Rutgers Drops Critical Game at Home vs. Nebraska
NEBRASKA 82 – RUTGERS 72
A little over a week ago, Rutgers men’s basketball was considered by many to be the second best team in the Big Ten after its impressive victory over Michigan State at Madison Square Garden. Now, the Scarlet Knights find themselves in the midst of a three-game losing streak following Tuesday’s 82-72 loss to Nebraska.
Rutgers’ record in the Big Ten stands at 8-7, tied with Michigan for the eighth seed should the Big Ten Tournament begin today.
On Tuesday night, Rutgers struggled to contain Nebraska on the boards as the Cornhuskers hit on nearly 60 percent of their shots — becoming the first team to shoot over 50 percent against Rutgers this season. Nebraska connected on 43 percent of their three-point attempts.
Rutgers got off to a hot start, building an early 8-2 lead, before finding itself in a back-and-forth contest with Nebraska. With Rutgers holding onto a one-point lead with 1:30 to, the Cornhuskers closed out the first half on a 6-0 run to close out the first half with Derrick Walker hitting back-to-back trays to give Nebraska a 38-35 lead with 38 seconds to go.
Rutgers was able to narrow that gap down to a single point to start the second half thanks to a three-pointer by Aundre Hyatt, and free throws from Claeb McConnell and Clifford Omoruyi. However a barrage of three-pointers and timely buckets by Nebraska bulked out the lead to 12-points, 66-54 with 7:15 to go in regulation.
Hyatt finished the night leading Rutgers in scoring with 24 points. Omoruyi had a double-double with 13 points and 12 boards.
Four players scored in double-figures for Nebraska, led by Keisei Tominaga, who netted 22 points on 8-of-15 shooting. C.J. Wilcher had 17 points, including posting a 5-for-9 effort from downtown.
Rutgers visits Wisconsin on Saturday at 12 noon in a critical game in the Big Ten.