MADISON, WIS. – Another game in the Big Ten for
Steve Pikiell, another first for the Rutgers men's basketball program.
The Scarlet Knights had their first-ever victory at the Kohl Center in program history as it was the first time RU has defeated three ranked opponents in a row following a 73-65 win.
The win marked four wins over ranked Big Ten teams in the same season for the first time in program history. Saturday was the second time for RU defeating four ranked teams in one season under head coach
Steve Pikiell (also done in 2019-20).
"This is as great of a place to come and place basketball in the Big Ten," Pikiell said. "We haven't had much success here. I'm just real proud of the guys. Ro (Harper Jr.) stretches out the floor, Paul (Mulcahy) makes the big layup and Caleb (McConnell) gets six steals. McConnell holds arguable the best-scorer in the country to 11 points. Cliff (Omoruyi) made huge rebounds and free throws and Geo (Baker) does what Geo does. Every guy came up big to win and every point was huge in this 40-minute league.
Jalen Miller gave us great minutes defensively and
Dean Reiber comes in and gets us a basket. I am real pleased to come out of here with a win."
The win was the highest-ever ranked road win since RU joined the Big Ten and the second-ever ranked road win in Big Ten play. It was the highest-ranked road win since Jan. 26, 2008 (at No. 13 Pittsburgh) and the third-ever ranked road win in the past 20 years.
"We are real resilient," Harper Jr. said. "We knew that today wasn't going to be an easy game. I feel like we fought the adversity well and executed the game plan. We are playing teams in the top half of the Big Ten right now and we like it that way. We know what kind of team we are and we are just going to keep fighting."
Rutgers had four players in double figures and were led by senior forward
Ron Harper Jr., who had a team-high 21 points. Rutgers is now 7-0 when Harper Jr. scores 20-plus points in a game.
The Scarlet Knights shot 51 percent from the field and (7-12) from three-point range. RU was (16-18) from the free throw line, while Wisconsin was (9-17). There were seven ties and 12 lead changes throughout the afternoon. RU outpaced the Badgers with 10 fast break points compared to Wisconsin's two.
Harper Jr. shot (6-13) from the field, knocked down three long balls, had six rebounds and two assists in the win. Harper Jr. moved ahead of John Battle into 17th place on Rutgers all-time scoring list.
Senior guard
Caleb McConnell tied a career-high with six steals and locked down one of the nation's leading scorers in Johnny Davis. Davis had 11 points in the game.
McConnell's six steals marked 14 steals in the last three victories over Michigan State, Ohio State and the Badgers. McConnell leads the Big Ten by a wide margin with 56 total steals on the season.
Caleb McConnell moved past Dane Miller into 13th on Rutgers' all-time list. McConnell had four points and a pair of rebounds.
"I've been saying he's going to go win Defensive Player of the Year and he's had 14 steals in three games against terrific teams," Pikiell said. "Tonight he had a real task and he wanted it. Johnny Davis is an elite scorer who had 37 points at Purdue. Caleb's a good player and you see how important he is. He does a lot of things that don't show up in the box score, but the fact that he always wants the best player on the other team is special."
"Caleb is a dog," Mulcahy said. "I was just saying in the locker room that I thought there was a play where he had like three steals on the same possession. No one works harder than him in our program. He is six-foot-seven guards the best player every single night and he doesn't complain he just competes. He doesn't get a lot of pub, but he just competes. I firmly believe he is the Defensive Player of the Year."
"I'll tell you one thing, it's great to play with the Defensive Player of the Year," Harper Jr. said. "I feel like he's so undervalued and we love playing with him out there."
Senior
Geo Baker carried RU early with 16 points in the first half, which would be his total for the game. Baker was (5-12) from the field, knocked down a pair of threes, four free throws and had three assists.
With his 16 first half points today, Baker joins RU legend Eddie Jordan as the only two players in program history to reach 1,550-plus points, 450-plus assists, 350-plus rebounds, and 150-plus steals.
Junior point guard
Paul Mulcahy came along in the second half with clutch shots in big moments and played another complete game. RU's floor general had 18 points, made both of his three-pointers and was (6-9) from the field. Mulcahy had five rebounds, five assists and one steal.
"Paul has been playing great," Harper Jr. said. "He got robbed of Big Ten Player of the Week and I will take that to the grave. Ever since that Northwestern game he has been playing with ultimate confidence and I always knew he had it in him."
Center Cliff Omoruyi had another big game for the Scarlet Knights and dominated in the paint against an undersized Badgers team. Omoruyi had 10 points and a team-leading eight rebounds.
Freshman guard
Jalen Miller gave Coach Pikiell a great nine minutes off the bench and substituted with Baker in the final minutes of the game to play on the defensive side of the ball. Forward
Mawot Mag played 13 minutes off the bench and had two points, and three rebounds.
"I told you guys I like this group," Pikiell said. "We practice the right way. They defend and they did that in the first half. We did a really good job of not fouling in the second half. We got Illinois next. This whole league is great, whether you are ranked or not ranked it doesn't matter."
Pikiell has the most ranked wins in Rutgers history (12) and passed the great Tom Young (10) on that list after the win over Ohio State. Pikiell was asked about what it means to hear Young say great things about the current RU program.
"He's the greatest coach in Rutgers's history and he's a wonderful person," Pikiell said. "I was blessed to get to know coach (Joe) Boylan, who I miss every day. So to hear that from Joe, to get to talk to Tom on the phone and to get to meet him personally, I admire him a great deal. I am glad he said good things. I try to run a great program, have great guys and try to get these guys the cores that they need to win. I know he did that and I try to do the same thing."
