PISCATAWAY – Rutgers (12-13, 2-10) fought back from a 15-point deficit to draw to within one point on multiple occasions, but could not complete the comeback, in a 78-76 loss to No. 3 Purdue (23-2, 12-0) Saturday at the RAC. Corey Sanders scored a season-high 31 points and grabbed seven rebounds to spark the Scarlet Knights' 48.4 (31-of-64) field goal percentage, including a 50 percent (6-of-12) mark from behind the arc.
 
"I think that's the best team in the country," said Rutgers head coach Steve Pikiell. "I don't know what they're rated, but if there's a better team inside and out, then I haven't seen them yet. We can play with anybody when we play like that and we follow the game plan and execute."
 
RU established a 37-25 rebounding advantage. As a result, the home squad out-scored the visitors 36-26 in the paint and 14-4 in second chance points. Despite the disparity on the boards, the Scarlet Knights could not overcome the difference at the free throw line, where the visitors had 19 more attempts and scored 17 more points than the home squad.
 
Purdue, which entered the contest ranked third nationally in 3-point field goal percentage (43.2), was limited to 33.3 percent (7-of-21) from behind the arc.
 
"We tried to really do a good job with the threes, and I thought we did," said Pikiell. "We did a good job of taking away [Isaac] Haas, and he's as dominant of a post-guy as there is in the league. You can't defend the foul line, it's a tough place to defend. They got to the line a lot, and I wish we got there a little bit more ourselves."
 
Geo Baker and Deshawn Freeman joined Sanders in double digits, scoring 16 and 14 points, respectively. Baker was 3-of-4 from behind the arc, while Freeman had nine rebounds to fall just shy of a double-double.
 
Baker opened the game with a triple, before a 12-2 run Purdue run opened a 12-5 lead for the visitors. The Boilermakers extended their lead to as much as 15 points, before taking a 38-27 advantage in to the locker room at the midpoint.
 
Trailing 46-36, Sanders fueled an 11-2 Rutgers run that was capped by a Shaquille Doorson dunk. It marked the first two times that Rutgers drew to within a single point in the second half. Unfortunately, RU was unable to take the lead before a charged home crowd of 8,325. Purdue made 12 of its final 14 free throws to secure its 19^th consecutive victory.
 
"Our last two outings we weren't very proud of," said Sanders. "You don't always get the opportunity to play one of the best teams in the nation in your sold-out house. So today, it felt like everyone has an extra chip on their shoulder. I thought we came out and executed the game plan like coach said. We just fell short."
 
Rutgers returns to the hardwood Monday versus Indiana at the RAC. The contest will tip-off at 7 p.m. 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.
 
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.
 
Postgame Notes

• The 8,325 attendance was the largest at the RAC in 15 years, since February 23, 2002, a 66-60 win over Seton Hall. It was the second sell-out this season after drawing 8,318 fans on Dec. 16, 2017, to witness the 71-65 defeat of No. 15 Seton Hall in the annual Garden State Hardwood Classic. It signals the first time Rutgers men's basketball has enjoyed multiple home sell-outs in the same campaign since 2011.
• Corey Sanders scored a season-high 31 points, his highest career output in a regulation contest and his most points since posting a career-high 39 in a triple OT game against Illinois two years ago to the day on Feb. 3, 2016.
• Sanders moves into 22nd all-time at Rutgers in career scoring with 1,207, surpassing Jamal Phillips (1991-95) and Doug Patton (1958-61). With one steal, he moves into an 11th place all-time tie in Rutgers history with Dane Miller (2009-13) at 129 thefts.
• Against ranked opponents this season, Sanders is averaging 15.9 points per game. Against Purdue in four career games, he averages 17.3 per contest.
• Rutgers outshot an opponent (.484-.451) for the 10th time this season, but fell to 8-2 in those games with the loss.
• The Scarlet Knights won the battle on the boards 37-25, including a 15-7 edge on the offensive glass. RU falls to 8-4 when out-rebounding a foe and 10-7 when outscoring an opponent on second chance points.
• The +12 rebounding margin was Rutgers' best mark in a Big Ten contest this season, and most overall since posting a +16 figure in the Big Ten Tournament win over Ohio State on March 8, 2017.
• Season/career double-digit scoring marks: Sanders (19th/63rd), Deshawn Freeman (20th/44th), Geo Baker (17th/17th).
• Matt Bullock grabbed a career-high six rebounds and led the team against Purdue in the +/- category with a +10.
• Baker made multiple three-point field goals (3-of-4) for the ninth time in his rookie season.
• Purdue, its nation's best 19th straight game and scored 70+ points for the 17th consecutive contest, improves to 10-1 in the all-time series over Rutgers.

 
Post-Game Quotes
 
Rutgers Head Coach Steve Pikiell
 
Opening statement: "As always I appreciate you coming. What a great environment. Seven decades of alums here today. Rutgers nation was loud and proud and I'm very thankful for that. We always play better when they're here. The students, the band and the Riot Squad, the cheerleaders and all that. It's an awesome environment, we played a great team. I mean they have a 20-game win streak. I thought we played really well, I thought we followed the game plan. These two guys, I couldn't take them out of the game. That's where we are right now. It was a tough day, we couldn't finish it off. We had to play A+ basketball, and they make you pay for every mistake. Great environment though, I'm very thankful for everyone showing up and making this place a great place to play today."
 
On what this effort tells him about the team: "We've hit a lot of obstacles and they keep fighting. Guys stepped up today that haven't played a lot. When you're building a program you have to go through a lot of stuff. I think that's the best team in the country. I don't know what they're rated, but if there's a better team inside and out in the country, then I haven't seen them yet. We can play with anybody when we play like that and we follow the game plan and execute. These guys have both played really well. It makes us really much tougher to play."
 
On Purdue's nationally ranked shooters and its foul shooting: "We tried to really do a good job with the threes, and I thought we did. We did a good job on taking away [Isaac] Haas, and he's as dominant of a post-guy as there is in the league. You can't defend the foul line, it's a tough place to defend. They got to the line a lot, and I wish we got there a little bit more ourselves."
 
On equaling Purdue's bench production despite losing players to injury: "Everyone needed to step up, and obviously I thought these guys played great. I thought Deshawn gave us some good minutes too. So they stepped their games up and everyone came off the bench- Shaq gave us some good minutes, Candido gave us good minutes, and Matt. Everyone has to chip in and do their thing. Especially being down two of our most versatile guys. They play a lot of positions for us, so we don't have that versatility coming off our bench. Those guys have to come in for certain positions and do a good job, and they did do that today and they were ready when we called on them."
 
On what he tells the guys in the locker room after being down by 11 at the half: "I liked the way the first half went. We didn't end the half the way I would like to, but I thought we were getting shots we wanted to. I thought we could move the ball side to side a little bit more, make them play defense. I liked our defensive intensity. You just got to stay the course when you're playing a really good team like this. Our defense helped us hang around, and then we went on some scoring spurts ourselves. So at halftime, I liked their effort and I liked what we were doing on the floor. Just a few things we could tweak and make sure we do a little better on. I thought we came out with good intensity in the second half right off the bat with scoring."
 
On what Matt Bullock has shown him: "Matt's been called upon to do some stuff now. Everyone has to, so he showed some signs of being good, and then he showed signs of not being ready. We need everybody on board, and hopefully he'll continue to grow with some game minutes. We need everybody until those guys get back."
 
On the bench players turning adversity into opportunity: "Everyone needed to step up their game. We're down to eight scholarship guys. And by the way, we're playing the best team in the country with four seniors who shoot the ball at the highest level, and the best post-tandem in the league. We had to really step it up and I thought we did, and the game came up short. Certainly not because the guys didn't step up the way we needed them to."
 
On the underperforming vs. Illinois and playing well vs. Purdue: "It's part of a building process. If we did it every night we would be called Golden State Warriors. We're not that yet. We're a program that is growing, we're a program that's young, we're a program that's hit a lot of adversity. We're fighting through it, and every game is a different obstacle. Illinois plays completely differently from Purdue. Now we're going to play Indiana who plays completely different with one day to prepare. A lot of obstacles being thrown at us. Geo's going through this for the first time, Duke (Doucoure) is going through it for the first time. You've got to live it, and you've got to learn from it. I do believe the second go-around, we'll learn from how we played the first time, and I thought we really had some huge strides in that. I think sometimes when you play a team for the first time with new coaches you don't really know how they're going to play you. Everyone has a different strategy for us. I'd like going for round two with some of these teams, so we can make some of our own adjustments. I thought we did a good job going from our last game to this game, making the adjustments that we needed, and following the game plan."
 
On what they can do about the free throw discrepancy (29 to 10): "There's nothing. Try to do a great job of defending without fouling that's what you try to do. And we obviously didn't do that."
 
Rutgers Junior Guard Corey Sanders
 
On what caused the team to perform well against Purdue: "Our last two outings we weren't very proud of. You don't always get the opportunity to play one of the best teams in the nation in your sold-out house. So today it felt like everyone has an extra chip on their shoulder. I thought we came out and executed the game plan like coach said. We just fell short."
 
Rutgers Freshman Guard Geo Baker
 
On if the game against Illinois caused them to play with more pride against Purdue: "Coach is always telling us to take every game personally. We felt like we didn't really come out and compete the last game. With a guy like Eugene going down, we knew everybody had to step up. Like Corey said earlier, we all had an extra chip on our shoulder this game."
 
Purdue Head Coach Matt Painter
 
On opponents' strong offensive second half: "I thought Rutgers was really good in the second half. We had a sluggish start after having an 11-point lead. I think each game is different with different talent on each team. Obviously, it was they had a great environment today, but we messed up some basic stuff at the start of the second half. We missed a layup and threw the ball out of bounds. We had a tough start, but with that being said they made tough shots. Corey Sanders, Geo Baker, those guys had a really good game. They made a lot of tough one-on-one plays. That is what we want to be frank with you. We want tough one-on-one contested, pull-up jump shots. They made a lot of them tonight, so you have to give them credit."
 
On Sanders: "He's a guy that is very streaky. He can really get it going and carry his team. It is just one of those things that you tip your hat to him. He is a good player. And he was trying to help his team along with Geo Baker. They had a tough loss the other day and that is what I told the guys, 'they beat Seton Hall here, they've had a sell out before. These guys have pride. They had a bad game last game and they are going to bounce back, fight and compete.' I thought physically they took it to us at times. They were very physical and obviously rebounding. I was very impressed with them."
 
On below three-point average: "We took some tough ones in the first half that we shouldn't have taken. We were forcing some shots. We have to be a little more patient. Some of them were end of shot clock plays and you have to understand that, but a couple others weren't. That is where you see those misses and inconsistency. You are on the road, in a different environment and you have to give Rutgers credit for some of those too."
 
On the fight of Rutgers: "I felt the team that would show up, just because of the way they lost in the Illinois game, the team that played Seton Hall, the team that played at Michigan State. That is what I told them. I told them you look at those two games and you watch Rutgers and if that team shows up you are going to have a dog fight. And that is the team that showed up."
 
On the difference for Purdue: "They had to fight. They had to spend a lot of energy when your down 11 and they did, but they never took the lead or control of the game. With that being said now at the end our free throw shooting was the difference. When you have all five starters shooting around 80% that ends up being the difference. Leading up to that we had to execute and make some stops and when we did make some stops we didn't get the rebound. They got the rebounds and that really hurt us."