road in regular season finale
Get your best dancing shoes, because Rutgers is going to the Big Dance.
With a 77-70 win at Williams Arena in Minneapolis, MN., Rutgers all but secured a spot in the upcoming NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1991.
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Rutgers, 14-10, 10-10 Big Ten, has now won double-digit conference contests for the second straight season, the first time its done that since 1989-90 and 1990-91. Rutgers also ended the season with a .500 or better record in league play in two straight years for the first time since the pair of aforementioned campaigns as well.
The Scarlet Knights have now won four road games in league play, the most its had since joining the Big Ten, as they also recorded victories at Maryland, Indiana and Northwestern. The last time that they won four road league games in a season was in 1990-91 when they went 6-3 on the road in the Atlantic 10.
Rutgers' now six wins over the Golden Gophers is the most against any Big Ten foe and its now won five of the last six meetings.
It didn't come easy, though.
For the full stats, click here.
The game was back-and-forth early in the first half with both teams trading buckets, but the Scarlet Knights went on a 15-5 run the last 3:47, emphasized by a Montez Mathis slam dunk in transition off a pass from Jacob Young in the final three sets to take a 37-28 lead into the break.
Rutgers shot 48% in the game's opening 20 minutes including 5-for-10 on 3-pointers. It out-rebounded Minnesota 21-14, tallied 13 second-chance points, and 18 points in the paint. Meanwhile, Minnesota made only 8-of-26 field goals.
Top open the second half, Rutgers bumped its lead up to 13 thanks to a Myles Johnson free throw and a Young steal and layup as Minnesota inbounded the ball. The advantage went up to 14 points at the 12:44 mark after Ron Harper Jr.'s second 3-pointer of the game and another Young layup.
The Golden Gophers went on a 6-0 as Isaiah Ihnen made a layup plus a foul shot and then a 3-pointer, but Mathis made a free throw his own and notched an alley-oop dunk following a lob courtesy of Young.
Minnesota, again, was able to whittle the deficit down to seven before Harper Jr. swished a triple off a one-handed assist from Geo Baker. But two free throws and layup got Rutgers' lead down to just six with 4:48 left.
Marcus Carr went on to score his first two points of the game to make it a 61-57 game with 3:32 to go and Evan Mashburn made a layup at 2:20 to put Minnesota down by only two.
Rutgers, which took a timeout seconds later, hadn't scored for over four minutes of game clock before Baker sank two foul shots after a Caleb McConnell steal.
Down by three, Carr made his first field goal, a 3-pointer, with 50 seconds to go.
McConnell missed a jumper in the lane, but Young came up with a critical steal and a timeout was taken by Rutgers with 8.3 remaining.
Baker missed a step-back jump shot as time at the buzzer and Minnesota ended the second half on a 17-5 run to force overtime at 63-63.
Taking control of the offense, Young scored or assisted on the first six points of the extra period for Rutgers as the visitors went up 69-63.
Mashburn completed a three-point play with a layup-and-one, but on the other end, Young found McConnell on the baseline who was fouled and made both free throws.
Harper Jr. came down with a tough rebound with a minute to go and Young drove to the rim, was hit, and kissed it off glass for a layup. He made the proceeding free throw.
Carr went to the line and made a pair of free throws as Baker picked up his fifth foul on the afternoon with 31 ticks to go.
Young hit another free throw and Johnson made tow more to end the game.
RUTGERS PLAYER OF THE GAME: Jacob Young
Young did it all. The redshirt senior defended Carr well all game long and notched an impressive stat line of 23 points, seven assists, four steals, and five rebounds.
He also made key plays in overtime from scoring to assisting and he came up with a critical steal late in the second half.
RHOOPS PLAY OF THE GAME: Mathis dunks the ball with three seconds left on a fastbreak pass from Young
UP NEXT: Rutgers begins its Big Ten Tournament run next Friday in Indianapolis.
Follow Chris Nalwasky on Twitter @ChrisNalwasky.
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