NORTHWESTERN 65 – RUTGERS 53
Rutgers chances at making the NCAA Tournament took a major hit on Sunday night in a 65-53 loss to Northwestern in the regular season finale at Jersey Mike’s Arena.
After some early success that saw Rutgers jump out to a 10-3 lead, the Scarlet Knights managed to shoot only 36 percent from the floor and 12 percent (2-of-17) from downtown.
Before anyone could blink, Northwestern strung together a 15-2 run to take an 18-12 lead with a little over 10 minutes to go. The Wildcats would never trail again, building a lead as large as 13-points.
Junior center Clifford Omoruyi had 14 points and six rebounds.Senior guard Cam Spencer had nine points, three assists and five rebounds. Senior point guard Paul Mulcahy had eight points, four assists and five rebounds.Freshman guard Derek Simpson had 12 points, two assists and two rebounds off the bench.
Rutgers will face Michigan in the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday afternoon at 12 noon. Rutgers must string together some wins in the Big Tournament this week to re-establish their chances on the NCAA Tournament bubble.
