Rutgers Can’t Keep Pace with Wisconsin
WISCONSIN 66 – RUTGERS 61
A furious second half comeback fell short as Rutgers dropped a 66-61 decision to Wisconsin, Saturday night, which puts the Scarlet Knights in a precarious position of needing to win out, and/or going deep in the Big Ten Tournament in order to likely qualify for the NCAA Tournament.
The Scarlet Knights trailed by nine at the break (33-24), and were down by as many as 11 points (37-26) with 19:01 to go in the game, before finally turning it on offensively, and giving the Badgers all they could handle down the stretch.
“I’m proud of these guys. Ball wasn’t going in during the first half. I kind of liked the looks too, but we fought back and gave ourselves a chance to win,” Rutgers Head Coach Steve Pikiel said afterwards.
“This league is so competitive, I think this is the toughest stretch ever since I’ve been here, the teams are terrific. These teams are ranked and all that stuff and every game in our league comes down to possession or two. So it’s really, you know, we all signed up for this kind of league in this kind of basketball. And tonight was another one of those one two possession games.”
2nd half summary ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/MwhwtRRpHu
— Rutgers Scarlet Knights (@RUAthletics) February 27, 2022
Over a period of six and a half minutes in the second half, Rutgers went on a spirited 12-4 run, highlighted by a jump shot by Clifford Omoruyi that cut the Wisconsin deficit to 39-36, and a three pointer by Caleb McConnell that made it a one-point game, 40-39, with 12:47 to go.
After a three by Wisconsin’s Brad Davison pushed the Badgers lead out to six-points, a three by Aundre Hyatt cut it back to 50-47. About 30 seconds later, Omoruyi cut the deficit back down to one-point on a clean jumper to make it 50-49 with 7:59 to go.
Rutgers finally gained the lead when Geo Baker nailed a bucket after a miss by Wisconsin’s Johnny Davis. With 7:28 to go Rutgers led for the first time all evening, 51-50.
That bounce of momentum was short lived. Steve Crowl sank a huge three-pointer in response for Wisconsin that swung the Badgers back out in front 53-51.
HE CAN DO IT ALL 💥@Geo_Baker_1 takes it to the hole for his 17th @RutgersMBB point 🔥 pic.twitter.com/nsVPukZHZX
— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) February 27, 2022
Baker wouldn’t allow Rutgers to be denied, hitting two more jumpers that pushed Rutgers back out in front 55-54 with 5:53 to go.
However, Wisconsin responded quickly. Davis connected on a bucket inside the paint to give Wisconsin a 56-55 lead, combined by a pair of misses by Baker and McConnell as Wisconsin regained control of the contest.
Geo Baker led the team with 19 point on 9-of-19 shooting, while Ron Harper Jr. contributed 15 point. Clifford Omoruyi had nine points on 4-of-6 shooting. Paul Mulcahy had seven points; Caleb McConnell has six points.
Rutgers (16-12) travels to Indiana to take on the Hooisers in a must-win game on Wednesday.
