PISCATAWAY – Rutgers (12-14, 2-11) was unable to find its shot in a 65-43 loss to Indiana (13-12, 6-7) Monday evening at the RAC. Deshawn Freeman and Geo Baker scored 13 and 10 points, respectively, for the Scarlet Knights in their second game over a three-day span.
"We just didn't have that kind of energy that we had against Purdue," said Rutgers head coach Steve Pikiell. "That's on me as a coach. I tried to sub some guys out quickly, thought our defense would catch up and get through that tough time. We've been in tough spots before, but we never could get in front of it today. Credit to Indiana. They played well from start to finish."
RU made 24.1 percent (13-of-54) of its field goal attempts, while Indiana tweaked the twine on 24-of-55 shots (43.6%). IU's offense was spearheaded by Juwan Morgan (24) and Robert Johnson (19), who combined to score 43 points on 17-of-27 shooting.
"We had two keys in the game, and they were Morgan and Johnson," said Pikiell. We obviously didn't do a good job on either of them…We had one day to prepare, and I obviously didn't get my point across about those two guys. It was just not a great game for Rutgers. We've got to get better."
Indiana led for the entirety, and jumped out to a 24-8 lead. Rutgers responded with an eight point run to reduce its deficit to single digits, before the Hoosiers entered the locker room at the midpoint with a 26-16 advantage.
After the break, the Scarlet Knights would get no closer than their halftime deficit.
Rutgers returns to the hardwood Saturday at Nebraska. The contest will tip-off at 4 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.
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
- Geo Baker has made multiple three-point field goals (2-of-4) in three straight games, and in six of the last eight, for a .440 mark from beyond the arc over that span.
- Baker scored in double-digits for the 18th time during his rookie season.
- Scoring nine, Corey Sanders moved into 21st all-time in Rutgers history with 1,216 career points, surpassing Larry Gordon (1951-54).
- Deshawn Freeman scored in double-figures for the 21st time this season, and 45th time in his career. He also paced the Scarlet Knights in scoring for the fifth time in 2017-18.
- Rutgers out-performed an opponent in second chance points (14-12) for the 18th time this season in 24 games, falling to 10-8 in those contests.
- Senior Jake Dadika scored a season-high three points on his second career three-point field goal in his 49th career appearance. He also added the fifth steal of his career.
- Rutgers played a Big Ten game on a one-day turnaround for the third time this season.
- Indiana improves to 6-0 in the all-time series dating back to 1980.
Post-Game Quotes
Rutgers Head Coach Steve Pikiell
Opening Statement: "Once again thanks for coming. We always appreciate it. I want to thank the fans too. I'm not proud of how we played today. We didn't come out with the energy we had the other night. I tried to sub guys in, tried to generate some of that…just got off to that bad start and never could really recover. Credit to Indiana, thought their defense was good. We had two keys in the game, and they were Morgan and Johnson. We obviously didn't do a good job on either of them…We had one day to prepare, and I obviously didn't get my point across about those two guys. It was just not a great game for Rutgers. We've got to get better."
On how much of the slow start was the result of the quick turnaround: "I'd like to tell you the answer. I don't know. We just didn't have that kind of energy that we had against Purdue. That's on me as a coach. I tried to sub some guys out quickly, thought our defense would catch up and get through that tough time. We've been in tough spots before, but we never could get in front of it today. Credit to Indiana. They played well from start to finish."
On what he tells the team after games like this: "Tomorrow's our NCAA day off, we've had a heck of a stretch here. They really need some time to be away from the gym and figure this out a little bit. Do we want to be the team that played Purdue the other night, or do we want to be this team? Our seniors have to decide. We can be a really good team, we can beat anyone in this league. But obviously when we play like we played today, that's not who I want to be."
On whether there was an emotional letdown from the last game: "We've really got to get beyond that. We've had some games that were tough games and we haven't followed those up with the right kind of approach. I think part of it is youth, and part of it is that we have some guys out who are fighters. We've really got to figure that out. We did it last year too with the Wisconsin in overtime, followed that up with the Iowa game. This time, I think Purdue is the best team in the country and we follow that up with a game that we're not proud of. That's on me as a coach, I've got to get them ready to play every game."
On Indiana's uncharacteristically good 3-point shooting tonight: "We've had a couple teams now that don't really do that and have had great nights like that and that's not who they are. In all fairness to them they had some good looks. Once you make the first few, and the two guys we were most concerned with were the guys that got us, but once you get off to a good start like that the baskets a lot bigger."
Indiana Head Coach Archie Miller
Opening statement: "It was a really good performance by our guys. We talked a lot about coming in here tonight and trying to establish an effort level and a toughness level that wasn't there last week. We had a similar turnaround. I thought our guys did a nice job responding in that way. Got us off to a nice start and I thought defensively we were pretty good, especially early. That gave us a chance to get out in transition and do some things. That good start, I thought, gave us some confidence. We were able to finish it off. Rutgers, really, really impressive trying to prepare for them in terms of their effort level and their toughness. This wasn't their night tonight, but they have a terrific staff and their guys showed clearly when they played Purdue. A little bit like us, that's an emotional game. Sometimes that turns into a game that is harder to get up for. Credit to our guys, though, on being able to come in and get a road win."
On changing the lineup early: "That lineup deserved to be in the lineup to start the game from a productivity standpoint. Just coming through here the last three weeks, studying some things and looking at it. I definitely wanted to go with that lineup as we come on the road here. We got off to a pretty good start. The play-making ability I think was missing. That's the one thing Devonte (Green) has actually done a nice job in probably three of the last four games, being able to get some guys some easy ones. When you have a guard out there at times, it can make it easy at times to get some guys some good looks. That can get you off to a better start. All in all, it was a good start for us."
On defending Rutgers' guards: "Our guards had our work cut out for us tonight. Watching these guys with (Geo) Baker and (Corey) Sanders in particular, they're terrific one-one-one players, they can shoot off the bounce, create their own. I think our guys were up to the challenge, but I also give our team approach credit. I thought our frontcourt did a really nice job of making one guy play against two. Freddie (McSwain Jr.) and Juwan (Morgan) and for the most part those two, and with Justin (Smith) and Collin (Hartman) when they came in as well, I thought our team approach of making those guys passers instead of one-on-one players was decent."
On playing on the road with a short turnaround: "It is difficult going on the road, it just is, it's hard. Even when we played at Illinois, we were up, but we couldn't sustain it. You have to sustain things on the road. The one thing is, you can't make excuses. You can't use turnarounds and things like that as excuses, you have to be ready. When the ball is tipped, the most ready team usually has the best chance to get off to a good start. I thought tonight we were ready."
