COLUMBUS, Ohio - No. 11/12 men's basketball battled on the road, but fell at No. 23/20 Ohio State, 80-68, at Value City Arena on Wednesday afternoon.
Playing without
Clifford Omoruyi and
Mawot Mag available due to injury, the Scarlet Knights then saw starting center
Myles Johnson foul out with just under nine minutes remaining. The shorthanded effort came up short down the stretch.
Ron Harper Jr. led the way with 20 points, while
Montez Mathis added 16 points. The team made 10 three-pointers. and shot 41 percent overall from the field.
Ohio State scored the first five points to start, but Rutgers counter punched with a fury, unleashing a 22-6 run and taking a double-digit lead. The Scarlet Knights made seven first half three-pointers, using the strong shooting from deep to take a 38-28 lead at halftime.
In the second half, Rutgers extended their lead to as much as 16. However, OSU fought back, and used a closing stretch that included a 16-1 run capitalizing on an eight minute Rutgers scoring drought to close out the game.
"Sometimes you have to adjust in the middle of all the obstacles," head Coach
Steve Pikiell said. "Today we had a lot of obstacles thrown at us. This is a tough league. We'll learn from it and bounce back."
The game was the second in a stretch where RU plays five of six games against team's ranked in the AP Top 25. Rutgers will return home for its next two games following a holiday break, hosting Purdue (December 29) and No. 4 Iowa (January 2).
- Ron Harper Jr. scored 20 points.
- The reigning ESPN.com and College Sports Madness National Player of the Week has scored at least 15 points in every game and at least 20 points in five of the seven games.
- The Big Ten's leader in three-point percentage had four three-pointers, his fourth straight game with at least four makes from distance.
- Montez Mathis scored 16 points, and has scored double-digits in six of seven games this season.
- Jacob Young scored 12 points and has reached double-digits in six straight games.
- Geo Baker tied Hollis Copeland for 14th place all-time at Rutgers in steals.
- Junior center Mamadou Doucoure played 21 minutes, the second most of his career in conference play.
- Rutgers made a season-high 10 three-pointers, their most since making 10 versus Caldwell on December 30, 2019.
- Ohio State entered the game eighth nationally in turnover percentage, yet it was Rutgers that committed less turnovers, just nine as compared to 11 for Ohio State.
- Paul Mulcahy and Jacob Young each had five assists.
- The Scarlet Knights used a new starting lineup with Myles Johnson making his first start of the season.
- The loss was the first of the season, halting a 6-0 start to the season.
Rutgers Head Coach Steve Pikiell
Opening statement: "They're always tough to play. They are real physical, They've won a ton of games. I knew this would be our most pressing task physically. I liked what they're made of, the more I watched them play. Free throws were a big thing in this game, they are the best free throw shooting team in the league. And we didn't do a good job on the back boards. I have to do a better job as a coach to get these guys ready for the two things they do well – rebound and making free throws. We needed to defend without fouling and we didn't do that today. Credit to Ohio State, they are really good and they are ranked for a reason."
On Jacob Young: "He's in the doctor's office right now. He fell really hard, he was in a lot of pain. We're keeping our fingers crossed. We're banged up, we're down a few guys. Every guy is important, but we've got to get him back. I don't know any more right now than he's with the doctor."
On the foul trouble: "Myles had been playing really well, and to only have him on the court for 15 minutes without Cliff is not a good thing. Those are the obstacles. We've got to figure it out. We've got to get our guys back. But, yea, he got some fouls early and never really got into the flow. He's a good player, he'll bounce back, learn a lot from this. We get our guys back and healthy to have a couple of more guys to shuffle in and out."
On Clifford Omoruyi: "He hasn't practiced or anything like that. He's been with (the athletic trainer). He's got to do a great job with that. I'm happy we have a few days off here, hopefully his knee will continue to improve. But he's not ready to get back on the court. He'll be off for a little bit and hopefully will feel a lot better when he comes back."
On the game: "I knew Ohio State was a really good team. Whether we won or we lost, they are an excellent basketball team. They beat UCLA, Notre Dame, they've got great wins and Coach does a great job. This is a tough place to play. We couldn't really get in the flow the whole game, I wasn't really comfortable the whole game. We didn't really rebound – we're one of the better rebounding teams in our conference, and we got beat on the boards. And we gave up 22 points at the foul line, you're not going to win games in this great league doing that. We'll have to be more creative with our lineup when guys are out. We have to do a better job. So I'll take the hit for this. But we'll get better. These are the obstacles you face in the best league in the country."
On the depth: "Not having Cliff today hurt us. But I thought that
Mamadou Doucoure came in today and worked his butt off, gave us some really good minutes. He was in foul trouble at times. And
Jacob Young, he's having a great year, he's been our most important defender. I just hope he's okay, that's the most important thing, to keep our guys healthy."
On Mamamdou Doucoure: "He came in and played hard. Those guys are good post players and they are aggressive. I knew if I called on him he'd play hard and that's what he did. He made some nice plays for us. He had to play a lot more than I'm sure he expected, more than I expected. But's he's a senior, he's in good shape, he's a great kid and he works hard. So he was ready. And everyone's got to be ready. Mawot was out too, that's another guy that could have helped us a bit today. So the next guy has to be ready to step up. Douc was today, and I'm happy about that."
On the small lineup: "We haven't played that a lot, we'd been trying to play big. That was new. We have to make more plays on the defensive end of the floor. We made ten threes. I wanted us to get to the free throw line a bit, and I thought with that small lineup we could get to the line and we didn't. Sometimes you have to adjust in the middle of all the obstacles. Today we certainly had a lot of obstacles thrown at us. It's a tough league, and you learn from it. We'll be ready to go the next time."
Ohio State Head Coach Chris Holtmann
Opening Statement: "I have a lot of respect for this Rutgers team. They are extremely well coached. They are talented. Obviously they were without their freshman big, and I hope that
Jacob Young is healthy and feeling better. But this was a heck of a win. We had to be really resilient. We put ourselves in some difficult binds, but give Rutgers credit for that. They really made shots. But at the end of the day, players win games. Our guys responded. Duane's big threes gave us some real momentum and cut the lead to where it was manageable. And from that point I thought we were better defensively. A lot of good things to take from this thing and some things we'll need to do better."
On the game: "We needed every moment, every point. This was a Big Ten game. I've got a ten of respect for Rutgers. I thought the game was officiated with a quality group that probably didn't get every call right in either direction, but I didn't get every call right from the bench either. It was a typical Big Ten game. Their ability and proficiency to make shots early stunned us a little bit. It shouldn't have, but it did. Give them credit, they're a talented group and
Steve Pikiell does a great job putting them in great spots. But we got that belief late to be able to crawl back into this thing. Our group has show the resolve and poise necessary and that's good to see."
On Ron Harper Jr: "He's a terrific player. He's a really difficult matchup. He's athletic, but he's big. And he moves. A good vertical athlete, good strength, and a terrific shooter. He can deck it, he can score at all three levels. He's a mismatch nightmare for sure. We were able to counter balance that and finally get some stops at the end."
