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PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Sophomore guard Mike Williams scored 17 points to lead four Rutgers (6-14, 0-7) players in double figures in a hard-fought, 90-76, loss to No. 9 Iowa (15-3, 6-0) Thursday evening at the RAC. The Scarlet Knights out-scored the Hawkeyes 46-38 in the paint and established a 26-9 advantage in bench points.

Freshman forward Jonathan Laurent returned from injury to provide RU a spark, scoring 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Fellow Florida rookie Corey Sanders added 12 points and nine assists, while senior guard Omari Grier made 4-of-5 field goals to post 10 points.

Rutgers shot 48.4 percent (31-of-64) en route to its point total, which both signaled season-bests in Big Ten play this season.

The biggest disparity on the stat sheet came from behind the arc, where Iowa made 11-of-29 attempts, while RU struggled at just 23.6 percent (4-of-17).

Iowa started hot, racing out to a 13-2 lead, as Peter Jok caught fire from long distance. Rutgers responded with a counter attack. The Scarlet Knights found their stroke and utilized a 14-4 run to get back within one point.

The half continued with an upbeat offensive pace, with the teams exchanging baskets. A Bishop Daniels score would tie the game for the first time at 24-24. Then, Williams broke down his defender, and flashed to the hoop for the layup and a 30-29 advantage.

Rutgers continued to match Iowa baskets, with D.J. Foreman using a spin move in the lane and knocking down a floater for a 34-all tie. Iowa closed the half strong, using an 11-3 run for a 45-37 lead at the midpoint.

The Scarlet Knights shot 47.1 percent in the first half and held a 19-18 advantage in rebounding. The home team got contributions throughout the roster, with eight different players scoring in the first stanza, led by seven points and five rebounds from Foreman.

Williams started the second half with a spark. The sophomore scored the first five points of the frame with a layup and a three-pointer to put the home squad within three at 45-42.

Iowa attempted to pull away, but the Scarlet Knights fight back, closing to 56-50 after a layup from Sanders. The Hawkeyes continued to attack, using a 14-2 run to take a 75-58 lead before Williams stopped the spurt with a three-pointer.

Williams hit another three, and Grier struck from long range as well to bring the score into single digits at 80-72 with four minutes to play. Rutgers was unable to close the gap, however, as the Hawkeyes closed out the victory.

The Scarlet Knights are on the road in the Great Lakes State for their next two contests. RU first meets Michigan on Wednesday at 7 p.m. on the Big Ten Network before travelling to Michigan State.

Postgame Notes

Eight players scored for Rutgers. It was the first time during Big Ten Conference play that RU had at least eight players in the scoring column.

Mike Williams led the team with 17 points. It was his sixth time this season with at least 15 points and sixth time leading the team in scoring.

Corey Sanders had 12 points and a career-high nine assists.

In his first action since January 2, Jonathan Laurent had 14 points. It was his second-highest point total of the season.

Omari Grier reached double figures for the fifth time this season with 10 points. He tied a season-high with three assists.

Rutgers had four players in double figures for the seventh time this season.

The Scarlet Knights' 76 points were their most points scored in a Big Ten game this season.

RU shot 48.1 percent, its best shooting percentage in a Big Ten game this season.

Iowa now leads the all-time series 3-0.

Postgame Quotes

Rutgers Head Coach Eddie Jordan

Opening Statement: "I was proud of my team tonight. The last thing we wrote on the whiteboard in pregame was 'pride.' We played with a lot of pride for forty ticks. I'm proud of my team. I'm glad that we had this performance, not withstanding the score."

On the team's response: "It started (Tuesday) in practice. We talked about things. What's important is that you learn from every game. You can still see the growth in Corey Sanders. How he plays defense, how he finds people in the paint. He's got good passing skills. Our guys fought defensively. We rebounded well. I'm proud of the way we played tonight."

On the return of Jonathan Laurent: "That was huge. And he's coming back as the backup center. That's where we are right now. We missed him. He started off as a backup small forward and he could possibly have been the starting small forward. But he's coming in as a backup center. So we're still missing those bigs. But his presence helped us. He gives us good athleticism. He's good knack for scoring around the basket. He defends every position. We're happy to have him back."

On Iowa: "They've been together. They are learning every game, just like we are going to learn every game. They have a rhythm to how they play. They play random basketball - in a good sense. They just know how to play with each other and cut and look for each other. They look inside for post-ups, they see mismatches, they see one-on-one opportunities. They just know how to play together. Like the Wisconsin team last year, they are very similar."

Iowa Head Coach Fran McCaffery

Assessment of the game: "We all knew that we were going to get a really intense effort from Rutgers. Eddie (Jordan) has been around and I think Monday night was a fluke. It was a bad matchup and I think to a man, their players committed to competing in a different way, which they did. They've got some talent. They're not deep, have some guys banged up. But they share the ball, pushed it and were aggressive. And they were really good with their man (offense) stuff. We didn't do a good job of guarding their man stuff at all. It is not easy, they run a lot of different things. We didn't get consecutive stops and the zone saved us. We did a good job of scoring the ball. Basically, we outscored them. We really didn't defend them that well. But I always look at it like this, everyone likes to talk about we didn't do this or that, they did some good stuff. I credit them."

On Rutgers: "I have seen it before. They did it against Wake Forest, Indiana, Ohio State. And I knew they would be ready for this game. (Corey) Sanders is pretty good. He had an off night shooting, but that kid can play. Then you add (Mike) Williams with (Omari) Grier and get (Jonathan) Laurent back - he's a handful, gets to the rim. (D.J.) Foreman is a tough cover. They're just down bodies. They just need two or three more bodies and they would be in much better position."