LINCOLN, Neb. – Rutgers (12-15, 2-12) grabbed 21 offensive rebounds, but struggled from the field, in a 67-55 loss to Nebraska (19-8, 10-4) Saturday afternoon at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Three players scored in double digits for the Scarlet Knights in their first of three road games over four contests.

"We've certainly played better than that on the road," said Rutgers head coach Steve Pikiell. "They've been great at home. A tip of the hat to them for that. Coach Miles is doing a great job. They have a lot of guys, a lot of answers. They present a lot of matchup problems. We didn't play well enough today. We didn't make enough layups today to hang around."

Corey Sanders paced RU with 14 points. He was joined in double digits by Deshawn Freeman and Eugene Omoruyi, who contributed 12 and 11, respectively.  Omoruyi and senior captain Mike Williams both returned from injury to provide a boost. Williams missed eight games, while Omoruyi was sidelined for the past two.

"They had one day of practice, both of those guys," said Pikiell. "They bring us toughness, they bring us fight. Mike is a senior. We don't have a lot of veterans on this team, so it's good to have his presence. And Eugene competes. He gives us a lot in rebounding. It means a lot, it gives you some more options off the bench. We didn't have a lot of options without those two."

Looking to improve to 13-1 at home, Nebraska came out hot and scored the initial eight points. A Baker jumper put Rutgers on the board, but the Huskers were relentless, making eight of their first 13 shots en route to a 20-4 lead.

Down 16 in the hostile environment, the Scarlet Knights responded. Deshawn Freeman provided six consecutive points to cap a 13-4 Rutgers burst.  Helped by the return of Williams and Omoruyi, RU further reduced its deficit to five points on two occasions.

"I thought we just kept fighting," said Pikiell. "Eventually our defense kind of catches up. We were able to claw back into it, but you have to do more than that to win on the road in this league."

The Huskers scored the final four points of the half to enter the locker room at the midpoint with a 37-28 advantage.

The second half was largely even, with Nebraska scoring 30 points and Rutgers producing 27. RU concluded the game on a 6-0 run, but would get no closer than the five point deficit it battled back to in the opening half.

Nebraska was led by James Palmer Jr., who had a game-high 15 points. Four players scored in double figures for the Huskers.

Rutgers returns home to host Northwestern on Tuesday at the RAC. The contest will tip-off at 9 p.m. ET on BTN.

Single game tickets for Rutgers men's basketball home games are available online or by calling the Rutgers Ticket Office at 1-866-445-GORU.

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Postgame Notes

• Senior captain Mike Williams and sophomore Eugene Omoruyi both returned to the lineup after missing the past eight and two games, respectively, due to injury.
• Corey Sanders scored 14 points, reaching double-figures for the 20^th time this season and 64^th time in his career.
• Deshawn Freeman scored 14 points, reaching double-figures for the 22^nd time this season and 46^th time in his career.
• Williams moved into 38th place all-time at RU in scoring with 1,044 career points, passing Dane Miller and tying Kadeem Jack.
• Omoruyi scored in double-digits for the eighth time this season and for the first time since Dec. 16 (against Seton Hall). 
• Nebraska now leads the all-time series, which dates back to 1999, 7-3.