PISCATAWAY – Montez Mathis scored 18 points and Geo Baker deposited a clutch three-pointer with under a minute remaining to propel Rutgers (13-14, 6-11) to a 68-64 defeat of Minnesota (17-11, 7-10) Sunday evening at the RAC. The Scarlet Knights overcome a nine point second half deficit to earn their sixth conference victory, doubling their previous best total of three, since joining the Big Ten in 2014-15.
 
"We're getting better and better," said Rutgers head coach Steve Pikiell. "I'm just happy for my guys, they fight and they claw. At halftime, I got after my guys pretty good, and they came out and responded in the second half. It was a great win for us here tonight."
 
Eugene Omoruyi scored 14 points and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds, as the Scarlet Knights established a 35-33 advantage on the glass. As a result, RU out-scored the Gophers 38-28 in the paint in a contest that featured nine ties and 12 lead changes.
 
"We played tough," said Omoruyi. "If we can do that every night, we'll be a very dangerous team. This shows the fans and ourselves that we're building something here. We have to keep this going, we can't stop now."
 
In the early going, Rutgers used an 11-0 run to take an 18-10 lead, forcing the visitors into a five-minute scoring drought. The Scarlet Knights opened 8-of-13 from the field, but the Gophers answered with an 11-2 run to retake the lead at 21-20.
 
Minnesota utilized sharpshooting from long-distance, as Gabe Kalscheur went 5-of-5 from behind the arc, to send the Gophers into the locker room at the midpoint with a 35-28 lead.
 
After the visitors scored to open the second half, Rutgers used a 9-0 run to tie the game at 37-37. On the heels of a fast break slam dunk from Mathis that further energized the crowd, the Scarlet Knights held a 48-45 at the under-eight media timeout.

The Gophers responded and pushed ahead 57-52. Rutgers cut its deficit to 59-58 on a Mathis three-pointer with 2:53 to play, then tied it at 59-59 with 2:12 remaining. A Baker triple provided Rutgers a 64-61 lead with 57 seconds to play. Baker scored eight consecutive points for RU, as he knocked down a pair of free throws to give RU a 66-63 lead with 15 on the clock. RU would not relinquish that lead, sealing their sixth conference win of the season.

"This is big for us," Baker said. "We're here to change the culture. And this is a step in the right direction."



Jordan Murphy, Minnesota's top scorer (15.1) and rebounder (12.0), who ranks fourth nationally on the boards, was limited to nine points and seven rebounds.
 
"Credit to Rutgers," Minnesota head coach Richard Pitino said. "They deserved that win. This was a tough environment tonight. Steve Pikiell does a great job with them. They are just so physical. Geo Baker made a great step-back at the end. They were just one or two baskets better than us tonight."
 
Rutgers returns to the road to meet No. 21/19 Iowa in a 5 p.m. (ET) tip-off on Saturday. The game will be televised on BTN with Kevin Kugler and Stephen Bardo calling the action.
 
Fans can secure tickets for Rutgers' regular season home finale versus Penn State (March 6) online or by calling 866-445-GORU (4678). Additional information can be obtained by visiting RutgersGameday.com.
 
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

• Rutgers' six league victories double the team's previous regular season high (3, 2016-17 and 2017-18) since joining the Big Ten in 2014-15.
• Minnesota entered tonight's game second in the Big Ten and 35^th nationally in offensive rebounds (12.37). Rutgers limited the Gophers to nine offensive boards.
• Jordan Murphy entered tonight's game leading the Big Ten and ranked fourth nationally in rebounding (12.0). He was also averaging a team-best 15.1 points-per-game. Rutgers limited Murphy to nine points and seven rebounds.
• The Scarlet Knights' bench out-scored Minnesota reserves 18-0.
• Rutgers established a 35-33 rebounding advantage, its 20^th game this season with more rebounds than its opponent and 11^th time versus a Big Ten foe.
• Geo Baker (13 points) reached double-figures in scoring for the 22nd time this season and 42^nd time in his career
• Freshman Montez Mathis posted 18 points, his 12^th game scoring in double figures and 10^th time versus a Big Ten foe.
• Eugene Omoruyi registered 14 points, his 19^th game scoring in double figures this season and the 29^th of his career.
• Omoruyi drew one charge and now has a team-best 22 drawn charges this season.
• The Scarlet Knights are now 2-2 at the RAC against the Golden Gophers.
• Rutgers' starting lineup consisted of Geo Baker, Montez Mathis, Ron Harper Jr., Eugene Omoruyi and Shaquille Doorson. The Scarlet Knights have utilized six different starting lineups this season.

POSTGAME QUOTES
 
Rutgers Head Coach Steve Pikiell
 
Opening Statement: "As always, I'm appreciative of everyone who was here tonight. The RAC was rocking, and the environment was awesome. It was an assist from all of the fans and students and the band and the cheerleaders, they did a great job making it a tough place to play. Very good team, Minnesota, very good players. People were worried about the bounce back stuff, and we played them really hard. We're getting better and better, I'm just happy for my guys, they fight and they claw. At half time, I got after my guys pretty good, and they came out and responded in the second half. It was a great win for us here tonight."
 
On Geo Baker's last two minutes: "I just thought all of those guys stepped up in the second half. I challenged him a few games ago about his defense. His defense has been really good the last 4 or 5 games. He made plays, obviously makes the big free throws. Caleb McConnell makes the big free throws. Eugene (Omoruyi) makes a couple of big plays. Defensively we do what we need to do. The environment was great. I'm just really excited and happy for our guys. They've been working hard and it's been a tough road. This league is awesome, every team is good. Minnesota's excellent, that's an NCAA tournament team, so we get a good win here today at the RAC. Geo, Eugene, they were all good down the stretch and Montez (Mathis) in the second half really put some plays together and made some big plays for us too, as did everyone else."
 
On getting Eugene Omoruyi back on the court after missing the first game versus Minnesota: "Eugene makes a huge difference obviously; his toughness is unmatched by anyone who comes off the bench. We're really happy to have him, he leads us in every category just about. I thought Shaq Carter did a good job too today, he gave us some quality minutes. Peter Kiss, in the first half, gave us some quality minutes. Issa (Thiam) came in and played terrific defense. I think everyone that checked into the game really helped and made this a great day."
 
On post defense on Jordan Murphy: "I think he's a problem, he's been a problem since we've been in the league. We respect him as a player, he's relentless. He did a good job. (Amir) Coffey is a huge key for us too, he killed us the last time we played them. I thought we did a good job, but obviously they have other good players too; a couple of the guys went crazy. Those two guys are huge keys for them. Those are really good players that will play basketball for a long time."
 
On the season thus far: "My assistants did a great job preparing for today. Yesterday was the first practice I've missed in my career, and they had a good scouting report. I had my mom's funeral and I do want to thank the people here, everyone reached out. Rutgers nation has been unbelievable. When I took this job, I took it because of the people and when you go through something like I've been going through the last few weeks, the people here spectacular. I've heard from students and Pat Hobbs drives, and just unbelievable people, so I do want to thank everyone. Students have reached out to me. The texts I can't possibly get back to everyone, but that's what makes Rutgers University great, the people. This is just an example of that. My staff stepped up and prepared the guys so I'm really thankful for them and my players stepped up and played tonight. I'm really thankful for that."
 
On Geo Baker's playmaking ability: "I trust Geo, he's a good player. He's got confidence and makes free throws and big plays. He played confidently. I loved his defense the last few weeks. I think his defense has helped us, we've scored a lot of points because of some of the steals and being in gaps. Geo's a good player and getting better and obviously still young. Our team is still young, but we've gotten better as a program step-by-step. We've gotten better in a league that's much better since I've been here. It's a good sign moving forward and if the RAC continues to rock like this, this is a tough place to play."
 
On outscoring Minnesota's bench 18-0: "I think it's really important. We play 10 guys and you go through a lot over the course of a season and have a lot of obstacles, and I trust all of them; they were all ready to play today. I think that helps you at this time. It's a grind, especially at the end, it helps you big time to have depth, depth that you trust."
 
On his philosophy in the last 15 seconds of the game: "Don't foul. I know the stats and it doesn't make sense anyway. Everyone always see the one game that the shot (is missed), and the announcers say this, but there's 20 games every weekend a guy misses that last shot. Everyone will talk about the one time that's not. The stats don't say we don't defend. You can't lose if you defend. Go into overtime and win in overtime when someone makes a tough shot. I trust my defense."
 
On coaching when Geo Baker establishes himself as the guy who will take a shot at the end: "Honestly, I trust everyone. We won at Northwestern when Myles (Johnson) made a huge play. He threw the ball to Eugene on the play, and we won that game. Our last two possessions were our two biggest touching it. It's the matchup sometimes, it's the feel for the game. I trust Geo, it's nice to have a guy like that. I trust all of my guys. Montez hit that huge three from the corner too, so that was a big one too in the game. A lot of guys hit a lot of big threes and sometimes at the end of games guys have to make plays. That's what happened, a couple of guys made plays. It was Geo's day today, we needed every one."
 
Minnesota Head Coach Richard Pitino
 
Opening Statement: "Credit to Rutgers. Obviously, those last couple of baskets were huge for them. Obviously, we missed some crucial shots and had turnovers at the end. Credit to Rutgers. They deserve a lot of that. It was a tough environment, and Steve does a really nice job with them."
 
On the team's play late in games: "I don't know. Geo [Baker] made a tough step back on Gabe [Kalscheur]. Gabe's a good defender. Then we put Dupree [McBrayer] on him and he fouled him. I'm not sure what it was. I thought we executed well when we tied the game with Dan [Oturu]. We ran a little baseline screen for Gabe at the end and then kicked it back out to [Jordan] Murphy. It is what it is. I thought we competed hard, I just thought they made one or two more baskets than we did."
 
On the way Rutgers defended: "Good. They're so physical. They're just so big. They're really big and really long. They just beat you up. I thought they did a great job, especially on Murphy."
 
On the effort level: "Everybody can learn and everyone fought. The effort was there. The intensity was there. They just had two baskets more. We just have to rebound from it, learn from it and go get Northwestern somehow."