PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The Rutgers men's basketball team had their way with the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Saturday.
The Scarlet Knights scored the most points in a Big Ten Conference regulation game in school history in a 93-65 victory over Nebraska on Saturday. After trailing 14-10 early in the first half, Rutgers responded with a 15-2 run to take a 25-16 lead and never trailed again, en route to a 93-65 victory. Rutgers shot 58.3% from the field, its best mark ever in a Big Ten game. The Scarlet Knights had 23 assists, its most ever in a Big Ten game.
93 points in the game was a season-high for Rutgers and marked a four-game winning streak, the team's longest winning streak of the season. Rutgers improved to 9-1 at home this season, 46-7 at home over the past three seasons and 27-2 in home games over the past two seasons (with fans allowed in the arena).
"My team is playing good basketball right now," head coach
Steve Pikiell said. "I have a ton of respect for Nebraska, that's a good team. We rebounded well today and shared the game. We continue to really pass the basketball. The team did a great job. Everyone that checked into the game gave us good minutes. It was a big game for us today."
The victory was RU's seventh all-time win over Nebraska and fourth win in the past six matchups against Nebraska. Saturday marked a (3-1) start to Big Ten play for the third straight season. Prior to the start of this three-game stretch, the last 3-1 start to league play for Rutgers was 1994-95.
Below are four more takeaways from the victory:
Gallery: (1-8-2022) Men's Basketball Defeats Nebraska
Milestones for Geo and Ron
Geo Baker moved past Geoff Billett for third all-time at RU in assists (432) on a pass to Harper Jr. in the first half.
Ron Harper Jr. scored 29 points, one shy of his previous career-high of 30. He recorded 20+ points in a game for the 19th time in his career (sixth time this season). It was his seventh time in his career scoring at least 25 points versus a Big Ten opponent, the most for any RU player since joining the league. Harper Jr, moved past Kevin Black and Bucky Hatchett to place 21
st all-time at RU in scoring (1,246 career points).
Paul Mulcahy, floor general
Guard
Paul Mulcahy reached double-figures in scoring for the fourth time this season and 10
th time in his career. In the game he had eight assists, tying his career-high. Over Mulcahy's last nine games, he is averaging 5.8 assists per-game.
Dean Reiber had a day
Forward
Dean Reiber cam in and gave Pikiell great minutes in the first half when Cliff Omoruyi got into foul trouble early. Reiber a career-high 10 points and made his first career three-pointer. Reiber played a career-high 17 minutes and hit a second three-point in the second half.
"Dean's coming," Pikiell said. "He's really coming along. I thought right before the break, our COVID-19 break, he was making leaps and bounds. You saw him today, he can make threes and put it down and finish around the basket. He's getting more comfortable. He was terrific. And we need him and he's been really good. He had a great night."
Aundre Hyatt and Jalen Miller's best games as Scarlet Knights
Forward
Aundre Hyatt scored 13 points, tying his career-high and setting a new season-high.
He reached double-figures in scoring for the second time as a Scarlet Knight and fourth time in his career.
Guard
Jalen Miller had his first career multi-steal game and had a career-high of four points in the game. The Scarlet Knight take on Penn State on Tuesday on the road at 6:30 p.m.
"Yeah, it's tough on the road in this league," Pikiell said. "We're playing tough teams. We have to play good basketball, we have to be well prepared. These guys know. But it's not easy to win on the road in this great league. So we have to play really good. We'll enjoy today and we'll worry about the road games soon enough."
