PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers men's basketball heads back to the road for a late Wednesday night tip. The Scarlet Knights, receiving votes in both the AP and Coaches Poll this week, play at 9 p.m. at Northwestern.
 
THE SERIES
Rutgers and Northwestern will play for the 18th time, with Northwestern winning 11 times to Rutgers' six. However, since RU started the series 1-9, the Scarlet Knights have won five of the last seven meetings. Last season at Northwestern, RU erased a 24-point deficit to force overtime before falling by one point. Paul Mulcahy posted a career-high with 31 points while Cliff Omoruyi scored his career high 22 points. RU had won the prior two trips to Welsh-Ryan Arena. In 2021, RU downed Northwestern twice in a two-week span to sweep that season series.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES
WITH A WIN
A victory over Northwestern would represent:
- A 4-2 start to league play for the second straight year.
- Six wins in the last eight meetings against Northwestern.
 
ABOUT RUTGERS
Rutgers is playing its fourth game in a nine-game span, going 2-1 last week with wins at No. 1 Purdue and over Maryland.
 
In Big Ten play, RU has received balanced scoring. In the five league games, Cam Spencer paces the squad at 10.8 points per game, but is followed closely behind by Paul Mulcahy (10.6), Caleb McConnell (9.8), Clifford Omoruyi (9.4) and Aundre Hyatt (9.4). Rutgers averages 64.6 points per game in conference play, having scored between 63 and 66 points in all five league games.
 
Caleb McConnell enters the contest tied for sixth place all-time at RU in steals with 176. He needs two steals to tie James Bailey for fifth and four steals to tie Geo Baker for fourth.
 
Paul Mulcahy enters the game with 358 assists, eight all-time at RU. He needs nine assists to tie Mike Coburn for seventh.
 
RUTGERS LAST TIME OUT
The Scarlet Knights took a tough loss to Iowa 76-65 at Jersey Mike's Arena on Sunday. Cam Spencer led RU with 13 points, while Caleb McConnell had 12. Rutgers honored the 1983 men's basketball team at halftime. Attendees included John Battle, Chris Remley, Mark Sokolich, Tom Young Jr. and assistant coach Art Perry.
 
ABOUT NORTHWESTERN
Northwestern is coming off of an 84-83 win at No. 15 Indiana on Sunday, improving to 12-3 overall and 3-1 in the Big Ten. Boo Buie posted 26 points, his third game already this season with 25+ points. Chase Audige leads the team at 16.0 points per game, with Buie at 14.7. Audige leads the league in steals (2.8 per game).  
 
The Wildcats are second in the conference in field goal percentage defense (37.5, ninth nationally), scoring defense (58.9, 13^th nationally) and turnover margin (4.7, 15^th nationally), trailing only the Scarlet Knights.