Rutgers Men’s Basketball Suffers Second Straight Defeat in Loss to Maryland
MARYLAND 68 – RUTGERS 60 Rutgers suffered its second straight BIG 10 loss, and only its second loss at Jersey Mike’s Arena this season, 68-60 at the hands of Maryland…
PISCATAWAY, NJ – JANUARY 25: Ron Harper Jr. #24 of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights loses control of the ball as Fatts Russell #4 and Hakim Hart #13 of the Maryland Terrapins defend the play during the second half of a game at Jersey Mike’s Arena on January 25, 2022 in Piscataway, New Jersey. Maryland defeated Rutgers 68-60. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
MARYLAND 68 - RUTGERS 60
Rutgers suffered its second straight BIG 10 loss, and only its second loss at Jersey Mike's Arena this season, 68-60 at the hands of Maryland on Tuesday night.
The loss marked the second straight game in which Rutgers struggled guarding against the three-ball, as Maryland shot 48 percent from downtown, led by Fatts Russell and Eric Ayala.
Russell had 23 points for Maryland on 7-for-16 shooting, including a 5-for-8 performance from beyond the arc. Ayala was equal to the task for the Terrapins, going 5-of-9 from three, while scoring 22 points.
After Rutgers built an early 7-4 lead thanks to a three from Geo Baker and a layup by Ron Harper Jr., Maryland took off, outscoring Rutgers 31-8 over the next 14 minutes to take a 35-15 lead with 4:00 to go in the first half. Leading the way was Fatts who had 10 points in that stretch, including a pair of three's.
"Not the way I wanted to get this game started today," head coach Steve Pikiell said. "We really struggled at the beginning. You can't spot a really good team 20 points in the first half. Maryland, have to give them credit, they did a really good job, they look very confident out there. Our keys to this game where, rebounding and then stopping Fats and Eric Ayala, and obviously those guys both had great nights. We just have to play better."
The closest Rutgers would get was 10 points on a layup by Clifford Omoruyri to make it a 54-44 game with 8:47 to go. Rutgers wasn't able to trim the deficit to single digits until the final minute of the ballgame. Omoruyri finished with 11 points. For their part, both Baker and Harper finished with 16 points a piece.
"We have a lot of basketball left," Pikiell said. "Last year, we had to win the last game of the season in Minnesota. So, it's a long season, you just keep plugging through. This is a league that a lot of teams are going to have a lot of losses. And then we have the tournament after that. So, there's a lot of different ways that we can make our season to where we want to be."
Rutgers (11-8, 5-4) visits Nebraska on Saturday night at 6;30.
