PISCATAWAY, N.J. - In a game with six lead changes in the final two minutes, No. 14/13 Rutgers men's basketball (7-2, 3-2) dropped a nail-biter to No. 10/11 Iowa (9-2, 3-1), 77-75, on Saturday afternoon at the RAC. With 35 seconds left,
Geo Baker drilled a jumper to take a one-point lead, but the Hawkeyes made three free throws on back-to-back possessions to regain a two-point advantage.
Jacob Young's last-second attempt from mid court fell short, as the Scarlet Knights recorded just their second home loss in their last 26 games in Piscataway dating back to last season.
All five starters scored in double figures, led by Young's 17 points. Baker,
Ron Harper Jr.,
Myles Johnson and
Montez Mathis scored 13 apiece, as Johnson secured his third double-double of the season with a game-high 10 rebounds.
The opening half went back-and-forth, as Rutgers and Iowa entered the locker room tied 35-35. The Scarlet Knights made six three pointers in the first 20 minutes of play, which included three from Harper Jr. and two from Mathis.
In the second half, Rutgers used an early 6-0 run - highlighted by an alley-oop dunk by Johnson off the feed from Baker - to force Iowa to take an early timeout. Both teams would battle down the stretch, as the game featured 19 lead changes before Iowa secured its ninth win of the season.
Next up for Rutgers is a road trip to No. 17 Michigan State. That game airs at 9 p.m. Tuesday on ESPN2.
Gallery: (1-2-2021) Men's Basketball versus Iowa
- Rutgers forced 15 Iowa turnovers - a season high for the Hawkeyes.
- Rutgers had 19 assists in the contest, the most ever in a Big Ten game, along with 11 steals, the second most ever in a Big Ten game.
- Montez Mathis (13 points) scored in double figures for the eighth time in nine games. He also had five assists, tying his career high.
- Jacob Young (17 points) scored in double figures for the eighth straight game.
- Myles Johnson had his third double-double of the season (13 points, 10 rebounds).
- Geo Baker scored 13 points, moving into 32nd place all-time in Rutgers history. He now has 1,102 points in his career, passing Steve Worthy, Mike Williams and Anthony Farmer.
- Baker had two steals, passing Craig Carter to move into 13th place all-time at RU with 124.
- Baker tied Corey Sanders for 8th all-time at Rutgers with 328 assists.
- All five starters scored in double figures - the first time RU did that since Jan. 30, 2010 vs. Notre Dame.
- Rutgers used a starting lineup of Geo Baker, Montez Mathis, Jacob Young, Ron Harper Jr. and Myles Johnson. Harper Jr. returned to the starting lineup following a one-game absence due to an ankle injury. This was the first time this season Rutgers used this starting lineup.
- Caleb McConnell made his season debut. It was his first game action of the season after previously being sidelined with a back injury.
- The game was presented by PNC Bank.
Rutgers Head Coach Steve Pikiell
Opening Statement: "First, on Kathy McAdam, I want to send our condolences to her and her family. She's one of our best fans and one of the nicest ladies that I've ever met. She will be missed here at the RAC. I saw her after every game, I saw her before every game, just as a wonderful person so condolences again to her family. I want to congratulate Iowa. I knew this game would be a really difficult game. They're well coached, they are ranked for a reason. (Luka) Garza was a problem watching film. He goes 9 for 11, does a really good job, but our guys played hard and did a really good job too. We came up one possession short against a really good opponent, but that is life in a league like this that we play in and we'll keep getting better. We got some good news with
Caleb McConnell returning, he'll be a really good addition. Got to get him back into game shape, but we played really hard, we had chances. They were one possession better."
On Free-Throw Shooting: "It was one of our huge keys to win when the free-throw line battle, obviously we didn't. They do a lot of things well too, they shoot threes, they make free-throws, they offensive rebound, so we did a lot of good things in a lot of different areas, but we certainly didn't win the battle of the free-throw line and that was a big key to us going into the game."
On Defense: "Never in a game like that is everything you draw up plays out that way, but they average 95 points and to hold them 18 points under their average certainly means our guys really did a good job on the defensive end of the floor, but one possession short. Our offense could have got that possession or our defense, but we play hard. I like our team a ton. They guys are good, they're resilient, they're tough and again you played a really good basketball team. I love Coach (Fran) McCaffrey, I think he's one of the best coaches around and (Luka) Garza, (Jordan) Bohannon, these guys have been around, and they got one more possession, so tough and they are well coached. We have to play Michigan State, so we got to move on quickly from this."
On Forcing Iowa Turnovers: "I mean they're a team, they do so many things well offensively and they don't turn the ball over. I thought our guys were locked in. I thought we saw some tough shots that they had to take, we tracked down some balls that were scouting report steals, but again they're a really good basketball team, we are a really good basketball team we can defend and this just shows you can hold a team 20 points under their average, but again they were one possession better."
On Potential RAC Atmosphere: "Today would have been an unbelievable environment because it was really a good college basketball game. There was a lot of really good players making a lot of really good plays and a really good college basketball game."
On Dean Reiber: "Dean has been getting better and better in practice. You see how athletic he is, we needed all hands on deck. We still have Cliff (Omoruyi) not able to play and so everyone had to be ready. I mean he's seen every kind of defense, he's a really a good post player and you needed fresh bodies on (Garza) because he wears you down in a lot ways and he could step out and shoots threes too. Dean has been getting better and better and because he has been practicing better, he's getting more minutes. I'm pleased with his progress and if we can get Cliff back now, it gives us another weapon and having Caleb certainly experienced guy coming into the game helps us too. Working him into the lineup so I can take some of these guys off the court, they're playing a lot of minutes and they need blows every now and then."
On Ron Harper Jr.: "He had a really good practice yesterday, practiced two days ago too, so Ron was ready to go today."
On Iowa Offense: "They're a really good basketball team, they have a lot of weapons, they score a lot from the free throw line and I tell our guys all the time, you can't defend the foul line down the stretch, but that's what they do, they score in bunches and we kind of held them at bay for those punches. Down the stretch they got a few, but they're really good and they have a lot of weapons and they have a lot of answers."
Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery
On how team won the game: "It was won with grit. We beat a really really good basketball team. Very well-coached. They're quick, they're aggressive. We turned it over 15 times, we gave up 16 offensive rebounds. Normally you lose those games, you just do. There were a number of lead changes. We kept coming. They kept coming. But I thought the productivity we got off the bench was really good. Keegan (Murray) was great. Jack (Nunge) had seven rebounds in the first half. Patrick was terrific. I thought Ahron Ulis was fabulous. Tony Perkins was out there fighting. Joe Toussaint was really good until he got poked in the eye. You got a game that doesn't start the way you would like it to start. We got some crazy turnovers. We get behind, Connor (McCaffery) gets hurt, a little bit of foul trouble. You have to go to your bench. You have to go to your bench on the road and those guys gotta step up. I think it was our depth and our grit that enabled us to win."
On Keegan Murray and bench effort: "He was fabulous at both ends. To me, the best play he made all day was when (Ron) Harper tried to take him off the dribble and he blocked his pull-up jumper. He's not a mistake guy. He made one mistake coming down the stretch and he was really disappointed in himself. Those things happen. Jordan Bohannon made one too. He's a fifth-year senior. You just play through it. You overcome it. This is not a game where we expect you to be perfect… The big lineup was good and the smaller lineup was good. When you can play 11 guys and they're all contributing and you win a two-point game, it says a lot about your team."
On getting Luka Garza going in the second half: "We starting moving him around a little bit. We did a better job with our ball movement as the game went on. That's what you got to do. It's not going to be simple because teams are going to double him, they're going to sit on him. You got to move it, move it, move it and move him. That's what we did."
On getting to the foul line: "They fly around defensively. You have to give it to them. Their defensive effort and intensity is really good. Always has been since Steve (Pikiell) has been here. You got to drive the ball and you got to throw it inside. We do both. And that's how you get to the free throw line."
Iowa center Luka Garza
On second half scoring output: "I just had to get the ball. They were playing so aggressively defensively, our guards weren't able to get the ball to me. It was a credit to them and their game plan. They made it the toughest I had to catch. All I had to do was get the ball in my hands and I knew I could score. It was easier said than done for the whole game. Our team battled. Credit to the rest of our guys for picking me up. We couldn't get the ball to me so other guys were scoring and creating opportunities and going off the ball screens. Ahron Ulis and Tony Perkins in the first half were huge. Jordan Bohannon was huge relieving some pressure for me, knocking down some threes. When you have guys like that around me, they can't continue to do that the whole game. Once I was able to get the ball cleanly in my hands, then I knew I could score. It was just a matter of being able to do that. They tried everything. Credit to them, they had a great game plan. Credit to my guys who never game up on me, kept trusting me, kept throwing me the ball. I was able to get the ball and be able to make some plays for our group."
Iowa forward Keegan Murray
On the win: "It was a complete team effort. We showed that we can battle with tough teams, great defensive-minded teams. It just showed that we were battle-tested. We're a veteran group and I felt like down the stretch it helped us a lot. Definitely it will be a great experience for us going down the stretch when we play other tough teams in the Big Ten."
