MINNEAPOLIS. MN. – The Scarlet Knights came up just one play short in a tough 68-65 defeat at Williams Arena in Minneapolis on Saturday.
Senior forward
Ron Harper Jr. was called for an offensive foul on a charge taken by Golden Gophers senior guard Luke Loewe with just under three seconds remaining and the Scarlet Knights trailing by one point.
Senior guard Payton Willis knocked down both free throws to wrap up a spectacular 32-point effort in which he shot (8-13) from three-point range and played all 40 minutes of the game.
The Golden Gophers were shorthanded without three of their top scorers in Jamison Battle, E.J. Stephens and Eric Curry. Loewe played all but 20 seconds and scored 19 points on (8-14) shooting.
Senior guard
Geo Baker led the way for RU with a season-high seven three pointers and 25 points in a game where he converted on five consecutive long balls in the season half. Baker shot (9-17) from the field, added a steal and a pair of assists.
Baker needed three field goals to officially pass former Scarlet Knight Corey Sanders on RU's all-time field goals list for 14
th all-time. Baker played a total of 33 minutes in the game.
Harper Jr. had 12 points in 38 minutes, along with four rebounds and two assists. Sophomore center
Dean Reiber gave Pikiell a solid 16 minutes off the bench. Reiber contributed with six points, two rebounds and a steal at the end of the game to set the Scarlet Knights up for one last shot trailing 66-65 with 8.6 seconds on the clock.
Paul Mulcahy had seven points, four rebounds and a career-high nine assists. Center
Clifford Omoruyi against led the Scarlet Knights in rebounds with seven boards and four points. Forward
Aundre Hyatt came off the bench for 11 minutes and scored six points. Senior guard
Caleb McConnell filled up the stat sheet with five rebounds, four points, two assists and a steal in 30 minutes.
Rutgers forced 15 turnovers in the game and had seven team steals. The Scarlet Knights had 12 bench points compared to Minnesota's zero with only seven active players. RU shared the ball again in the game with 17 team assists. The Scarlet Knights shot a solid (12-27) from behind the arc and 46.3 percent from the field. Rutgers outscored Minnesota 20-18 in the points in the paint category.
The Golden Gophers had 18 points off of RU turnovers.
Freshman center Trenton Thompson had 10 points and six rebounds in all 40 minutes played. He was (2-3) from three-point range including a shot before the halftime buzzer to send the Golden Gophers into the break with a one-point lead.
Rutgers will look to get back on track on Tuesday night at Jersey Mike's Arena at 7:00 p.m. against the Maryland Terrapins.
