PISCATAWAY – Geo Baker hit a step-back 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds remaining to lift No. 24/25 Rutgers (15-5, 6-3) to a 75-72 defeat of Nebraska (7-13, 2-7) Saturday afternoon at a sold-out RAC. Trailing by six with three minutes remaining, the Scarlet Knights held the Huskers scoreless for the remainder to improve to 14-0 at the RAC, the best home record among all D-I programs.

"When that shot went in, it was just a winning feeling," said Baker. "It felt really good. But it's not about me making the shot, it's about us winning the game. There were so many other plays before that shot that helped us win this game."

Before the fourth-straight capacity RAC crowd for the first time in 20 years, RU out-rebounded the Huskers 42-35, including 10-6 on the offensive glass, to benefit 17-5 in second chance points. Four offensive boards belonged to Myles Johnson, who totaled 11 rebounds along with nine points on 4-of-5 shooting. Akwasi Yeboah had three offensive rebounds to go along with a season-high 20 points and seven boards.

"The RAC was awesome," said head coach Steve Pikiell. "The environment helps us a ton. it wasn't pretty, but I kinda like those games. You have to figure out a way to grind out some games."

Caleb McConnell and Jacob Young both contributed 12 points, and Montez Mathis 10, as Rutgers improved to 7-1 when four or more players score in double digits.

Rutgers found itself in a 9-2 hole early, but responded with an 11-2 run. Helped by Jacob Young's 12 first-half points, the Scarlet Knights led by as much as seven before the break and entered the locker room at the midpoint with a 38-33 lead.

Boosted by its scoring in the paint, the Scarlet Knights gained control in the second half and built a 14-point, 55-41, advantage. Nebraska then proved that no lead is safe in the Big Ten. Employing a stingy zone and tweaking the twine with consistency, the Huskers grabbed the lead and extended their advantage to 72-66 with three minutes remaining.

The final nine points of the game, however, belonged to the Scarlet Knights, who made clutch shots and shut down the visiting to secure the dramatic victory.

"Five straight stops," said Pikiell when asked about RU's late-game defense. "There were long rebounds too. Everyone had to come together. We're a good defensive team."

Rutgers remains at the RAC to host Purdue in an 8 p.m. tip-off on Tuesday. The contest will be televised on BTN with Dave Revsine and Seth Davis on the call.

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POSTGAME NOTES

• Rutgers' 14-0 home record is best among all D-I programs, surpassing New Mexico's 13-0 mark.
• The victory provided Rutgers its first home-and-home, regular-season series sweep in Big Ten Conference play.
• Rutgers has five conference home wins, its most since earning six (6-2) in 2003-04 Big East play.
• Today's capacity crowd marked the fourth straight sell-out at the RAC for the first time in 20 years, since the 1999-00 season.
• With the victory, Rutgers exceeds last season's win total and matched its most victories in a season under head coach Steve Pikiell.
• Four players scored in double figures for the eighth game this season, with RU improving to 7-1 in those contests.
• Rutgers out-rebounded its opponent for the 16th times in 20 games.
• Akwasi Yeboah scored in double figures for the 10th time this season and 80th time in his career. He eclipsed 1,500 career points for his career, spent at both Rutgers and Stony Brook. Yeboah scored 20 or more points for the first time in an RU uniform and 31st time in his career.
• Myles Johnson issued a career-best five blocks, his fourth time this season and seventh career occasion with three or more. It signaled the most rejections for an RU player in a Big Ten game. Johnson also grabbed double-digit rebounds for the ninth time this season and 13th time in his career.
• Jacob Young scored in double figures for the eighth time this season and 19th time in his career.
• Montez Mathis scored in double figures for the sixth time this season and 19th time in his career.
• Caleb McConnell scored in double figures for the eight time this season and 13th time in his career.
• Rutgers improves to 4-2 all-time at home versus Nebraska.

POSTGAME QUOTES

Rutgers Head Coach Steve Pikiell

Opening Statement: "Good college basketball game today, for sure. The RAC was awesome. The environment helps us a ton. it wasn't pretty, but I kinda like those games. You gotta figure out a way to grind out some games. I was worried about this game. I think Nebraska is really talented as you can see. (Cam) Mack, Thorir (Thorbjarnarson) and all those guys are real capable three point shooters. They play real loose. Fred Hoiberg is a heck of a coach. I saw them beat Purdue. I saw them beat Iowa. I know how good Iowa is. We were a couple more points better today. These guys all made huge plays for us down the stretch and we figured out a way to win the game in a great environment."

On Geo taking the last shot: "It's easy for me at the end of games. First of all, I'm most proud that we had four or five stops in a row to get us to that point. Without our defense it would've never been that. Feel real comfortable obviously with Geo. He made two shots tonight -- two huge ones. Big rebound, Akwasi (Yeboah) made some big shots before that. Everyone kinda made some huge plays for us. It takes a whole team in order to win, but Geo certainly down the stretch was huge."

On back-and-forth second half: "You just gotta defend. It doesn't matter, leads. When you have a lead in this league, it doesn't matter when you're down. This is a great league. You're gonna be up some, down some. I never worry about any of that. I didn't think we were great tonight. I think we can learn a lot from this game. But we figured out a way to win and thats the most important thing. We're onto one of our toughest games, against Purdue so there's no break in the action here."

On Akwasi Yeboah reaching 1500 career points: "Awesome. He was terrific tonight. He's been a huge addition to our program. He's mature. We're kinda young obviously as a basketball program. He's our best academic student. He comes to work every day. I'm just proud of him. I'm glad he's here. That's a lot of points. Congratulations Akwasi."

On the RAC's environment today: "We're undefeated at home. Obviously the RAC has been a huge advantage. The students are awesome. The Riot Squad, the cheerleaders, the dance team, the band. And then our community. They come out. It makes a huge difference. We needed every person today and they helped us."

On significance of first Big Ten home-and-home sweep: "I think all these things are big things. There's a lot of good teams in this league. We say you gotta climb the ladder one step at a time and it's something that we needed to do. Thankfully these guys stepped up down the stretch and we were able to do that. These are big things. Being undefeated at home. Sweeping teams in the league hadn't been done before. These guys are doing some things that hadn't been done before and I think that's great."

On overcoming 6-point deficit in the second half: "Five straight stops. There were long rebounds too. Everyone had to come together. We're a good defensive team. I didn't love our defense today. I think watching the film afterwards, I'm really gonna be not happy cause when we're connected defensively, we can guard people. We had a lot of breakdowns today. We had one day to prepare for this game. That's no excuse, we got home real late from Iowa and (had an) NCAA day off and had one day to prepare against a really good team. Our defense wasn't great, but it was great when it needed to be. And our offense too. Happy for that, that's how you win games sometimes. You have to grind them out. I'm an old-fashioned grinder, I appreciate those kinds of games when you're not at your best and you still figure out a way to win."

On performance of Myles Johnson: "He altered and blocked a ton (of shots), we needed every one, The last time we played them, Myles was terrific. I had him in my office yesterday, (I) told him it's not gonna be like that today. They surrounded him. They made their adjustments to him, but he still figured out a way to really help us on the defensive end, getting some timely rebounds and put-backs and all the things that he does. He's an important guy and (had) a couple of assists, too. He continues to grow and that's an important part of our development as a program."

On practice mentality going forward: "You gotta appreciate wins. It's hard to win in this league, it's hard to win in college basketball. We're gonna watch film tomorrow and we gotta move on quickly, too. These guys have been really good and they've been getting better at practicing the right way. I hope that's more of the same tomorrow."

Nebraska Head Coach Fred Hoiberg

On Geo Baker's last shot: "Well, he's a big time player. I give him credit for stepping up and knocking down the two biggest shots of the game. He's certainly capable of going off any night. He's shown that his entire career. You know, unfortunately, it happened against us where I think he was 1-for-9 since he was back from the injury and missed his first three (today). But then stepped up with confidence and knocked it down. It's what he's done in his career to make big shots.

"I couldn't be more proud of our guys for the effort that we showed tonight and how we continue to battle back and handle adversity well. We dug ourselves two double-digit holes, one in the first half where we battled back, and then obviously getting down 14 in the second half, and continue to chip away and keep our poise and not try to get it all back at once, and play for each other and play together. That's what it's all about for our guys. You know, I thought we had key contributions from a lot of players tonight. A lot of guys went out there and made big plays. Charlie Easley has not finished a game for us this year and he made big play after big play on the defensive end, getting deflections and making hustle plays. Jervay Green was out of the rotation for a stretch and now he's back making really good plays for us. I thought he was huge in that stretch where we I think had a 16-2 run and ended up taking a lead with under five to go. So you know, Cam Mack, we had to play without Cam when he was out with foul trouble for nine minutes in that first half, and our guys continue to go out there and battle and do it together. We kind of did it by committee when Cam was out of the game as far as who's going to handle the ball. It was a gutty effort by our guys.

"I give a lot of credit (to) Steve Pikiell. I'm happy for Steve, he's a wonderful person and one of the true good people in this business. It's good to see everything that he's got going and where he has this program right now. For our guys come in here and battle in a place, you know, this team is 13-0 in this building for a reason, and it's a crazy environment. For our guys to keep our poise; I know it's tough for them to hear this, but you know our guys, if they continue to play like that, we're going to get over the hump here soon."

On the last stretch of the game: "Well, I thought we had a couple good looks. You know, I bet a lot of money Charlie knocks that shot down. He's got no fear, he's a kid that will step up at any time, take a shot as a freshman, that as of two and a half weeks ago, was a walk-on. And you know, had a good look at it there. A couple good defensive stretches by Rutgers as well. We tried to slip out of screens and confuse them, and they did a good job staying with their matchup. Obviously, I thought we rebounded with them. 52-24, I want to say in the paint the first time we played them, and it was 30-30 tonight. They're a team that's huge and that's where they make their living in the paint. I thought we did a lot of good things. We limited them to 10 (offensive) rebounds. They destroyed us on the glass the first time we played them. So to me, that shows we're making steps in the right direction, we're getting better as a basketball team. That's the goal for me this year. Whether we win or lose, we're playing the right way out there, and I thought we did that for 40 minutes tonight."

On the team's mentality: "Well, I'll say this, our guys have, even though we're going through a losing streak right now, they continue to come in to prepare the right way. They're very attentive in the film sessions. They're taking the criticism constructively, and they're applying that to the court when we go out and play. We did a lot of good things against Wisconsin. We outscored a tough, physical Wisconsin team in the paint by 20. They got it going behind the three-point line. Tonight, to match this team, physically, the way we did, even though we're outmatched from size at pretty much every position. So, we're getting there. And that's, again, this league's a monster, man. Every time you step on the floor, it's going to be a battle and a war and you have to bring your hard hat."

On defending Myles Johnson: "Well, we told them if you got him inside, foul him. And then, I don't know if he's working on the bank free throw. But that guy is a load. He's a great player, he's a great basketball player, has unbelievable hands, got soft hands, got a good jump hook. Got to try to make him go over that right shoulder, which is not easy to do because of his size and physical presence in there. But we have a 17 and an 18 year old out there battling him. That says a lot about our two freshmen. I thought we did a much better job on him. Part of that was we guarded the ball better. They got by us with a lot of blow-bys last time. Johnson finished everything at the rim if they miss that shot. But I'm proud of our young guys for the way they battled."