It was a heartbreaking loss for Rutgers as it came back from 24 points down in the second half only to fall to Northwestern 79-78 in overtime.
Here are three thoughts after the game.....
ANOTHER SLOW START DOOMS RUTGERS
Once again the Scarlet Knights (12-9, 6-5 Big Ten) got out to a slow start as they fell behind 43-25 in the first half with most of their points coming from Paul Mulcahy and Cliff Omoruyi. Although Rutgers was able to overcome it in its previous matchup against Nebraska and nearly did here, spotting a team that has Pete Nance and Boo Buie a 20+ lead will lead to disaster nine times out of 10 and, unfortunately for Rutgers, this was not the one exception.
“We spotted a team 24 points and you’ve got to use so much energy and every play you’ve got to make now and you’ve got to make every open shot,” head coach Steve Pikiell said. “It’s just a hard way to play.”
Losers of three of its last four, slow starts have been a problem for Rutgers for a while now. Having to spend much of the game digging out of a hole is a recipe for disaster so at some point Pikiell and co. will have to remedy these early-game struggles otherwise things will get worse before they get better.
AN INCREDIBLE PERFORMANCE FROM RUTGERS
Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of this game is the fact that, despite Paul Mulcahy’s best efforts, the Scarlet Knights still came away with the loss against the Wildcats (10-10, 3-8 Big Ten). Not only did Mulcahy finish with a career-high 31 points on 10-of-13 shooting, but he surpassed his previous career-high of 15 in the second half alone.
“Paul was spectacular,” Pikiell said. “He kept us in it. He got to the free-throw line, got downhill, and made shots. But I just loved him directing the entire second half, and the first half too, and just kind of willed us back into this basketball game.”
Unfortunately for Mulcahy, he was not able to distribute the wealth as just four other Scarlet Knights tallied points in this game with Omoruyi scoring 22 while Ron Harper Jr. had 16, Dean Reiber had seven, and Mawot Mag had two.
GEO WITH THE ZERO
Simply put, this was not a good night for Geo Baker. Despite playing for 38 minutes, he finished with zero points on 0-for-7 shooting and had a costly turnover late in OT with the Scarlet Knights down one.
“I told my team that you’ve got to play all 40 minutes," Pikiell said. “This is a big boy league. Every team is really good, especially when you go on the road.”
It is hard to think of a worse performance from Baker since donning the scarlet and white and it could not have come at a worse time for the Scarlet Knights as they head into a brutal February slate. Rutgers will need more from its team captain going forward if it wants to come out of this month in one piece.
Rutgers will look to bounce back on Saturday when it takes on No. 13 Michigan State at Jersey Mike’s Arena at 4 p.m. (ET) on FS1.
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