2/9/2021 basketball Edit

The Tuesday Morning Step-Back: Rutgers Basketball is on a roll

Craig Epstein

Staff Writer

Rutgers kept the momentum going as they were able to push their winning streak to four with gritty victories over Northwestern and Minnesota to improve to 11-6 and 7-6 in the Big Ten.

Despite Rutgers jumping out to a 31-11 lead in the first half, Northwestern went on an 18-3 run to close the half and cut the Scarlet Knights’ lead to just five. From then on Rutgers found themselves in a battle against the Wildcats.

“Our guys grinded out a Big Ten win on the road, I’m proud of them,” Head Coach Steve Pikiell said after his team’s 64-56 victory. “Our defense keeps improving, we figured out a way to win in an old fashioned Rutgers win with our defense.”

SIGN UP FOR PREMIUM FOR FREE UNTIL EASTER — CLICK HERE FOR MORE!

The Scarlet Knights were able to dodge the proverbial bullet with this game as Northwestern came into it losers of their last seven. While a win might not do much in terms of boosting Rutgers’ resume, a loss here would have been devastating to the program’s pursuit of making its first NCAA Tournament since 1991.

“It’s so hard to get road wins in this conference," Pikiell said. “We got off to another good start tonight and everyone chipped in. I like how they’re settling in and have been really good. On the defense and rebounding front, we are way further along than where we’ve been.”

Rutgers was also able to secure a hard-fought win against Minnesota 76-72 in a matchup that featured 22 different lead changes, including nine in the final five minutes.

“That was an old-fashioned grinder,” Pikiell said after the game. “I’m proud of our team for getting our fourth straight league win.”

Whether it was yet another double-double from Myles Johnson, Caleb McConnell’s 14 points and six rebounds, or Geo Baker turning into Geo Baker as he scored eight of his 16 points in the final four minutes, this was an all-around great performance from the Scarlet Knights.

“I’m proud of the way we’re defending now and rebounding,” Pikiell added. “We didn’t get caught up, we made free throws in the second half to kind of wrap things up so good teams do those things. You’ve got to get big stops and we did when we had too, we got fouled and made free-throws, and we executed down the stretch with the possessions that we needed to execute on.”

Although Minnesota’s Marcus Carr finished the contest with 18 points and seven assists, Rutgers did a good job of making sure he did not take over the game as they made sure to double-team the Toronto native down the stretch.

Not only were the Scarlet Knights able to hold Carr scoreless through the final six minutes, but they forced him into several low-percentage shots, including a prayer of a three-pointer on the Golden Gophers’ final possession down three.

“You’ve got to play team defense against Marcus Carr so everyone was attached,” Pikiell said. “Marcus Carr is a really good player and you have to do a really good job on him. I know he got 18 points, I know he had 7 assists, but I thought he had to really work for those and team defense, that’s how you corral a guy like him.”