EAST LANSING, Mich. – Rutgers (6-3) battled to within one point on multiple occasions in the second half at No. 11/12 Michigan State (6-3), but was unable to hold off the Spartans in a 77-65 loss at the Breslin Center on Sunday evening in the Big Ten Conference opener for both schools. Akwasi Yeboah had a season-high 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting to spark a Scarlet Knights' bench that out-scored the hosts 37-12.

"I want to give credit to Michigan State," said Rutgers head coach Steve Pikiell. "This is a tough place to come in and play in front of their crowd. They're well coached and a good basketball team. This season, there are going to be wars everywhere we go. Give them credit, and we're moving on to Wisconsin."

Michigan State made 22 free throws (22-of-27), the most by a Rutgers opponent this season, and out-rebounded the Scarlet Knights by a 40-32 margin. It signaled the first time an opponent grabbed more boards than RU in 2019-20.

"This is a ranked team, a very experienced team," said Pikiell. "They have the best point guard in the country. You try and do a great job with some different coverages on him. But he's so good. Down the stretch, they got to the free throw line and made free throws. Obviously, rebounding was a huge key. We wanted to do a great job rebounding and in transition."

Jacob Young supplemented Yeboah's scoring with a season-high 12 points, as RU's two leading scorers came off the bench. Rutgers shot 40 percent and dished-out 14 assists.

MSU jumped out to an 11-4 advantage, prompting an RU timeout. The Scarlet Knights came out of the stoppage energized, scoring the next five points. 

The teams battled back-and-forth throughout the opening half. MSU led 22-13, but RU would not relent, utilizing a 7-0 run that featured a Geo Baker steal-and-score, followed by a Yeboah 3-pointer to take a 28-27 lead. Michigan State scored the final six points of the frame and held a 33-28 advantage at the break.

In the second half, Myles Johnson got RU within three with a put-back on the opening possession, but MSU responded with a 10-2 run for a 43-32 lead before Yeboah answered with a 3-pointer from the top of the arc. That spurred a 10-0 run, as Young and Yeboah made seven straight free throws to bring RU to within one point at 43-42.

MSU went up by eight at 56-48, but RU continued to fight, hanging tough in the hostile environment. The home squad was strong at the charity stripe down the stretch, however, to secure the victory.

"You have to play really good basketball on both ends of the floor," said Pikiell. "Especially when you come in here. Our guys are young. We will keep getting better. I'm excited about our future."

Rutgers returns to the hardwood on Wednesday evening to host Wisconsin at the RAC. The contest will tip-off at 7 p.m. on BTN with Brandon Gaudin and Stephen Bardo on the call. Fans can secure single game tickets and flex ticket plans online or by calling 866-445-GORU (4678).

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POSTGAME NOTES 

• Michigan State made 22 free throws (22-of-27), the most by a Rutgers opponent this season.
• Akwasi Yeboah scored in double digits for the fifth time this season and 75^th time in his career.
• Geo Baker dished-out five assists, his fourth game this season and the 20th of his career with five or more helpers.
• Jacob Young scored in double figures for the second time in a Rutgers uniform and the 11^th time in his career. He made a career-high six free throws.
• RU forced Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year Cassius Winston into a season-high five turnovers.
• Rutgers held Michigan State below its 80.1 points-per-game scoring average.

Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo

On his team's effort: "(Steve Pikiell) is a hell of a coach. (Rutgers) played hard. They have a lot of big bodies, strong, 6-6 guys. I thought we got our running game going early and tired them out a bit. We didn't guard the three as well early. Give them credit. But it's a win, we'll take the win and get out of here."

On the game: "Steve Pikiell is a guy that I have developed a good friendship with because I have so much respect for how hard his teams play. This is a pretty good Rutgers team. We actually did a hell of a job on (Geo) Baker and a hell of a job on (Ron) Harper Jr. Our keys for the game were not to turn the ball over and other than Cash (Winston) actually in the first half, I thought we did a hell of a job of that. We had 12 for the game but they were putting pressure on us the whole game. Our second key was to rebound and run. I thought we ran as good as we have ever run in the first 10 minutes. He (Cassius) threw some balls away and that's not like him. On those fast breaks… in all honestly some not very good plays. He was pushing it and he pushed it all night. We played a lot of guys a lot of minutes and to win a game against a team as physical as them… they were plus nine on the boards going in and we won the board battle by plus eight."