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- Sophomore guard Mike Williams scored a career-high 29 points on 7-of-12 shooting, helped by a career-best six three pointers, to spark Rutgers (7-24, 1-17) in a 75-52 win over Minnesota (8-22, 2-16) on Saturday afternoon at the RAC. The Scarlet Knights led by as many as 33 points and limited the Gophers to 30.1 percent (22-of-73) shooting to earn the convincing senior day victory.

"I'm happy for the W, obviously, and proud of my guys," said head coach Eddie Jordan. "The game plan was to pick up and put pressure on them. We knew they were out with smalls and their ball handlers and we wanted to take advantage of that. At the same time, they were big and athletic and we had to rebound. We did all the things that we wanted to do coming out."

The game marked the final home contest for senior student-athletes Greg Lewis, Bishop Daniels, Omari Grier and Jalen Hyde. Lewis grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds. Daniels had a career-high tying seven assists and 12 points.

"It meant a lot to get a win at home after struggling through our season," said Jordan. "I am happy for Greg. He does more than what the stat sheet shows every day, every game and every practice."

Corey Sanders added 12 points, six steals and six assists to join Williams and Daniels in double figures. The leading freshman scorer in the Big Ten, it marked his 21st game in double digits.

The Scarlet Knights never trailed, jumping on the Gophers early and often. Before the midpoint of the opening half, RU built a 21-2 lead and never looked back. The home squad limited the visitors to 15 percent (6-of-40) shooting in the opening 20 minutes. Rutgers entered the locker room at the break with a 40-15 advantage.

It marked the fewest points for an opponent at halftime since St. Peters scored 12 on Nov. 30, 2008.

Rutgers continued to dominate the hardwood in the second half. The Scarlet Knights built their lead to as much as 33 points on two occasions to cruise to victory in its regular season finale.

Charles Buggs and Stephon Sharp both scored 13 points to lead Minnesota in the scoring column.

Rutgers returns to the hardwood on Wednesday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis in the Big Ten Championship. RU is the No. 14 seed and plays the No. 11 seed in a 7 p.m. tip-off on BTN.

Post-Game Notes

The 23-point margin of victory tied for the largest this season (UMass-Lowell, 89-66)

Rutgers limited Minnesota to 15 first half points. It marked the fewest at halftime for an opponent since St. Peters had 12 on Nov. 30, 2008.

Rutgers led by as many as 33 points. Prior to today, RU's largest lead in a Big Ten game was 14 versus Penn State on Jan. 3, 2015.

Rutgers limited Minnesota to 30.1 percent (22-of-73) shooting, the lowest percentage for an RU opponent in a Big Ten game and the worst percentage for a foe since holding Fairleigh Dickinson to 30.0 percent (18-of-60) on Nov. 19, 2014.

Mike Williams scored a career-high 29 points on 7-of-12 shooting, helped by a career-best six three pointers. It marked his fourth game this season and the fifth of his career with 20 or more points. He has scored in double figures 17 times in 2015-16 and 23 times in his career. Williams also made a career-best nine (9-of-10) free throws.

Bishop Daniels had a career-high tying seven assists, his seventh game at Rutgers with five or more helpers. Daniels also scored 12 points, his 13th game this season and 23rd of his career at Rutgers in double figures.

Greg Lewis grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds, his fourth game this season with 10 or more boards.

Corey Sanders scored 12 points, his 21st game this season in double figures. He also had six assists and six steals. He has had five or more assists in 12 games this season and three or more steals five times. The six steals was a career-high.

Prior to tip-off, the Scarlet Knights recognized senior student-athletes Greg Lewis, Bishop Daniels, Omari Grier, Jalen Hyde and manager Steve Gorin in a ceremony. They have combined to play in 227 games, score 1,080 points and grab 608 rebounds at Rutgers.

Today's win marked the first for the Scarlet Knights over the Gophers in six meetings.

Rutgers is the No. 14 seed in the Big Ten Championship and plays the No. 11 seed in a 7 p.m. tip-off on Wednesday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

Post-Game Quotes

Rutgers Head Coach Eddie Jordan

Opening Statement: "I'm happy for the W, obviously and proud of my guys…the game plan was to pick up and put pressure on them and we knew they were out with smalls and their ball handlers and we wanted to take advantage of that but at the same time they were big and athletic and we had to rebound and we did all the things that we wanted to do coming out."

On what this win meant for the seniors: "It meant a lot to get a win at home after struggling through our season that we have had. I am happy for Greg. He does more than what the stat sheet shows every day, every game and every practice."

On being surprised how easy this win was: "No. Was I surprised? It wasn't easy. You work hard to make things easy and that is what we did. It is just an example of a team that has been short-handed and they have been going through it for three games, we have been going through it for 23 games so that is what happens. I thought we have done a great service to our program for what we have done being short-handed the way we were and we were short-handed with big people in a big league and we gave great effort and we were competing at a high level for us so I am proud of what we have gone through. The Ws and Ls [don't] measure what we have done."

On Mike William's big game: "Yeah, pretty big game. We hoped he could do that for more games up to this point but he is coming off the bench and again, he and Corey have a good relationship --- a good partnership I should say. When he and Corey are together then they do a good job --- Mike has a good look at the basket and has good rhythm jump shots, when he can get to the basket on some drives it helps but it is a good relationship and when Mike is out there with Corey he does well."

On gaining momentum going into the Big Ten Tournament: "We practice hard every day and our kids they listen and do everything we ask of them so we have momentum every day. We don't have bad days and we are not slouching, we are not discouraged. We have great character kids and that is part of what I was put in this position to do --- to bring integrity back to the program , to pick kids who graduate, all four of our seniors are graduating. Two graduated and two will graduate, one with honors and deans list. We have a good young core of players coming back so I am proud of what we have done as far as putting this program back on its feet."

Minnesota Head Coach Richard Pitino

Opening statement: "The guys that played today, it was not their fault. It is next to impossible right now with the situation we were dealt to score points. With Joey (King) we could play small, but his injury was the icing on the cake. It was about getting our guys to understand and just compete, fight and take advantage of the opportunity to play. There is a lot of things that are making it extremely challenging to play well. I feel bad for those guys that are playing because they are in a bad spot right now unfortunately."

On missing players: "It was lack of guards, lack of post players. It is not as complex as it seems with the state of our roster right now. It is really challenging and difficult. (Ahmad Gilbert) fouls out with seven, eight minutes to go in the game and we played the majority of the second half with walk-ons. I feel bad for those guys. I thought we could make due, but Joey got hurt and that really screwed us up."

On Rutgers building an early lead: "They rebounded the ball extremely well in the first half. You have to give them credit there. We tried to play zone, but that didn't help with the block-outs. We wanted to preserve our guys from getting in foul trouble. Give them credit, happy they got the win. We are just decimated right now."