PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Steve Pikiell's Rutgers men's basketball team has again done something that no other Rutgers team has ever done.
The Scarlet Knights defeated the Michigan Wolverines for the first time in school history with the 75-67 victory on Tuesday night at Jersey Mike's Arena. The Wolverines are the last team in the Big Ten for RU to defeat for the last time.
"I have a lot of respect for Michigan, Juwan Howard is a great coach and they have a lot of good players, and do a really good job," head coach
Steve Pikiell said. "It was a great team win today, we battled through foul trouble,
Mawot Mag losing his teeth, and a lot overall. We out-rebounded them and our guys were terrific down the stretch making big plays. We made our three's. We shared the ball again, another 20-assist game, which is a stretch here that we've never had. We got through a tough time. This was our third game in seven days, after having thirteen days off. This was a good veteran win, and we have another one coming up, so we're in the gauntlet."
As a team, Rutgers had 20 assists, the second-most ever by a Scarlet Knight team in a Big Ten game. Rutgers '11 three-pointers tied for the team's most-ever in a Big Ten game. Rutgers held the lead in the game from start-to-finish.
Seniors
Geo Baker and
Ron Harper Jr. led the way with 47 combined points in the game. Baker had a season and game-high 27 points and was able to keep climbing up the leader boards in the Scarlet Knight record books.
Pikiell was asked in his postgame press conference if it was the best that the duo has ever played together.
"They've played well a lot… was it the best? They can play a lot better too, but they were good today and we needed it," Pikiell said. "Geo has been shooting the ball really well, and it's good to have him back. I don't think anyone realizes, we lost a lot of games without
Geo Baker, and that's not the recipe for me getting sleep. But it was everyone, Aundre (Hyatt) came off the bench and gave us good minutes, Jalen (Miller) came in and gave us good minutes, Dean (Reiber) was good, I know it was a tough matchup for him, I thought we have a good blend, and they all played well."
Below are four more takeaways from the Scarlet Knights victory on Tuesday night:
Career-night for Geo Baker
Geo Baker was on fire all night for RU. The senior shot 10-of-15 from the field and added four assists.
Reaching 426 career assists, he moved past guard Myles Mack for fourth all-time at RU in assists. Baker became the 16
th Scarlet Knight to reach 500 career field goals with a basket early in the first half. It was Baker's 20-plus point game since February 24 of last season against Indiana (a performance following which he was named the Big Ten Player of the Week). Baker had his most points since he posted his career-high 29 versus Bryant as a freshman in 2017.
Baker passed Jeff Greer for 15
th place all-time on RU's scoring leader board.
"Those are shots we take everyday ever day in practice," Baker said. "I think a good shot starts with a good pass, and we did a really good job passing today."
Gallery: (1-4-2022) Men's Basketball Defeats Michigan
Harper Jr. unconscious from three-point range
Ron Harper Jr. (20 points) had his fifth 20-plus point game of the season and 17
th of his career. He moved past Larry Gordon for 23
rd place all-time on RU's scoring leader board. Harper Jr. tied his career high with five three-pointers in the game, doing so for the last time with his buzzer-beating halfcourt three-point shot to defeat No. 1 Purdue. Harper Jr. was 5-of-6 from three-point range on the night.
The last time RU had two players each score 20+ points in a game was that February 24 contest of last season, when
Geo Baker and
Ron Harper Jr. each posted 20 points.
Harper Jr. credited the fans in his postgame press conference.
"We wanted to show love to the people that came out and supported us," Harper Jr. said. "It's a token of gratitude. We like to go over there and give them all high 5's to show them that we appreciate them coming out for us. Under the circumstances I thought the crowd was great, COVID-19 is doing numbers again, it was a greater turnout than I expected, and we have great fans. We have some of the best fans in the country."
McConnell contributed in all facets
Caleb McConnell had another all-around game for RU. He had five assists and five rebounds while guarding Eli Brooks from the Wolverines all game.
McConnell had nine points on the night and hit a pair of huge three-pointers in the second half to push the momentum for the Scarlet Knights.
"Those are the shots we take everyday in practice," McConnell said. "I thought Geo created enough space for me to get a shot in rhythm. It's really all about playing together, taking good shots in rhythm."
Starters all pitched in
Guard
Paul Mulcahy had seven points and seven assists in the game. The junior guard reached the 200-assist plateau for his career. It was the fourth time in the past seven games that Mulcahy had at least seven assists. Center
Clifford Omoruyi reached double-digit rebounds for the third time this season and the second straight game. It was his first time ever reaching double-digit rebounds against a Big Ten foe. Omoruyi has 99 rebounds this season, already surpassing his freshman year total, done in 10 more games played.
