INDIANAPOLIS, IND. - The Rutgers men's basketball team (18-12, 12-8 Big Ten) will take on Iowa in their first game of the 2022 Big Ten Tournament.
BROADCAST INFO
TV: BTN
PxP: Kevin Kugler
Color: Stephen Bardo
Reporter: Rick Pizzo
Radio: RWJBarnabas Health Rutgers Sports Network
FOX Sports New Jersey 93.5-FM & 1450-AM, XM 384, WOR 710-AM, Scarlet Knights App
Play-by-Play: Jerry Recco
Analyst: Austin Johnson
WRSU 88.7 FM RU Student Radio
RUTGERS-IOWA HISTORY
Friday marks the 13th meeting between Iowa and Rutgers. Rutgers is 3-9 against the Hawkeyes. Rutgers lost a pair of games to Iowa last season including a 77-75 defeat in Piscataway. Rutgers defeated Iowa this season at Jersey Mike's Arena 48-46.
WITH A VICTORY OVER IOWA
A victory over Iowa would:
- Mark the highest seeded team ever defeated at the Big Ten Tournament.
- Be the last time RU defeated a team seeded fifth or higher at a conference tournament was 1998, when No. 12 seeded RU defeated No. 5 seeded West Virginia at the Big East Tournament
- Mark the 6th ranked win of the season, extending RU's program record for ranked wins in one season.
- Mark the 14th ranked win under head coach Steve Pikiell.
- Rutgers would improve to 7-3 against teams in the top-six of the Big Ten standings.
HISTORIC DEFENSIVE EFFORT VS. IOWA
The Rutgers 48-46 win over Iowa checked a lot of boxes on the defensive side of the ball. Iowa shot just 27.9%, the lowest ever margin
against RU in a Big Ten Conference game. Rutgers held Iowa, the number one scoring offensive in the Big Ten, to a season-low 46 points.
It was the first time Iowa was held under 50 points since March 7, 2019 and the first time this season they were held under 70 points in conference play. Rutgers held Iowa to 19 points in the second half, their lowest in any frame of the season (previous-low was 26). The Hawkeyes made just four field goals in the final 17 minutes of the contest.
Iowa's 46 points represented the second-lowest points ever against RU in a Big Ten Conference game
MAKING UNRANKED HISTORY
Rutgers is the first unranked team in college basketball history to defeat four ranked teams in a row.Rutgers has won five games over against ranked Big Ten teams this season. (No. 1 Purdue, No. 12 Illinois, No. 13 MSU, No. 14 Wisconsin, No. 16 OSU).
BIG TEN CONFERENCE DOMINANCE
Rutgers is the only team in the Big Ten Conference that has defeated the No. 1-No. 11 seeds in the Big Ten Conference Tournament.
No. 1 (Illinois), No. 2 (Wisconsin), No. 3 (Purdue), No. 5 (Iowa), No. 6 (Ohio State), No. 7 (Michigan State), No. 8 (Michigan), No. 9 (Indiana), No. 10 (Maryland), No. 11 (Penn State)
QUAD 1 SUCCESS
Rutgers has 6 wins against Quad 1 opponents this season. There are only 11 teams in the country who have beaten more Quad 1 opponents than Rutgers. Rutgers has claimed five ranked wins over Big Ten teams: No. 1 Purdue, No. 12 Illinois, No. 13 Michigan State, No. 14 Wisconsin, and No. 16 Ohio State. 5 of the six Quad 1 victories came over teams that were No. 22 or better in the nation.
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE
Rutgers is as battle tested as any team in the nation with 11 matchups against Quad 1 opponents. ESPN has ranked Rutgers's strength of schedule the 31st toughest in the nation.
RU MILESTONES TO WATCH
Steve Pikiell enters the Big Ten Tournament with 98 wins at Rutgers, two shy of 100 RU wins. The last RU coach to 100 wins was Bob Wenzel. Pikiell would be the fastest RU coach to 100 wins since Tom Young if he gets two more wins this season (Wenzel did it in year 7, Young did it in year 5).
Ron Harper Jr. is 10 points away from 1,500 career points as a Scarlet Knight.
Geo Baker is six assists away from tying Brian Ellerbe from 2nd all time at RU, and 11 away from 500 career assists.
