(RV) Rutgers Scarlet Knights (7-6, 3-6) at Indiana Hoosiers (9-6, 4-4)
Sunday, January 24 | 12 p.m. (ET)
Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall | Bloomington, Ind.
TV: BTN (Brandon Gaudin, play-by-play; Stephen Bardo, analyst)
Radio: Rutgers Sports Properties Radio Network (WCTC 1450 AM/WOR 710 AM/ XM 381; Jerry Recco and
Mark Peterson); WRSU 88.7 FM (Raj Shah and Chris Tsakonas)
Rutgers men's basketball is back on the road this Sunday, as the Scarlet Knights will head to Bloomington to face Indiana at Assembly Hall on Sunday at noon. The game will be televised on Big Ten Network. The contest marks the second road consecutive road game in a stretch of three-of-four games away from home.
The Scarlet Knights enter the game following at 75-67 loss at Penn State on Thursday night. In that contest, RU had a spirited second half rally, using an 11-0 stretch into a 28-14 run to claw back into the contest, but fell just short.
Ron Harper Jr. led the team with 18 points in the game, 14 of them coming after halftime. Harper Jr. has scored in double-figures in all but one game this season. He is second in the Big Ten with a 41.6% rate from behind the arc and is fifth in the league in scoring.
Myles Johnson posted a season-high 14 points in the contest. In conference-only games, Johnson is averaging 9.2 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game. Both marks are second in the Big Ten.
The Scarlet Knights continued to share the ball well in the game, with 18 assists, paced by five from
Paul Mulcahy. RU is 24th nationally in assist-turnover ratio (1.44), as they are also taking care of the ball at an elite rate (10.5 turnovers per game, 17th best in the nation). RU has a non-steal turnover percentage of 5.6 that ranks as the best in the nation per Ken Pomeroy, with an overall turnover percentage of 15.0 that ranks 10th in the country. Individually,
Ron Harper Jr.'s turnover rate of 3.8 is in the top-10 in the country.
Indiana enters the game at 9-6 overall and 4-4 in the conference following an 81-69 win over No. 4 Iowa on Thursday night. The Hoosiers outscored the Hawkeyes 50-32 in the second half to get the win behind 23 points from Trayce Jackson-Davis, who averages a team-best 20.6 points and 8.8 rebounds on the season. He has made the most free throws in the league (attempting the most in the nation), and ranks third in the league in scoring and fourth in the Big Ten in rebounds (8.8).
Overall, the Hoosiers are fourth in the league with 4.7 blocks per game, with two players in the top-ten in the league individually. The team is yet to post either a winning or losing streak longer than two games this season.
Series Record: Indiana leads 7-3
Last Meeting: Rutgers 59, Indiana 50 (Jan. 15, 2020)
Sunday will mark the 11th meeting between these two programs. Indiana holds a 7-3 advantage in the series, but Rutgers has won three of the last four matchups. In the lone meeting last season at a sold-out RAC, RU led by as much as 17 points and limited Indiana to a season-low in points and seven different statistical categories. RU is looking for its first win at Assembly Hall, having defeated the Hoosiers twice at The RAC and once at Madison Square Garden.
A victory on Sunday over the Hoosiers would represent:
- The first ever win at Assembly Hall
- Rutgers' fourth Big Ten win of the season. The Scarlet Knights have only previously reached four Big Ten wins in a season twice since joining the league in 2014-15.
- The fourth win against Indiana. That would tie for the most conference wins against any Big Ten opponent (also four vs. Penn State, Minnesota and Nebraska).
- The first time for RU winning four out of five games against a Big Ten foe since joining the league.
