PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Rutgers men's basketball (13-9, 9-9) defeated the Indiana Hoosiers (12-11, 7-9) at The RAC on Wednesday by a 74-63 margin. Down 15 points in the early going, Rutgers had a ferocious rally, using a 62-27 run to turn a 15-point deficit into a 20-point advantage.
Geo Baker had a double-double with 20 points and 10 assists, both season-highs. Ron Harper added 20 points and eight rebounds.
Myles Johnson had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds while blocking a career-best seven shots.
Jacob Young added 10 points with seven assists. Rutgers had 11 three-pointers and 22 assists, both records for the Scarlet Knights in a Big Ten game.
The home finale for the Scarlet Knights was Senior Night, with RU recognizing six senior student-athletes (
Geo Baker,
Nick Brooks,
Mamadou Doucoure,
Myles Johnson,
Luke Nathan and
Jacob Young) and two senior student managers (Will Abbamont and Sam Radowicz) prior to the game.
"A great game tonight," head coach
Steve Pikiell said. "I only wish all our fans could have been there to enjoy it. Our guys, the seniors, they really were ready to play. We never flinched, they got down and they just kept playing. Our defense was elite in that stretch. A lot of great efforts, from everybody."
Indiana opened fast, with a 15-4 run to start, and grew that to 23-8 halfway through the frame. However, Rutgers answered with an 11-2 run, sparked by two three-pointers from
Geo Baker. Overall, the Scarlet Knights closed out the opening frame with a 27-8 flourished, as
Paul Mulcahy made a basket in the final seconds to give RU a 35-31 advantage at the break.
Rutgers shot 50 percent in the first half, with 11 assists on 14 made field goals.
Geo Baker led the way with 12 points in the frame. RU made 7-of-8 three-pointers in that closing stretch.
The Scarlet Knights came out hot to start the second half.
Ron Harper Jr. was on fire from long range, as his fourth three-pointer of the day put the home team up by 10. Overall, it marked a 35-10 run for Rutgers over 10 minutes of game time to turn a 15-point deficit into a 10-point lead. Rutgers used a 57-22 stretch and 30-14 run to open the second half to expand the lead to 20 points. Behind the play of Baker and Harper Jr., the Scarlet Knights
closed out the victory.
The Scarlet Knights have two more regular season contests remaining, both on the road. Next up is a trip to Nebraska, where Rutgers will face the Huskers on Monday night on BTN at 7 p.m. Following that the season ends at Minnesota (Saturday, March 6 at noon on FOX).
Postgame Notes
- Rutgers used a starting lineup that featured four academic seniors, with
Geo Baker,
Jacob Young,
Myles Johnson and
Mamadou Doucoure starting alongside
Ron Harper Jr. It was the first time this season RU used that starting lineup.
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Geo Baker moved past Kevin Black for 21st all-time in scoring at Rutgers.
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Geo Baker took sole possession of seventh place all-time at Rutgers in three-pointers, passing Jerome Coleman.
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Geo Baker had a season-high in assists. His 10 assists was the most ever for a Rutgers player in a Big Ten regulation game.
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Geo Baker tied his career-high with six three-pointers. That represented the most three-pointers ever made by a Scarlet Knight in a Big Ten game.
- Baker is the only player in college basketball this season to have six three-pointers and 10 assists in the same game.
- The last player to do it came on March 3, 2020. The last time that a player did it against a school from a Power 5 conference was Dec. 9, 2018 (Montana State's Harald Frey vs. Washington State). The last time that it was done by a player against a Big Ten team was Dec. 22, 2017 (Oklahoma's Trae Young versus Northwestern).
- Baker is the first player to have at least 20 points with six three pointers, 10 assists, five rebounds, two steals and one block in a game since Michigan's Derrick Walton on March 17, 2017. That stat line has only be achieved twice in the past 10 seasons.
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Geo Baker needs passed Mike Coburn for sixth all-time at Rutgers in assists.
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Geo Baker tied Darius Griffin for ninth eighth all-time at Rutgers in steals.
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Ron Harper Jr. had his sixth 20+ point game this season.
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Myles Johnson had a career-best seven blocks. That was the first time that a Rutgers player had seven blocks in a game since Dane Miller had seven blocks in a win over Monmouth on Dec. 12, 2011.
- That was the most blocks a Rutgers player ever had in a Big Ten game. RU's 10 blocks was also their record in a Big Ten game.
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Jacob Young also had seven assists, giving Rutgers two players with seven-plus assists in the same game for the first time since Myles Mack (eight) and D'Von Campbell (seven) did so against UNC-Greensboro on Dec. 14, 2013.
- Rutgers had 22 assists on 30 made field goals. The 22 assists was Rutgers' most ever in a Big Ten game.
- As a team, Rutgers had a season-high in three-pointers (11, matching a Big Ten record).
- It marked the second sweep of a Big Ten series this season (previously swept home-and-home with Northwestern).
- The win gave RU a third straight win in the all-time series against Indiana, and five wins in the past six contests with the Hoosiers.
- Rutgers senior class won its 31st Big Ten game over the past four years. After winning three Big Ten games in their first season 'On The Banks', the seniors grew the program to seven wins the next year, followed by 11, then nine so far this season.
- The comeback marked the third time this season that RU overcame a double-digit deficit to win (trailed by 11 in win over No. 13 Illinois, trailed by 10 in home win versus Northwestern). The last time that RU overcame a 15-plus point deficit to win was last season when the Scarlet Knights overcame a 18 point deficit to defeat Northwestern in overtime.
Gallery: (2-25-2021) Men's Basketball Senior Night
Postgame Quotes
Rutgers Head Coach Steve Pikiell
Opening Statement: "Just a great game tonight, I wish all our fans could have been there (The RAC), they would have really enjoyed that. Played a really good team, one of the best defensive teams in the league and Archie (Miller) does an unbelievable job. Trayce Jackson-Davis is a problem, Al Durham, but tip of the hat to our guys, the seniors. They really were ready to play, we never flinched, we got down 15 and they just kept playing and I love that part of it. They were all connected, and our defense was elite during that stretch, but a lot of great efforts from everybody. Geo (Baker) goes for a double-double. Ron Harper, as good as you could be. Jacob (Young) gets us off to a great start, his energy. Myles (Johnson) almost gets a triple double. I just love our bench, I though Cliff (Omoruyi) was great. Montez (Mathis), Paul (Mulcahy) and Caleb (McConnell) gave up their starting position, sign of a good team. They said coach, 'we want those guys to start'. I wish I could have started all six of them, but I can't start six guys. Really thankful Geo, Jacob, Myles, (Mamadou Doucoure) Douc, Luke, and Nick, they're great and what we're all about here. The guys had fun today, but we got a lot more we have to do."
On Seniors: "They've risen to every occasion and just real proud of them sticking together through adversity. This league is just unbelievable. I don't know if anyone really fully understands it. Every time I talk to a coach, everyone knows everyone so well, the whole league is beating up each other. Everyone knows everything about everyone. These guys just kept fighting through, they had a great practice yesterday, they were having fun, but really proud. They have raised this program to a place, and I said this to them, it's a real compliment. They expect you to win every game, that's what's expected now. Before they got here, we didn't win many games, if any. Those guys did the work and just happy for them to enjoy senior night and thankful that we got to bring a couple people to game. Their families, we could only bring two, but a few people got to see them play today and real thankful for that opportunity by the state of New Jersey."
On Ron Harper Jr: "Ron was great today. I love it, he got 8 rebounds. Ron does a lot of things for us. Like I say, everyone just talks about the ball going in or not. He has been taking really good shots, I have a lot of faith in Ron, he's good. I just tell him to keep plugging away and he did that tonight. We needed all of them and we made 11 threes. We can shoot the ball, I know we haven't, but that doesn't mean they can't, but tonight they were really good. He got good looks and we had 22 assists, so everyone was finding everybody. We really shared the game and that's a really good team stat for us. 22 assists, maybe a record in league play I would imagine."
On Adversity During Pandemic: "That's really what nobody factors in. These guys have been in a bubble now since June, like it's been very difficult. Even tonight, senior night you can't have your parents on the court to take a picture, but real proud of our guys. Last two years this group has won 20 games in the best league in the country. It's hard to win one game in this league and you know that they've been able to do it and people have said these are the best two years in Big Ten history, so they've done it and we got a lot more season left. We got a lot more games to play, but this group has done a lot of great things and just thankful. They represent the school the right way, they play basketball the right way, tonight they really shared the game and they've gotten through a lot of adversity, a lot of adversity for four years. Imean Geo went from an empty gym as a freshman to sold out gyms sophomore, junior year to empty gyms again his senior year. Just bizarre, but they've been great. They deserve the credit; they did a great job."
On Geo Baker: "He's done that a lot of times and he's had to fight through a lot of injuries. To come in here at 150 pounds, playing in this league, but he's done that for us and during that stretch, he was terrific. Guys were getting him the ball and I thought that was tremendous, but I really liked that we shared the ball, we ran the floor, we made the extra passes, we made the extra defensive efforts, and Geo played really well defensively for us. He was locked in. When he's locked in, he could do those kinds of things and it was a great senior night for a guy who's meant a lot to us and has done a lot, had a lot of big nights here."
On Defensive Adjustment and Myles Johnson: "I think he and Jacob Young, two of the better defenders in the country quite honestly, but Myles is an anchor in the back. Every night he plays against unbelievable post players, we (the Big Ten) by far have the best post players of any league and it not even close. Every night he has to go up and down the court with some elite post players and every night he does his job. He's able to guard guards, we switch on him, he's really improved so much on that end of the floor and today he got the ball around the basket. He did a really good job of finishing, 7 blocks, he probably altered three or four more. Myles just continues to do great things on both ends of the floor and happy for him on senior night to be rewarded. Again, I thought he did a real good job. That's a tip of the hat for Trayce Jackson-Davis for 21 (points) and 11 (rebounds) when I thought Myles did a really good job."
Indiana Head Coach Archie Miller
Opening statement: "Credit to Rutgers. I thought they really, really responded well to our start, and they really wore the back nine minutes of the first half out. We had a hard time functioning. But I thought defensively, and I thought in our first half, our effort level was very, very good at times. In the second half, right from the start, we weren't ready out of halftime, and started with our defense. I think the thing that's disappointing right now is when things don't go well for us, the thing we've kind of hung our hat on and been able to do is really scrap, compete and find a way to make it anybody's game. In our last two second halfs, in particular when things haven't gone well, our defense and our just our tightness, our ability to communicate, our response hasn't given us chance in these last two games. And both teams just really opened the floodgates up offensively against us. But a lot of it is a credit to them. I thought their ball pressure was as good as we've seen all year. They disrupted our guards, our entries. But we got off to a good start and I thought our guys prepared well. And I thought defensively, especially the first 12-14 minutes in the first half, we were as good as we've been. We're just going to have to be able to find a way to get that collectiveness back."
On play in the second half recently: "I think when things aren't going well, and I would attribute it into both second halfs, whether it's a lack of confidence offensively or things start to become difficult for us, our response isn't to run harder, to talk more, to concentrate more, to talk about the things that we can control. And I think in both second halfs, which hasn't really been the case all year, teams have been able to go, whether you're up or down, on huge runs without being able to get it stopped. To me, we're letting our defense completely be affected right now by whatever's going on in the game, whether that's a bad play on offense, whether that's a bad stretch on offense, but at the end of the day, we get quiet. And right now is not the time of year to be doing that."
On Armaan Franklin: "Armaan aggravated his ankle, foot, achilles, I'm not sure which one, in the first half of the game and wasn't able to go in the second half, so that's why he didn't play."
On turnovers: "I think it's a big part of what we're struggling with right now. We're struggling with the base stuff that we've been good at times this year. Taking care of the ball has become a problem. I thought their pressure really rattled us tonight. We had a hard time functioning cleanly on offense and a lot of it had to do, I thought, was just their ability to pick up the ball and really work. But I think turnovers are hard to defend. We had nine in the first half. And that was a big difference in the first half getting turned around. And I think in the second half, just defensively, we didn't start the second half like we started the game. And I do think when things aren't going well right now, we tend to sort of get more into ourselves and we tend to not get back. We tend right now not to fiercely compete, how we have to do it to stay in the game. There's games this season where we've been now nine at the half, which I think we're about eight or nine in the midpoint of this second half where we found a way to grab a hold of momentum with our defense. You're down at Northwestern, you find a way to get some stops. There's been times where we've really responded well, but here lately, in particular in our last two games, I think when things haven't gone well, we haven't responded with that comeback effort that we need. I think we can get it back. This is a humbling game, a humbling second half for us. I think it's the first time all season long our team has really looked fractured where we didn't know how to compete, what to do. And that goes back to me, I have to figure this out and get our team back up off the mat here because we have a big finish. We have a lot of things at stake. We have a lot of things right in front of us. We've worked very hard to get right there. Got a great opportunity on Saturday at home, but you know it's not going to work in any game that we play the rest of the season if our competitiveness and out concentration when things aren't going well, doesn't come back around."
