MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Rutgers men's basketball (14-10, 10-10) concluded the regular season by defeating Minnesota (13-14, 6-13) by a 77-70 margin on Saturday afternoon in overtime at Williams Arena. The win punctuated the season with a highlight victory, the team's second straight season concluding the season with an overtime win on the road.
The Scarlet Knights were led by
Jacob Young with 23 points, his 20th game this season scoring in double-figures and most ever points in a Big Ten game. It was his second time this season scoring at least 20 points.
"We had never won here at Minnesota, this had been a tough place for us to play," head coach
Steve Pikiell said. "This was a tough Minnesota team and our guys bounced back from the other night and gutted out the game. I'm really proud of them. It was a heck of an effort. To have 10 wins in the best league in the nation, in the best year in the history of the confernece, is incredible. This was an unbelievable effort. We fought the whole way."
The game was evenly contested to start the opening half, but the Scarlet Knights closed the first half with a flourish. A four-point play from
Geo Baker ignited the visitors, sparking a 15-5 run over the last four minutes of the half, as RU took a 37-28 lead into the halftime locker room. Baker's strong shooting in the first half led the Scarlet Knights with 10 points, while the team excelled in defense on Minnesota guard Marcus Carr, holding the third leading scorer in the league scoreless in the first half.
The momentum continued in the second half, with RU stretching the lead to 14 in the early part of the frame.
Montez Mathis provided a spark, including a highlight reel-dunk.
Minnesota made a late push, using a 13-3 run to get back within two at 61-59 with 2:15 to play. A Marcus Carr three-pointer tied the game in the final minute, and the contest went into overtime.
In overtime, RU started off with a 6-0 run, capped by a
Caleb McConnell dunk. Young helped push the Scarlet Knights over the finish line for the victory.
With the regular season concluded, next up for the Scarlet Knights is the Big Ten Tournament, starting next Thursday in Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Rutgers will be the seventh seed, and face 10th seeded Indiana at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday night.
"I'm happy for our fans," head coach
Steve Pikiell said. "Rutgers University is one of the greatest places. This has been a two-year journey, last year never ended. Credit to our guys, credit to our fans, but this is a team that you can really cheer for. These are great kids from great families. They do it right. They fought the whole game today, whether we were up or down, we kept grinding. And that's how they've been.
Postgame Notes
With The Win
- The victory is Rutgers' 10th conference win of the season. That marks double-digit conference wins for RU for the second straight season, the first time for RU with consecutive seasons with double-digit conference wins since 1989-90 and 1990-91. RU finished .500 or better in conference play in two consecutive seasons for the first time since 1989-90 and 1990-91.
- Rutgers earned its fourth road win of the season. The Scarlet Knights previously won at Maryland, Indiana and Northwestern. That marked the Scarlet Knights' most ever road wins since joining the Big Ten.
- The last time that RU won four road league games in a season was in 1990-91 when the team went 6-3 on the road in Atlantic 10 play.
- It marks just the third time in the past 15 seasons that RU won four road games overall.
- Rutgers' swept the season series, RU's third sweep of a home-and-home series this season (also downing Northwestern and Indiana both home and away this season). That marked the first time RU swept three home-and-home series since joining the Big Ten and first time since 1990-91
Versus Minnesota
- Rutgers earned its sixth victory over Minnesota, the most wins over any Big Ten team since joining the Big Ten. The Scarlet Knights have claimed victories in five of the past six meetings with the Gophers.
- It was RU's first ever win at Williams Arena.
- Minnesota took just their fourth loss in 17 home games this season.
- Rutgers held Minnesota's Marcus Carr, who entered the game averaging 20.1 points per game (third in the Big Ten), to single digit scoring for just the third time this season, his second lowest output of the season.
Individuals
Jacob Young
- Scored in double digits for the team-leading 20th time, including seven straight to end the season.
- Had game-high seven assists and four steals.
- Through the regular season, Young has posted career-highs in scoring, steals and assists.
Geo Baker
- Moved past Bucky Hatchett for 20th all-time at Rutgers in scoring.
- Past Anthony Farmer for fifth all-time in assists.
- Tied Kelvin Troy for eighth all-time at Rutgers in steals.
Ron Harper Jr.
- Scored in double-figures for the 17th time this season. The Julius Erving Award finalist is on pace to finish the season in the top-10 in the league in scoring.
Montez Mathis
- Scored in double-figures for the ninth time this season, and first time since posting 13 points against Iowa on Jan. 2
Myles Johnson
- Had 15 rebounds, the second-most in his career.
- Through the regular season, the redshirt junior has established career-highs in scoring, rebounds and blocks
