IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Scarlet Knights suffered a tough loss in Iowa in a 93-82 defeat at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Rutgers jumped out to an early 10-4 lead, controlling play in the paint and on the boards. Iowa battled back to take its first lead at 15-14.

Iowa finished the first half on a 16-5 run, leading 45-34 at the break, as the Hawkeyes made eight three-pointers in the first frame.  

In the second half, junior forward Aundre Hyatt stepped up with a huge spurt for RU. Hyatt made a trio of three-pointers in a two-minute span, and an 9-0 run for RU cut the lead to one point. Iowa then responded with a 9-2 run and were able to hold off the Scarlet Knights.

Rutgers had a balanced scoring attack with five players in double-digits. Hyatt had a team-high 16 points and shot (4-7) from downtown. Junior center Clifford Omoruyi dropped 15 points, had eight rebounds and three blocks. Senior guard Paul Mulcahy had a double-double with 11 points and a career-high 13 assists. Senior guard Cam Spencer had ten points, five rebounds and three assists. Junior forward Mawot Mag had 12 points, seven rebounds and a steal.

Rutgers shot 50 percent from the field (33-for-65) and had 23 team assists good for the best-ever at RU in a Big Ten Conference matchup. RU had 46 points in the paint and outrebounded Iowa 38-35.

Rutgers will return home on Wednesday night to take on Minnesota at Jersey Mike's Arena at 8:30 PM. 
 
Postgame Notes

Cliff Omoruyi 

• Now has 43 blocks on the season, a new career-best 
• Moved ahead of Eugene Dabney for 14^th all-time at RU in blocks (99 blocks in his career) 

Paul Mulcahy  

• Had 11 points and 13 assists, his second career double-double (first of the season)  
• Had a career-high in assists, also the most assists ever for a RU player in a Big Ten game  

Dean Reiber 

• Scored a season-high eight points  

Team

• Rutgers had 23 assists, tying its most-ever in a Big Ten game (previously Jan. 8. 2022 vs. Nebraska)

Postgame Quotes

Head Coach Steve Pikiell

Coach Pikiell opening statement:

"I just want to congratulate Iowa. They played great today. Also, I am happy to see Patrick McCaffery being able to get back playing.  You always want your players to be healthy and happy. They played well. We obviously can't turn the ball over 18 times against a team like this that can score like that. They really had it going. Coach Fran McCaffrey does a great job and they have a lot of weapons. We didn't stop Kris Murray. They got to the free throw line.  We turned the ball over way too many times. We made it a game with eight minutes left, bringing it to a one-point game. We were fighting the entire game."

Coach Pikiell on Aundre Hyatt recent improvements scoring the ball:

"He can score. He made some shots for us. He kind of got us back into it. Paul (Mulcahy) with 13 assists kept clawing there for us. Paul gets a double-double. We had plenty of points in this game, but you can't go on the road and give up 90 points to a really good basketball team. Aundre (Hyatt) has been playing well for us and we need him to continue that for us."

Coach Pikiell on Iowa scoring 93 points:

"A lot went right for them obviously. We can't turn the ball over like that in the start of the game.  It was a bad pattern. 18 turnovers are a season-high for us. We don't turn the ball over like that and it's more opportunities for them and then they go to the free throw line, which is one of their strengths. We got to defend the ball without fouling. They can pass the ball and they have really good players."  

Coach Pikiell on how difficult Iowa was to defend with Ahron Elis:

"He is another good player. They have a lot of guys. I thought we did a good job on their post player (Filip) Rebraca, who is a good player who had his way with us in the first game. They have a lot of weapons and obviously we turned the ball over extra times, but we shot 50 percent for the game and just couldn't score."



Coach Pikiell on Iowa being the only team to score more than 75 points on them:

"They score against everybody. They average 81 points-per-game, that's what they do. You have to do a really good job of holding them ten points under their average. That's what our goal was and obviously when you turn the ball over the way that we did, that isn't going to help our mission. You look at the free throw line and there are a lot of extra points on the free throw line.  29 free throws to our ten, so there are 19 points right there. We have to defend them without fouling. That's what they do and when we play them when we have any success against them, is when we really do a great job defensively. We didn't defend well in transition and just didn't have it there."   

Coach Pikiell on Dean Reiber's play off the bench:

"Dean (Reiber), there's a guy that I know could play. Today was a good situation for him to get in there and he's got to be ready to do that and I have a lot of confidence in him. He played really good basketball today and we're going to need him against Minnesota."

Coach Pikiell on matchups and mismatches:

"We're kind of a versatile team, too. We have got good size. They have really good offensive players, and you have to take something away. We thought we did a great job, last time we played him Sanfordt hurt us, and Kris Murray had an unbelievable night. They have a lot of guys. (Ahron) Ulis is playing well. (Tony) Perkins is always able to score, so you have to be on top of your game defensively because they make you pay. The way they share the basketball and the way they pass it. It's like every team in the league has some good matchups and some bad matchups, and they have a lot of good offensive players."

Coach Pikiell on the remaining games of the season:

"We're good. We're good. You want to win every game, but this league isn't built that way. When we're focused and when our defenses is where it needs to be, and when we defend without fouling (we are a good team). We shared the game today with 23 assists and shot over 50 percent. If we could eliminate the turnovers, maybe it would've been a little different, but I love our fight. We'd never back down. We're down 11 at half and we get this thing to a one-point game with eight minutes left. There weren't a lot of good things going for us. We had a lot of guys in foul trouble. We had a lot of obstacles here and obviously; Iowa was an obstacle because they're playing really good basketball at home. They're good. I like this team a lot."