PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The Rutgers men's basketball team suffered a tough loss to No. 13/12 Wisconsin at Jersey Mike's Arena on Saturday night, falling 66-61.

RU went into half time down nine points after shooting (9-24) from the field and (0-6) from the three-point line in the first half.

The leading scorer for the Scarlet Knights, senior guard Geo Baker (19 points) helped RU find the team's first lead late in the second half. Baker shot (9-19) from the field and added four assists.

Wisconsin made nine three-point shots in the game and four in the second half to pull away with the victory.

One of the nation's top scorers Johnny Davis led the way for the Badgers with 19 points of his own.

Senior guard Caleb McConnell held Davis to (6-19) shooting on the night and racked up a pair of steals to maintain his lead in steals at the top of the Big Ten conference (65).

Senior forward Ron Harper Jr. had 15 points and shot (5-11) from the field. With under a minute remaining and RU training by five, Harper Jr. drilled a three-pointer to give the Scarlet Knights a chance on their final possession to tie the game down three points. Baker missed just long on a game-tying three-point attempt on the final shot of the game for RU.
 
Postgame Notes 
 
Rutgers Individuals:  

Clifford Omoruyi 

• Took over the nation's lead with 77 dunks on the season. 

Geo Baker 

• Moved into 10^th place all-time at RU in points, passing Ricky Shields. 
• Baker scored a team-high 19 points, 16 of them in the second half. 
• Had his 175^th career steal, tying Mike Jones for sixth all-time at RU.  

Caleb McConnell 

• Had a career-high in blocks with three.  
• Had two steals, moving past Kelvin Troy for ninth all-time at RU (McConnell has 145 steals in his career). 

Postgame Quotes

Rutgers Head Coach Steve Pikiell

Opening Statement

"Great college basketball game. Wisconsin is, I think, 9-2 now on the road. One heck of a team thought we really fought. I'm proud of these guys. Ball wasn't going in during the first half. I kind of liked the looks too, but we fought back and gave ourselves a chance to win. And I want to thank the crowd, they were awesome from start to finish. But you know those guys are really good. Coach Gard does a good job and they made a couple more plays than us down the stretch. We fought through a lot of adversity tonight and we're proud of our guys in the effort. The fans, I mean, really what a great environment. It was disappointing but a lot of basketball left and we got to go on the road now. Then we got the last home game which is going to be special. These guys have given so much to our program and along with Geo, Luke Nathan and Ralph. A couple more games here and then tournament so we got to turn around quickly."

On what went wrong

"I have to watch the tape but I thought we got good looks. You know what? I thought we got some really good looks. We probably need to make that a little closer at halftime, especially the way they play and the pace that they play at. They're a tough team to get down to but we fought back and got the lead credit to our guys. The job that Caleb did, I thought he gave me as good a job in both games against one of the leading scorers in the country. And Ron just continues to fight. So things weren't going our way tonight, but we figured out a way to claw back into the game and gave ourselves a chance to win and just a couple plays down stretch couple that's the difference. This league is so competitive, I think this is the toughest stretch ever since I've been here, the teams are terrific. These teams are ranked and all that stuff and every game in our league comes down to possession or two. So it's really, you know, we all signed up for this kind of league in this kind of basketball. And tonight was another one of those one two possession games."

On offensive gameplan

"We really want to get the ball moving a little bit more, wanting to get it downhill. We got Geo getting us back in the game. He was heading downhill and getting to the free throw line and being able to change up our defenses. So, you know, just a rare game. We've been a great assist team, but there was not a lot of possessions in these kinds of games, especially when you play Wisconsin and the pace that they play at is so difficult."

On Caleb McConnell's defense

"I couldn't be more proud of his development during both games versus Johnny Davis. When they first got here, you know, they played high school defense, you know, just kind of guard whoever you guard. Now they play team defense, Caleb's taking on the leading scorers in the country at Iowa, you know, here at Wisconsin. I mean, the guys he has to play every night and he embraces that. He's as good a defender as you'll see. He's really worked out. He watches film, you know, he stays extra. He wants to know and he wants to take on that challenge. I've been blessed to coach a guy like that. It's a great feeling. His improvement is impressive, he has just been unbelievable on that end of the floor and they can guard multiple positions and they can guard a lot of different guys. So they spend a lot of energy."


Wisconsin Head Coach Greg Gard 

Opening Statement 

"That was a heck of a college basketball game in a great place to play in. I thought the place was up for grabs playing a Rutgers team that's good, well coached, tough and you have to match all those things if you want to have any chance at success. I'm just really proud of our guys in the locker room. I thought everybody gave us something and we needed all hands on deck, we were able to make some plays down the stretch, get to the free throw line, get some stops. Really happy group in the locker room right now." 

On Rutgers guard Caleb McConnell 

"The thing about Steve Pikiell's teams is that they play so hard. I've said that for the years he's been her. That was the first thing I noticed that he changed and got established is how hard they play. Then you have a guy like Caleb and the length and how hard he plays and the way he can move. He's physical. Yeah, he's a really good defensive player and that's the chess match that goes on within the game." 

On Rutgers guard Geo Baker 

"He hit some tough shots, some long twos. We didn't get his dribble drive stopped a couple times too and we were exchanging screens to try to stop that. And he still was able to get by guys. Geo is a heck of a player that has had a really good career and he, like most good players when they can get their own and create something out of nothing… he does that as well as anyone in the league." 

On Wisconsin guard Chucky Hepburn 

"He's a freshman that has played beyond his years. In terms of the experience he's showed, and just his poised. He's learning. He learned some things tonight. We didn't switch the ball screen late in the game when Harper got the three. That was what we talked about. For a freshman to do what he's done and the environments he's done it in, has a really good line again tonight. I can't speak enough about how impactful he's been. When you have a guard like that, that you can, can run your show and he's only a freshman? That's a huge credit to him and his preparation." 
 
Wisconsin Sophomore Johnny Davis 

On Caleb McConnell's Defense

"It was really frustrating because Caleb McConnell is a really good defender. He's definitely the toughest guy to face. He was on me the whole game and made it really tough for me to get buckets. He uses his hands and his athleticism really well. He can guard the one through four really well. He's definitely the key piece to their defense and in the conversation for Defensive Player of the Year. Every time he goes out of the game, I have a little sigh of relief knowing that I don't have to have someone like that tailing me around."