PISCATAWAY – With the game tied and two minutes remaining, Rutgers (11-6, 1-3) went on a 9-2 run to ensure 64-60 victory over Wisconsin (9-8, 2-2), Friday evening at the RAC.
Corey Sanders shot 10-of-19 to score a season-high 23 points, while
Deshawn Freeman added 15 for the Scarlet Knights, in a contest that featured four ties and nine lead changes.
"I like this team a lot," said Rutgers head coach
Steve Pikiell. "I know we had a stretch there where we didn't play as well as we would like, but you have to learn. When you're building a program, you have to learn from those things. I think they did and they came back and practiced well. They got rewarded today against a good team."
Rutgers forced 14 Badger turnovers, while committing only six, RU's lowest ever miscue total in a Big Ten game. Seven of Wisconsin's turnovers were committed by Ethan Happ, a career-high for the All-American.
"I just thought we had relentless effort," said Pikiell. "Everyone came into the game and gave us some great stuff. We were able to move them side to side. We made some timely plays down the stretch…It was a great team win. Everyone that checked into the game was locked in and ready to play."
The Scarlet Knights benefitted from a 62.5 percent (5-of-8) performance from behind the arc, its best percentage under Pikiell and its best 3-point effort since shooting 71.4 percent versus Minnesota on Feb. 23, 2016. Conversely, Wisconsin shot 2-of-13 from behind the arc, its second-worst mark from 3-point range this season.
The first half was a back-and-forth affair that featured seven ties and two lead changes. A driving layup by Sanders at the buzzer sent RU into the locker room at the midpoint with a 25-24 edge.
The Badgers scored the initial five points out of the break and built its largest advantage of the game, 33-28, with just under 17 minutes to go. Rutgers responded with a five-point run. It marked the first of two ties in the second stanza, with the Scarlet Knights issuing strong responses to both.
The second came with the score knotted at 53-53. RU answered with a 6-0 spurt and deposited its final three field goal attempts to secure the victory, its second straight over the Badgers in Piscataway.
"We gave them different looks and the guys did a really good job executing the game plan in one day," said Pikiell. "(We had) one day to prepare. We were locked in."
Rutgers returns to the rugged road of the Big Ten to play No. 1 Michigan State at the Breslin Center on Wednesday. The contest will tip-off at 7 p.m. (ET) on BTN.
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Postgame Notes
- Rutgers' six turnovers marked its fewest in a Big Ten game since joining the conference in 2014-15.
- Rutgers shot 62.5 percent from behind the arc, its best percentage under head coach Steve Pikiell and its highest 3-point percentage since shooting 71.4 percent versus Minnesota on Feb. 23, 2016.
- Corey Sanders' 23 points was a season-high. He reached double-figure points for the 12th time this season and 56th time in his career. It also signaled his 14th career 20+ point game.
- Deshawn Freeman scored in double-digits for the 14th time this season and the 38th time in his career.
- Rutgers forced Wisconsin All-American center Ethan Happ into a career-high seven turnovers.
- Wisconsin shot 2-of-13 from behind the arc, its second-worst mark from 3-point range this season.
- Rutgers now trails Wisconsin 6-2 in the all-time series, but has won the last two matchups at the RAC.
Post-Game Quotes
Rutgers Head Coach Steve Pikiell
Opening Statement: "It was a great crowd tonight - the students, the band - it was an awesome, awesome environment. I'm Happy. Candido is up here, Eugene, Corey and D, they all played from start to finish. We had good practices, we plugged away and it hasn't been easy for us. We continued to work at it. I'm proud of these guys and their effort. We beat a really good team. I have tremendous respect for Wisconsin. 16 straight trips to the NCAA tournament and a real good team. So a good win today and happy and thankful Rutgers Nation was here and made the place loud."
On defending Ethan Happ: "We just did a good job. D did a good job and Eugene got him and Candido is up here. He's a terrific player and I think he's one of the best passing big guys in the country. He's a matchup problem because he can put the ball on the deck. Wisconsin never turns the ball over. Corey did a great job on their point guard, he was terrific. We gave them different looks and the guys did a really good job executing the game plan in one day, one day to prepare. We were locked in."
On forcing turnovers: "I just thought we had relentless effort. Everyone came into the game and gave us some great stuff. We were able to move them side to side. We made some timely plays down the stretch and every guy up here made a big rebound and made a big jump shot. So, it was a great team win. Everyone that checked into the game was locked in and ready to play."
On the play of Corey Sanders: "He's locked in and when he's like that, and I like that fact, everyone always talks about his offense, but I thought he was really good defensively today against a really good point guard who's the leading scorer freshman guard in our league. I thought he did a great job and nothing easy for him today. He's our key to the gage. I'm pleased when shots go in, but I'm really pleased with his defense and his effort, which was really a bonus today."
On the difference from last year's game with Wisconsin to now: "These guys have been great. They stayed the course and plug away. I like this team a lot. I know we had a stretch there where we didn't play as well as we would like, but you have to learn. When you're building a program, you have to learn from those things. I think that they did and they came back and practiced well and they got rewarded today against a good team. But our defense was good today from start to finish. That's a big key for us and we grinded out a win."
On the importance of the win: "It's great. You guys make too much out of wins. We're a program in progress that's plugging away. We have good things going on. We had seven guys with 3.0's and four guys on the Dean's list. We're building a new practice facility. This program is going to be good and they have to stay the course. Today was a good win. We'll get ready. We have a difficult task at Michigan State, who's a good team, and we will be well prepared and go there and play."
Rutgers Junior Guard Corey Sanders
On his last two baskets: "We just came down and coach drew up plays during the timeout, our go-to plays and the same plays, if you go look at it, as we did against Seton Hall. D told me to come out and be aggressive and to get our shots up. He gave me some room, I pulled up and it fell for me. I got the switch on Happ, and he's such a long defender so it's hard to go by him. I've been working on that shot in the gym at night, so I put it up there. We came up with the win. Everyone that's up here fought hard, especially Eugene who came in with everything he had. D too and Candido. I'm just proud of our team."
Rutgers Senior Forward Deshawn Freeman
On holding on to the win: "We've been in that predicament already. Coming out of the timeout, we knew what to expect. I told Corey and Geo [Baker] to win the game for us, and Corey came out and hit two big shots for us and got the win."
Rutgers Senior Forward Candido Sa
On the game plan against Happ: "We had really good preparation before the game. I know, me and the rest of the bigs had a task because Happ is a really good player. We just stuck with the preparations, stuck together and found a way to win the game."
Wisconsin Head Coach Greg Gard
Opening statement: "Credit to Steve's group. I thought Corey hit some tough shots. The one over Happ I'll have to see how far, I was told it was about 25 feet. I'll see on film how far it was. They made some tough shots when they needed to. We weren't able to capitalize on our end. I'll look through the film and get a better evaluation of what exactly our breakdowns were, specifically in the second half. I thought the first half we were pretty good defensively, but not good enough in the second half on the defensive end. The credit goes to Rutgers for making some tough shots. I thought turnovers were a key. We turned it over too much for this amount of possession of game, being as low as it likely was going to be. So we'll look through the film and learn from it and try to get better and move on quick."
On Rutgers defense of Ethan Happ: "I thought they did a decent job, were present with him. I thought Ethan rushed things at times and was playing too fast early. That was pretty evident with his turnovers. So I brought him out to calm him down and slow him down. But they did a good job of being present and sending extra bodies around him and near him to make it tougher to maneuver in space."
On 14 turnovers: "That's too many. That needs to be cut in half. That's where it needs to be. I'll look and see what the turnovers were. They were a couple charges. I'll see if those were self-inflicted or something defensively that was taken away. I'll go through the film and grade it. I'll get a better idea from that."
On three-point shooting: "Rutgers does a good job, look at their stats and how they have guarded the line pretty well. That's been most of games we've had with them. I think last season at the Garden we were 2-for-25. You get looks, you have to knock them down. With 2-for-13, obviously you'd like to see it better. But we are also a team that tries not to live and die with that. We need to be better defensively in certain spots in the game. And also the turnover margin. If we could get half of those possessions back in a four-point game. We had some good looks that didn't go down. We have to be able to overcome those things. That's what you do with your defense and your ability to take care of the ball."
On differences with Rutgers: "I think the culture that Steve has tried to create, from how hard they play on the defensive end, has become a little more entrenched. I know that takes a while to make that happen. And Corey is another year older and
Geo Baker is a good complement to him. Freeman is a good player and they have other complimentary players.
Mike Williams has been a career sixth man and does a good job of it. Thiam does a good job in his role. They have other guys who understand what their roles are and buy into it."
On poor shooting from both teams in the first half: "I think defensively we made it hard on each other. It's typically a rock fight when we get together. It was like that last year. That's just two teams that make it hard to get good looks. You try to as much as you can to eliminate looks right at the rim, and both teams for the most part did a good job. We had some breakdowns at times with separation, and they had breakdowns at times to allow us to crawl back in it. You try to be consistent as possible, that's what everyone is striving for."
