PISCATAWAY – Geo Baker scored 14 points courtesy of four three-pointers and Corey Sanders add 13 points, but Rutgers (11-8, 1-5) could not overcome its 28.8 percent (17-of-59) shooting in a 68-46 loss to Ohio State (15-4, 6-0) Sunday evening at the RAC. Despite the defeat, the Scarlet Knights committed just five turnovers, their fewest ever in a Big Ten Conference game.

"Our offense did not do a great job, but normally, it does not matter what our offense does," said Pikiell. "Our offense should never ever affect our defense. We gave them a lead. Ohio State is playing great, So, I have to give them credit too. It was not just us. They are on a great tear. They are winning games by 20 points against everybody. I just thought we needed a great effort tonight and I did not particularly like how we let our offense effect everything we did on the defensive side."

The Buckeyes out-rebounded Rutgers 46-30, enabling a 32-14 scoring advantage in the paint for the visitors. Two players grabbed nine boards for OSU, including Keita Bates-Diop, who led all scorers with 20 points.

The Scarlet Knights were without the services of guard Mike Williams. The senior team captain suffered a lower leg injury in practice on Saturday and is sidelined indefinitely.

"Mike has been a really important player," said Pikiell. "We have to play with or without Mike. I really wanted to put him in the game a lot tonight, because I know how he always plays. I feel bad for him. It's his senior year, but those things happen and other guys have to be ready to step up and take advantage of his minutes."

Defense ruled in the early going. RU held OSU to 25 percent shooting (4-of-16) to open the contest with a 9-8 lead. OSU countered with runs of 6-0 and 7-0, as Bates-Diop stroked back-to-back three-pointers to push the Buckeyes ahead 21-11 with five minutes to play in the opening half.

Ohio State closed the stanza on a 19-6 run to take a 28-15 lead into the locker room at intermission.

After the break, the visitors came out hot, opening on a 16-3 run to expand their lead to 44-18.

Rutgers responded with a 16-2 run, as Baker swished three triples and Issa Thiam also struck from long range, to cut the OSU lead to 50-34. RU was unable to reduce its deficit further, however, as the Buckeyes exited the building undefeated in conference play.

"It was a great crowd," said Pikiell. "I'm only sorry that they didn't see the team that was there at Michigan State that played every possession to its fullest."

Rutgers returns to the hardwood to host Iowa at the RAC on Wednesday. The contest will tip-off at 7 p.m. (ET) on BTN.
 
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Postgame Notes

• Rutgers' five turnovers marked its fewest ever in a Big Ten game and its least since committing just three at Clemson on Dec. 1, 2014.
• Against Ohio State, which received 29 points in the latest AP Top 25 Poll, Rutgers played a Big Ten opponent either ranked or receiving votes in national polls in five of the last six league games.
• The contest marked the seventh match-up over 13 contests for RU against a foe ranked or receiving votes.
• Corey Sanders' 13 points ties him with Jim Valvano for 28^th all-time in Rutgers scoring with 1,122 career points.
• It was Sanders' 14^th double-digit scoring effort of the season and the 58^th of his career.
• Geo Baker's 14 points was a career-high in a Big Ten contest, as he scored in double figures for the 13^th time in his rookie season. His four three-point field goals are his second most in a game this year.
• After starting the game 7-of-40, Shaquille Doorson's dunk with two seconds left in the first half started a 10-of-19 spurt for Rutgers to end the game.
• Ohio State made 33.3 percent of its three-point field goals as RU held them under their season average of 37.8 and continues to lead the conference in 3-Point FG defense.
• Ohio State improves to 6-2 in the all-time series.

Post-Game Quotes

Rutgers Head Coach Steve Pikiell

Opening Statement: "The environment was great. The students came out. Everybody was great. I was worried about this game coming off an emotional Michigan State game. Last year against Wisconsin, I reminded the guys that we did not come out ready to play the next time against Iowa. I am just disappointed. Our offense did not do a great job, but normally, it does not matter what our offense does. Our offense should never ever affect our defense. We gave them a lead. Ohio State is playing great, So, I have to give them credit too. It was not just us. They are on a great tear. They are winning games by 20 points against everybody. I just thought we needed a great effort tonight and I did not particularly like how we let our offense effect everything we did on the defensive side of the ball. I appreciate you coming. It was a great crowd, I'm only sorry that they didn't see the team that was there at Michigan State that played every possession to its fullest."

On Mike Williams' injury and how it affects the team: "It happened yesterday, and Mike hurt his leg badly. We don't have the full diagnoses yet, they're still working on that. He's going to be out, he's going to be out for a while. But Mike has been a really important player. We have to play with or without Mike. I really wanted to put him in the game a lot tonight because I know how he always plays. I feel bad for him. It's his senior year, but those things happen and other guys have to be ready to step up and take advantage of his minutes. We certainly have to figure that out quickly here. Having this happen with 10 minutes left in practice yesterday doesn't give you a lot of time to figure it out, so now we have a couple of days to figure it out before Iowa.

"Mike has been, from day one, a fighter. But again, with or without Mike, we need to play better basketball. Playing Ohio State and teams like that, but Mike's a leader. He's a captain. He grabbed nine rebounds against Michigan State. He's our leading rebounder at 6-2. He's an over achiever. Mike is certainly a huge loss for us, but again, we have to play better. Every guy has to step up their game a little more now with Mike not being around."

On what Ohio State did well: "Ohio State, in all the tapes I've watched, they're playing at a great pace. They have the player of the year right now who is playing as well as anybody. He's been causing a lot of problems. I thought we had the right matchups against him and we have shut down guys in the past. He's averaging 20, he got 20 and we were trying to cut him in half.  Sometimes I think your length does that. It didn't help us on the backboards today. It didn't help us block shots, so we need to play better with or without the length. We have to block more shots. We have to get more tips. We certainly, when we play an elite team like Ohio State, we have to play elite and we didn't."

'On players stepping up in Williams' absence: "I think everyone's minutes are going to go up a bit, and we also have to move [Eugene Omoruyi] around, which I don't love, but you have to make some adjustments. Souf (Mensah) always plays hard, and he's getting more comfortable on the court. He's a really good defender and I think he can end up being a piece of the puzzle here, but we have to move him around, too, so he needs to learn a few more spots."

Ohio State Head Coach Chris Holtmann
 
Opening statement: "A good win for our group. We have a lot of respect for this Rutgers basketball team, and the way they play and the way Steve (Pikiell) coaches. A lot of respect. I think when you look at their scorers, who they played, who they have beaten here - Seton Hall, a terrific Seton Hall team - and you get really, really concerned. And I was. I just continued to be impressed with the response of our older guys."
 
On adjustments playing Rutgers: "I think we have a fairly consistent system that we utilize. Every team presents different challenges. We haven't really faced a team like Rutgers that is so physical and so tough in how they play. Their defensive numbers are incredible. I do think we had a bit of a different plan coming in against these guys."
 
On playing a physical team: "I think you can preach it and talk about how they are going to be physical and pressure you, and then you see it in person. You feel it. You have to adjust a little bit. We always didn't make real intelligent plays with the ball. We have to get better at that. I thought we had some careless plays there in the first half. But our guys figured it out. Our defense carried us."
 
On raised expectations: "We have talked about that a little bit. We talked about it a little bit when we had beaten Michigan State. I think it alerted people. I keep coming back to the fact that we have only play one third of the Big Ten schedule right now. There is a lot left to be played. We did talk about that we are going to have some people that will play with a different edge, probably. Home, road, it doesn't matter. We will see if we are good enough to manage that."
 
On Rutgers missing Mike Williams: "It hurt them for sure. He's a good player. I don't think there any question that his being out hurts them. He's a good defensive player and a good offensive player. Hopefully he can get back and get healthy. He's another good perimeter player for sure."
 
On winning the rebounding margin: "We really tried to emphasize it. The biggest thing I'm looking at is offensive rebounding percentage as much as anything. I don't really look at total rebounds. I look at offensive and defensive percentage, and I still have to look to see what they are. We just really emphasized that and did not want to scramble. When you get in scramble mode, you are going to be in trouble with these guys. They are really committed to out-rebounding you. It it interesting, right before the game we did show them clips of them beating to loose balls the last time we played them. The reality is that they did. We needed to correct that. If you're going to beat Rutgers at home, we better do that again."