No. 10 seed Indiana Hoosiers (12-14, 7-12) vs. No. 7 seed Rutgers Scarlet Knights (14-10, 10-10)
Thursday, March 11, 2021 | 6:30 p.m.
Lucas Oil Stadium | Indianapolis, Ind.
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Rutgers men's basketball begins a new journey this week as the Scarlet Knights head to the postseason. RU will begin Big Ten Tournament play with its highest ever seed (7) as it faces 10th seeded Indiana at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday night.
TV: BTN (Brandon Gaudin, play-by-play; Shon Morris, analyst)
Radio: Rutgers Sports Properties Radio Network (WCTC 1450 AM/WOR 710 AM; Jerry Recco and Joe Boylan), WRSU 88.7 FM
The Scarlet Knights concluded the regular season in dramatic fashion last weekend with a 77-70 overtime win over Minnesota.
Jacob Young led the way with 23 points and seven assists, including a clutch steal at the end of regulation to preserve the team's chances. With that theft, Young finished as the league's leader in steals at 1.83 steals per game.
Young was one of four Scarlet Knights recognized in the Big Ten's all-conference awards this week. RU saw
Ron Harper Jr. recognized on the Third Team, with
Geo Baker,
Myles Johnson and
Geo Baker as honorable mention selections. RU had four all-conference selections for the first time in program history and was one of just two schools in the league to have four different honorees.
Myles Johnson was also named to the league's all-defensive team, while
Paul Mulcahy earned the Sportsmanship Award.
Rutgers has made unprecedented strides within the program over the past two years. The Scarlet Knights recently compelted their second straight season with a winning record, marking the first time in since the 90-91 and 91-92 campaigns that RU had back-to-back winning seasons. The double-digit conference wins and .500 or better conference records for the second straight season marked the first time for that milestone since 89-90 and 90-91. After winning 16 combined conference games in its first five years as a league member, RU has won 21 Big Ten Games over the past two seasons.
The Scarlet Knights' success over the past two seasons has come with the competition in the Big Ten at an all-time peak. The Scarlet Knights are in the top half of the Big Ten standings in a league that rates as easily the top conference in the nation.
Rutgers stands at 37 in the NET rankings. The Scarlet Knights have four Quad 1 wins on the year, highlighted by a victories over presumptive No. 1 seed Illinois (4), and also including wins over Purdue (22), at Maryland (32) and at Indiana (60). Four Big Ten teams are in the top-eight of the NET, representing five of RU's 10 losses. The Scarlet Knights' strength of schedule is ranked sixth overall in the nation per Ken Pomeroy, and there NET SOS is eighth. RU is 9-10 in Quad 1 and Quad 2 games, and has zero losses below Quad 2.
The Indiana Hoosiers enter the Big Ten Tournament as the 10 seed with a 12-14 record and 7-12 mark in the Big Ten. The Hoosiers are currently on a 5-game losing streak and have lost their last 4 games away from Assembly Hall. Coming off a 67-58 loss to Purdue on Saturday, senior guard Aljami Durham led the Hoosiers with 14 points alongside Trayce Jackson-Davis and Jerome Hunter both with 12 points. Jackson-Davis leads the nation in total free-throw attempts (222) and 4th in the league in points per game (19.1). Indiana is 9th in the league in scoring offense (70.5) but ranks last in the league in 3-point field goals per game.
Series Record: Indiana leads 7-5
Last Meeting: Rutgers 74, Indiana 63 (February 24, 2021)
Rutgers swept the home-and-home series against Indiana this season, and have now won five of the past six meetings with the Hoosiers. Rutgers claimed a 74-70 victory on January 24th that was the program's first ever win at Assembly Hall, and sparked a crucial four-game winning streak for the team. RU then claimed a 74-63 victory in the return meeting at The RAC on Senior Night (February 24), as
Geo Baker led the way with 20 points and 10 assists.
A victory for Rutgers over Indiana would represent:
- Three wins this season over Indiana. The last time that Rutgers defeated a team three times in one season was in 2013-14, when RU defeated USF twice in the regular season and again in the American Athletic Conference Tournament.
- Mark Rutgers' fourth ever victory in the Big Ten Tournament.
- Be the second-highest seeded team ever defeated in the Big Ten Tournament. The highest came in Madison Square Garden in 2018 against No. 6 seeded Indiana.
