Box Score COLLEGE PARK, MD. – It was a tale of two halves for the Rutgers men's basketball team on Saturday.
The Scarlet Knights pulled off their first road victory of the season against Maryland 70-59 behind a second half where RU outscored the Terrapins by 22 points.
Ron Harper Jr. had career-highs in points (31) and three-pointers made (six) in the victory.
13 of Maryland's 27 points in the first half came from the free throw line. The Scarlet Knights went into halftime trailing by 11 points.
"We played really hard in the first half," head coach
Steve Pikiell said. "We fouled too much and you can't defend the free throw line. We had too many turnovers. They had 18 points off of our turnovers and 13 points off of free throws. They had seven points when we played good defense. So I told them to stop turning it over and stop fouling and we did that. That's what happened at halftime. I liked out effort and our energy."
"This team is an experienced group," Harper Jr. said. "We were down by 11 at halftime on the road and it would have been easy for us ot just lay down and let them keep piling the points on. We came into the second half and stuck to the gameplan. We got the results we wanted. We were down to the No. 1 team in the country with less than 10 minutes left and came back. We can come back whenever."
Rutgers had 12 personal fouls compared to five personal fouls for Maryland in the first half.
The Scarlet Knights held Maryland to 21 points as a team in the second half. The win marked the team's second consecutive victory at the Xfinity Center. Rutgers had 13 second chance points and 28 points in the paint. Maryland's 21 points were the lowest RU allowed to the Big Ten opponent in a half all season long. The team combined for 16 total assists.
"A great college basketball game here, Maryland is always really good and talented," Pikiell said. "I remember the first time I came down here with my first team we lost by a thousand points. We've come a long way because of these guys. We've won our last two down here and it's a credit to the work that they do."
Below are four more takeaways from RU's first road victory of the season.
Harper Jr. was on fire
Harper Jr. caught fire in the second half. Harper Jr. was (5-5) from three-point range in the second half. The forward hit a "heat check" three-pointer as the shot clock expired with four minutes remaining in regulation to give the Scarlet Knights a four-point lead.
Harper Jr. was (10-16) from the floor good for 62.5 percent. He was (5-6) from the free throw line and added four rebounds and a pair of assists. Harper Jr. was able to secure his career-high in points when he rebounded his own missed free throw with under a minute remaining.
"I was just trusting teammates and trusting the offense," Harper Jr. said. "I get open shots like that in practice and in the games because of my teammates that are finding me. I don't need to hunt shots because I know Paul (Mulcahy), Geo (Baker), Caleb (McConnell) and the rest of the cast are going to find me."
Mulcahy's strong performance
Paul Mulcahy showed resiliency on Saturday at the Xfinity Center. After five early turnovers in the first half, the Scarlet Knights floor general hit big shots in the second half and led the offense with 15 points.
Mulcahy knocked down both of his three-point attempts in key spots for RU. His second three-pointer came with 2:15 remaining on the clock and put Rutgers up five points. He added six rebounds and three assists in his effort. He was strong on the defensive end with a pair of steals and a block.
Omoruyi in the paint
Center
Clifford Omoruyi continued his dominance in the paint for the Scarlet Knights. In 31 minutes-played Big Cliff had another ten-rebound performance. Four of his rebounds were on the offensive side of the ball. Omoruyi was (3-4) from the field and pitched in with six points.
Omoruyi was key on the defensive side of the ball with three blocked shots and one steal.
Others pitched in
Senior point guard
Geo Baker didn't have his best shooting night, but found ways to contribute in all facets. Baker was (4-14) from the field with eight points, but led the Scarlet Knights with seven assists.
Baker had three blocks and his one steal put him in 7
th place all-time on the RU all-time assists list. Baker passed Rick Dadika in the record books.
Aundre Hyatt hit two of the biggest shots on the game within a minute in the first half. The LSU transfer hit a pair of three pointers when the Scarlet Knights needed them most. Hyatt's six points came in 13 minutes on the floor.
Starting guard
Caleb McConnell had seven rebounds, three assists and two steals.
