PISCATAWAY – Rutgers (6-3, 0-2) battled No. 3-ranked Michigan State (8-1, 2-0) for 40 minutes, but was unable to find its shot in a 62-52 loss to the Spartans Tuesday evening at the RAC. The Scarlet Knights limited MSU to a season-low 62 points and 38.6 percent shooting, well below its season average of 50.2 percent.

"We're close," said Rutgers head coach Steve Pikiell. "It's a couple of possessions. We played a great team, and you've got to play great. I thought on the defensive end we certainly did some good things. We were even on the backboards. They have been manhandling teams on the backboards. They're a terrific program…We've got to continue the climb."

Rutgers drew even with the Spartans in rebounds, as both squads grabbed 45 boards. It snapped a streak of six straight games MSU has out-rebounded its opponent. Deshawn Freeman had a game-high nine rebounds to go along with a team-high 13 points, falling one board shy of his 14^th career double-double.

Geo Baker and Eugene Omoruyi joined Freeman in double digits. Both posted 11 points in a contest that featured four ties and five lead changes.

"I hate to lose and I think everyone here came here to beat teams like that," said Baker. "We were really close. Like coach said, there's a bunch of little things that if we can improve, we can win that game."

The Scarlet Knights jumped-out to an 8-0 lead in a charged environment. The home squad held the advantage until a Miles Bridges jumper provided MSU a 15-14 edge at the 8:33 mark. It began a string of eight consecutive points for the Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year, who tallied 21 overall.

Rutgers re-gained the advantage, 25-23, on a Baker jumper before entering the locker room at the midpoint with the scored knotted at 26-26.

A 7-0 run by the Scarlet Knights produced a 35-34 edge with 14 minutes to play. MSU answered with an 8-0 burst of its own, however, and held the lead for the remainder. RU drew within two (45-43), but would get no closer, as the home squad made one of 12 field goal attempts over the final eight minutes.

"I think Steve [Pikiell] does a great job," said Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo. "We knew this was going to be a war, like an old-fashioned Big Ten game."

Rutgers returns to the hardwood Thursday evening to host NJIT in a 7 p.m. tip-off at the RAC. The contest will be streamed live via the web on BTN Plus.

Single game men's basketball tickets are available online or by calling the Rutgers Ticket Office at 1-866-445-GORU. Fans also have the opportunity to purchase flex ticket plans or a "Pikiell's Presents" package. Flex ticket plans enable fans to select any four games from the home schedule to create their own package. "Pikiell's Presents" includes two section 110 tickets to the games versus Stony Brook (Dec. 22) and Hartford (Dec. 28), along with two food vouchers per game and ugly holiday sweater t-shirts.

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Post-Game Notes

• Rutgers' 66 field goal attempts was its most in a regulation game since taking 67 shots versus Morgan State on Dec. 3, 2016. It marked RU's most field goal attempts in a regulation conference game since taking 69 against Ohio State on Feb. 8, 2015.
• Rutgers limited Michigan State to a season-low 62 points and 38.6 percent shooting, well below its season average of 50.2 percent.
• Rutgers drew even with the Spartans in rebounds, snapping a streak of six straight games MSU has out-rebounded its opponent.
• Eugene Omoruyi scored in double-figures for the fifth time this season after reaching double digits once as a freshman.
• Geo Baker scored 11 points, his sixth time in double figures this season.
• Deshawn Freeman led the team with 13 points, his 32^nd career double-digit scoring game.
• Mike Williams' seven rebounds signaled a season-high.

Post-Game Quotes
Rutgers Head Coach Steve Pikiell

Opening statement: "Thank you for coming, I appreciate you being here. Great crowd tonight. The RAC was jumpin'. I think we played the best team in the country. It came down to a few possessions. Got to give it to Michigan State. Watched all the film. They're good. They made two huge threes. Their point guard was great. He's been on a tier as of late. We just came up a little short. Proud of our guys and proud of our effort. We didn't play great either and that's a positive for us having played the best team in the country. I think we had a lot more in the tank. We learned a lot in these last couple of games and we'll be back at it tomorrow. Got some more games coming up and we'll continue to grow."

On his post-game message in the locker room: "We're close. I said that to them. It's a couple of possessions. Again, playing a great team, you've got to play great. I thought on the defensive end we certainly did some good things. We were even on the backboards. They've been kind of manhandling teams on the backboards. They're a terrific program, I said that to our guys, but we've got to continue the climb. It's a process. Again, I loved our crowd here today. I love the students. I want to thank them for coming out and making this a tough place to play. Hopefully they'll continue to do that for us."

On the number of blocked shots effecting their game: "Again, we tried to move around those big guys but they've got tremendous length, obviously. They've got some players that can really blocked shots. I was really worried with Nick Ward, who's playing as well as anybody in the country right now. Then, they bring other guys off the bench that are pretty good and stepped up for them. The blocked shot for them is the first pass in their fast break. They're a transition team so when we got our shots blocked it certainly put us in a lot of defensive pressure down the other end of the floor. That kind of catapulted them at times."

On his freshmen and how they're handling their first Big Ten games: "I think they've learned a lot. You need to go through it, you need to live it. These guards they're playing against are terrific. The talent level is really high. Douc was great the other night. Tonight, he got into foul trouble a little bit and didn't really get a great rhythm in his game at all tonight. But, Douc is going to be fine. These guys are all workers, they're coachable; I enjoy coaching this team. Eugene has gotten better. He's got to continue to grow. Geo is learning a lot of lessons, throwing him right to the wolves. We've just got to keep progressing."

On MSU's presence pressuring them to miss shots in the paint: "I thought we missed some good looks, too. We had some opportunities too to blow this thing a little more open for us and cut the lead. You've got to make the open ones. Sometimes when you go at a team with big men you get a little excited and get into some areas which are tough, and they had great length obviously. That obviously caused us problems and with the shot clock going down we've got guys that attack the rim, that's what they do and that's what you're susceptible to."

On whether the 3-guard lineup during the 7-0 run in the first half was meant to counter MSU's length:

"They're just a tough team, they cause problems. Preseason player of the year, he can play the 2, the 3, and the 4. He causes problems. If you go too small, then, you know, they've got big guys. So, we had to adjust a lot and move some people around too. Guys were tired too. So, you have to substitute. It's a high-paced game. They put a lot of pressure on you defensively and offensively. We're trying every lineup that we can and the ones I feel good about. We're also substituting for defensive reasons too."

On taking the team out of their comfort zone offensively: "I thought we did a decent job on Ward. He's been on a tier shooting 68.2% from the floor. Pretty much every time he touches it, it's a basket. I thought our offense, especially in the first half helped our defense. We ran some clock, we got the ball moving side to side. Again, they've got a lot of weapons on that team. Like I said, it comes down to a couple of possessions and they make some big threes."

Rutgers Freshman Guard Geo Baker

On the loss: "I hate to lose and I think everyone here came here to beat teams like that. We were really close. Like coach said, there's a bunch of little things that if we can improve, we can win that game."

On his strong start to the game: "It was my teammates. They kept telling me to keep shooting and that the midrange was open. Once I saw the opening, I just took it."

On the progression of his game: "I've definitely seen it progress. I think I'm getting more comfortable out there playing against better competition. I'm just being patient more, finding the right spots and finding the right guys on offense."

On what the team is taking out of this three game stretch: "You can't take a possession off, that's the biggest thing. There were a couple of little things that I did wrong like not boxing out a few times, so stuff like that. It's the little things that they are going to get baskets off of, so everyone has to do the little things if we really want to win big games like this."

On the physicality of Michigan State: "It was fine, honestly. I felt comfortable out there. It was definitely a bit of a step up from earlier in the season, but nothing too serious."

Rutgers Sophomore Forward Eugene Omoruyi

On playing Michigan State close: "It was close. It's a lesson for us and that's a great team. They're ranked No. 3 in the country, so I think we just made a few mistakes that we need to change for next game."

On the effort level on defense: "We just play everything hard against every team we play. We treat it the same way and just fight and try to get more off of that."

Message to other teams that are visiting the RAC this season: "We're a whole different team from last year. We've grown up, our confidence level has gone up and we're more together."

Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo

Opening Statement: "The game was no surprise to me for a few reasons. I was concerned about us being a little sluggish, and I was impressed with how this Rutgers team played. I think Steve [Pikiell] does a great job. We knew this was going to be a war, like an old-fashioned Big Ten game. The rebounds ended up being even, but they hurt us on the offensive end. We played sluggish from the beginning, that I don't give Rutgers credit for, we just didn't push the ball."

 "We found a way to win, and I guess that's what good team do. It's a shame, because Miles looked more like Miles and Jaren Jackson tied the career block record. Joshua Langford took 20 shots, and he invented some. I wasn't sure where that was coming from. He started taking it inside, and they're long and talented."
 
"In general, I didn't think our defense was good. They just shot poorly. Their defense on us was pretty good and they executed well. That's a good basketball team. When I watched Florida State beat the daylights out of Florida last night, then watch Rutgers playing Florida State, I was concerned. I love the way these kids play. They play hard. I love Freeman, he plays hard. The freshman Geo Baker is going to be good. I liked Eugene Omoruyi. I liked their effort and Steve's doing a good job."
 
On Nick Ward's decreased minutes in the second half: "That's normal. He and Cassius Winston started off slowly, and we challenged them at halftime. They didn't respond the way we wanted, so we didn't start them. It's no big deal. Everything hasn't been smooth for us, although the media is kissing our butts, the fans are kissing our butts. The coaches haven't. We got outplayed a lot of that game. We have good players that have to play good for us to win. We're not Duke or Kentucky."
 
On Jaren Jackson picking it up late in the game: "He played pretty well, they just didn't get the ball enough. We tried to get him to take it to the rack, and he did a pretty nice job of that. He's struggling shooting the ball a little bit right now. It's been an incredible 15 days, but it's tough to keep that going as a freshman. But he came back good."
 
Rebounding and battle in the paint: "I think Nick being out hurt us scoring inside. We struggled on the ball screens, it seems every time we put Cassius in, there was an offensive foul. Rutgers is a physical team and we knew they were going to bulldog their way through in a fist fight. That's the way they play, and personally, I love it."
 
On Rutgers' Geo Baker: "For a freshman, he got some open looks. He didn't shoot it well, but they keep pressure on you. They keep up on those ball screens, they ran some good things offensively. I thought they worked hard enough for good shots to shoot a better percentage. That's what was frustrating for me. We were out of position then, and that's how we lose the offensive rebounds."
 
On conference schedule: "I'm not in love with it. The only reason is because it happens so quick and we have that brutal schedule on the road. If this is going to go on like this, we'll need to schedule differently. I don't think anyone is a fan of one-day preps. That doesn't happen very often in the Big Ten. It was the same for everyone to go through it, so it was fair. It's not easy for us, and we haven't had much of a break over the last 13 days. It hurts our prep, and that doesn't help guys get better."
 
On the state of the team: "I don't know how to say this, but we're not perfect. We're not as good as you guys write. We're a good basketball team that has a chance to be a great one. You can't turn it over like we are, you can't get these offensive fouls like we do. We're trying to break some bad habits."