PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers men's basketball returns home for a late-night tipoff on Wednesday night. The Scarlet Knights will host Minnesota at Jersey Mike's Arena, in an 8:30 pm broadcast on Big Ten Network. Kevin Kugler and Len Elmore have the call for the network.
ABOUT RUTGERS
Rutgers has been propelled by an outstanding defense. The Scarlet Knights are 14-1 when holding its opponent to 65 or fewer points and 6-0 when doing so in Big Ten games.
Offensively, the Scarlet Knights had five players in double figures on Sunday, as the team scored 80+ points in a Big Ten game for the first time since February 5 of last season against Michigan State. The Scarlet Knights have five players averaging between 9.1 and 13.4 points per game.
RUTGERS LAST TIME OUT
The Scarlet Knights suffered a tough loss in Iowa in a 93-82 defeat at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. 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.
Paul Mulcahy had 13 assists, the fourth most in a game in program history and most in a game by a Scarlet Knight since 1995. His career-high in helpers marked the most ever by a RU player in a Big Ten game.
The game against Iowa was the first time RU surrendered 80+ points in a game this year, the last Big Ten team to do so.
THE SERIES
Rutgers and Minnesota have met 15 times previously, with the all-time series in favor of Minnesota, 9-6. Rutgers has won five of the past seven meetings against the Gophers, who claimed a 68-65 win at Williams Arena in the lone meeting last season. RU has won three straight games at home in the series.
WITH A WIN
A victory over Minnesota would represent:
- A 9-3 mark in the past 12 games
- Seventh Big Ten win, the second most league wins of any team
- A 13-2 record at home this season, and 27-5 over the past two seasons at Jersey Mike's Arena.
ABOUT MINNESOTA
Minnesota has struggled to a 7-13 overall mark and are just 1-9 in Big Ten play. The Gophers claimed their lone league win at Ohio State on January 12 and have dropped five straight since then. UM did push Nebraska to overtime and was within four points in close losses against Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana.
The team is led in scoring by Dawson Garcia, who joined the squad after a season at each of Marquette and North Carolina, and now averages 14.9 points per game, while also leading the squad with 6.3 rebounds per game. Jamison Battle is fifth in the league with 2.25 three-pointers per contest.
MILESTONE WATCH
Caleb McConnell needs three steals to tie Rashod Kent for third all-time at RU.
Cliff Omoruyi needs one block to tie Gene Armstead and Kadeem Jack Armstead for 12th all-time at RU in blocks (and reach 100 blocks). He is four blocks behind Sean Axani for 11th and five behind JR Inman for 10th.
Paul Mulcahy needs nine assists to become the 6th Scarlet Knight to reach 400 assists for his career.
Cam Spencer has 53 steals this season. With one more steal he will tie for 16th most in a season at RU, two more will tie him for 15th, and three more will tie him for 11th.
