PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Rutgers men's basketball (15-9, 9-5 Big Ten) is back at home at Jersey Mike's Arena to take on the No. 12 Illinois Fighting Illini for a 7 p.m. (ET) tipoff on Wednesday. No. 12 Illinois represents the fourth straight game against a ranked foe in a stretch of seven straight games against ranked teams, all of them ranked No. 16 or better in the nation. The Scarlet Knights are coming off of their highest ranked road win since joining the Big Ten and back-to-back-to-back ranked wins against ranked opponents for the first time in school history.
Rutgers is 13-1 this season when holding teams to 65 points or less, 12-2 at home this season and 40-7 at home during the last three seasons.
SUCCESS AGAINST RANKED TEAMS
The last week and a half saw RU defeat No. 13 Michigan State (84-63), No. 16 Ohio State (66-64) and No. 14 Wisconsin in succession. The wins represented the first time that RU defeated ranked teams in back-to-back-to-back games in school histroy and RU's first-ever win at the Kohl Center.
Rutgers head coach
Steve Pikiell has now defeated 12 ranked foes as the head coach of the Scarlet Knights. He moved past Tom Young for the most ranked wins for a coach in Rutgers program history last week. Pikiell has claimed wins over No. 1 Purdue, No. 9 Maryland, No 12 Wisconsin, No. 13 Michigan State, No. 13 Illinois, No. 14 Wisconsin, No. 15 Seton Hall, No. 16 Ohio State, No. 16 Ohio State, No. 20 Penn State, No. 22 Iowa and No. 22 Seton Hall.
This season, RU is 4-0 against ranked Big Ten teams (No. 1 Purdue, No. 12 Wisconsin, No. 13 MSU, No. 16 OSU), with the lone ranked loss coming to No. 23 Seton Hall.
LAST TIME OUT
On Saturday, the Scarlet Knights had 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. 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.
BAKER CO-BIG TEN PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Senior guard
Geo Baker has won the Big Ten Conference Co-Player of the Week award alongside Keegan Murray of Iowa. The award marks the second time in Baker's career that he won Big Ten Player of the Week and the second time an RU player has ever won the award.
Baker led the way in the 66-64 victory on Wednesday at Jersey Mike's Arena over Ohio State with a game-high 25 points. He was also named All-Met Player of the Week
On the final RU possessions of the game, Baker delivered a perfect pass to center
Clifford Omoruyi who slammed it home to tie the game with 1:13 left on the clock. After another stop on the defensive end, Baker would draw a foul and sink a pair of free throws to give RU the lead with 18 seconds left.
Baker's 25 points tied his second-highest output this season. Baker had 27 in the last second loss to Minnesota. Baker was (9-14) from the field, sunk all four of his free throws, had six assists and a pair of blocks. He played a team-high 38 minutes and added three rebounds. The "Big Shot Maker" made three-pointers early and patented step back jumpers late to give RU a boost needed throughout the game. Baker had zero turnovers. Baker led the way early in RU's victory at Wisconsin. Baker had 16 points in the first half. Baker was (5-12) from the field, knocked down a pair of threes, four free throws and had three assists.
Baker made his way past RU legend Roy Hinson for 11th place all-time at RU in points with 1,550. Baker joined 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.
