PISCATAWAY - Rutgers (6-1) begins Big Ten competition and plays its initial road contest of the season when it travels to Minneapolis for a 6 p.m. (ET) tip-off versus No. 12 Minnesota (7-1) on Sunday. The Scarlet Knights (6) and Gophers (5) combine to lead the Big Ten in 11 statistical categories. RU, which hosts No. 3 Michigan State on Tuesday, will be working to earn its highest-ranked road victory in program history and capture its first win over a ranked foe since defeating No. 4 Wisconsin 67-62 at the RAC on Jan. 11, 2015.

Minnesota leads the all-time series 6-1 and is 3-0 at home versus Rutgers. Mike Williams is averaging 12.2 points in five career games versus the Gophers, boosted by career-high 29 in a 75-52 win at the RAC on March 5, 2016.

Rutgers is among the top 20 in 10 NCAA statistical categories and is first or second in the Big Ten in 13 stat categories.

Sunday's game will be televised live on BTN, with Cory Provus calling the action and Shon Morris providing the analysis. On the radio, the contest will be broadcast live on the Rutgers IMG Sports Network, WOR 710 AM in New York and WCTC 1450 AM in New Brunswick. Chris Carlin will serve as play-by-play announcer and Joe Boylan will provide commentary.

Eugene Omoruyi shot 9-of-11 to score a career-high 22 points in a hard-fought 78-73 loss to Florida State Tuesday evening at the RAC in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge. RU made a season-best 80 percent (16-of-20) of their free throw attempts in the contest, which featured eight ties and seven lead changes. Omoruyi was joined in double figures by Corey Sanders, who registered 20 points and dished-out five assists. It marked the first time RU had two players with 20-plus points in a regulation contest since Dec. 28, 2015, when Omari Grier (22) and Sanders (20) reached the plateau in a win over UMass-Lowell. Deshawn Freeman had his 12th career double-double grabbing a career-high 16 rebounds and scoring 15 points on 5-of-18 shooting. The senior competed for 31 minutes and fought through cramping issues through much of the second stanza.

Sunday's game is during the 12th annual "V Week" for Cancer Research. On April 29, the historic College Ave Gym (nicknamed "The Barn") court was dedicated in honor of former Rutgers co-captain Jim Valvano, who scored 1,122 points and was inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame. Minnesota's Williams Arena is also nicknamed "The Barn."

Under fifth-year head coach Richard Pitino, Minnesota leads the nation in blocks-per-game (8.3), while placing ninth in assist/turnover ratio (1.63). Jordan Murphy leads the nation in double-doubles (8) and offensive rebounds (5.50), while Reggie Lynch paces D-I in blocks (4.75). Nate Mason is on the Bob Cousy Award watch list for the nation's top point guard, while Murphy is on the Karl Malone Award watch list for best power forward. In a 107-81 win over Niagara, UM had a school-record 32 assists, while committing just four turnovers.

RU's Mamadou Doucoure and UM's Bakary Konaté both hail from Bamako, Mali, while RU's Issa Thiam and UM's Gaston Diedhiou both call Dakar, Senegal, home. 

Follow Rutgers men's basketball on Facebook (www.facebook.com/RutgersMBB), Twitter (www.twitter.com/RutgersMBB) and Instagram (www.instagram.com/RutgersMBB) for additional news and updates.