PISCATAWAY, N.J. - It was an uncharacteristic night at Jersey Mike's Arena on Tuesday night for the Scarlet Knights.

The Nebraska Cornhuskers were the first team all season to shoot over 50 percent from the field against Rutgers to pull away with the 82-72 win. Nebraska was only the third team to better their season average in scoring against RU this season and the first to do so at Jersey Mike's Arena. Nebraska's 12 three-pointers tied both the Huskers' season-high and the most allowed by the Scarlet Knights this season.  

Rutgers got out to an early 8-2 lead, but Nebraska battled back. The teams went back-and-forth before the visitors finished on an 8-2 run for a five-point lead at the break. The Huskers shot 65.4 percent in the opening frame, so despite Aundre Hyatt posting 13 points in the first half, RU trailed 40-35 at the break. Hyatt finished with a career-high of 24 points and drilled five-of-nine three pointers on the night. Senior point guard Paul Mulcahy had double-digit assists (12) for the third time in his career. 

Junior center Clifford Omoruyi had his 11^th double-double this season and sixth in last nine games with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Fifth-year wing Caleb McConnell became the third RU player to reach 200 career steals with four steals on the night. McConnell now has 203 steals and is 17 away from tying Eddie Jordan for first in RU history in steals. 

Nebraska started slow in the second half (1-of-7 from the floor), but then rallied to take a 58-49 lead. The Huskers stretched their lead to 12 and continued to hold off the Scarlet Knights for a 10-point win. Nebraska was led by a team-high 22 points from guard Keisei Tominaga. He made eight shots and four from downtown, Forward Derrick Walker made eight of his ten shots and scored 16 points. Guard C.J. Wilcher hit five threes and finished with 17 points. 

Freshman Derek Simpson had 10 points, his second time reaching double-digit scoring against a Big Ten team. Rutgers (16-10, 8-7) is back in action on Saturday at Wisconsin at noon.



Postgame Quotes

Rutgers Head Coach Steve Pikiell
 
Opening Statement:

"I appreciate you guys for being here. As always, I want to thank our crowd. The crowd was great today. I want to congratulate Nebraska. Fred (Hoiberg) has got them playing at a really high level. These guys are playing great. They were better than us today. It's on me. I got to get us to play Rutgers defense. Certainly, we didn't tonight. I think is the first time we've given up over 50 percent for the game in a long time. They made some tough shots. They made it hard for us. I thought we had some chances too, but turnovers, missing free throws, and layups (cost us). They didn't give us a point. We had an opportunity to kind of turn the tide, but defensively, it's on me. I am very disappointed in how we defended. I have got to do a better job. I have got to make sure we get back to playing the kind of defense that we need to play in a great league against some really good shooting teams."
 
Pikiell on the full court pressing Tuesdsay night:

"We've been pressing all year long, and then when you're down, you have to try and get the ball back, but we've been a pressing team all season. I thought it wasn't our press that hurt us when we got back into half court. They really did a good job. Anytime we made a mistake (they took advantage). They hit a bomb three and they really moved the ball. It's credit to Nebraska how they played. They made it tough on us and when we made a mistake defensively, we had to pay. We did okay there, but once we got into half court, they really had their way with us."
 
Pikiell on Rutgers' defense tonight:

"They took advantage of mistakes, I got to give them credit. They hit some bombs. They hit some highly contested shots too. They did have some open ones. They're playing well. I think sometimes as a team, you're in that kind of groove. They were hitting shots. They got to set some back door cuts. They got us on some post ups. It wasn't just the three that hurt us. (It was) 82 points. We haven't given up that in a long time. I've got to give them credit. They have to make those shots too. When we didn't make mistakes they made some big plays over the top of us."
 
Pikiell on how losing Mawot Mag impacts team's defensive success:

Anytime you lose anybody, at this time of year, (it hurst). He's a starter. He's a really good defender, so he gave us another guy that could guard multiple positions. That was his strength. We've got enough though. We've got enough guys, Aundre (Hyatt) played well. I think that was his career high. Congratulations to Aundre on that. We scored enough points. I am just really down on myself. We have got to defend and it's on me 100 percent. These guys got a lot of season left. We've got to get that back, because that's what we do."
 
Pikiell on the offensive struggles in the low post:

"Yeah, I mean Cliff (Omoruyi) was five-for-seven from the floor. He had 13 points and 12 rebounds. But that's what they do, they swarm the ball. They did a pretty good job at that, and they always do. We were well prepared for that. We had 18 assists in the game, so we kicked it out and got the ball moving. We were able to do some good things, but again, 82 points, that's the story. 82 points is a lot of points."
 
Pikiell on having four days to prepare for Wisconsin and preventing another loss:

"Yeah,  you better in this league. I don't care who you are. We played three-straight road games, and we finally got a home game here. Now we're back on the road. So, it's a four out of five game stretch on the road. So, it's not easy. Wisconsin, as you know, is one of the toughest places to play in the league. We got to play better defense. These guys have done it before. I have a lot of belief in these guys, and I have faith we'll prepare well. We'll go to Wisconsin and play on the road.
 
Pikiell on Michigan State:

"My thoughts and prayers to Michigan State and what they're going through in East Lansing. I just want to say that, too. We said a quick prayer today for all those victims and what they are going through at Michigan State. It's a great university and great people. I feel awful for that whole situation."
 
Nebraska Head Coach Fred Hoiberg
 
Opening Statement:

"We really prepare for pressure. That's what they do. They're one of the best at getting their hands on balls, getting deflections, creating turnovers, and we knew they would be aggressive coming off a road trip and being back home. The first five minutes were very important. They got off to a good start and they were hitting shots early. C.J. Wilcher got us off to a great start too, and was hitting his threes and keeping us right there. That is what I thought allowed us to stay competitive for 40 minutes. We're kind of rotating that fifth spot around, but I thought the game C.J. had was terrific. He was a little careless at first, and he did some things you just can't do against this Rutgers team. We knew (Paul) Mulcahy, (Cam) Spencer, and Cliff (Omoruyi) would all be challenging, but I thought overall we played with great poise and we got our young guys out there even when it was loud. I just thought that we really played with a great poise and that allowed us to win".
 
Hoiberg on Nebraska's high three-point percentage:

"We didn't want to let their pressure get us on our heels and we felt that we really wanted to attack and get out quick with good looks. This defense is so good and we didn't know how many chances we would get to have good looks, but when you have press like that, you have to look up the floor, and you have to attack. A couple times we dribbled right over the sideline. Especially when they came from behind and tried to trap us, but I thought we had great spacing with C.J. and Keisi (Tominaga), and I thought Derek (Walker) was terrific as well. We didn't want the crowd to get to us so we made simple plays, and for the most part I thought we did a great job".
 
Hoiberg on challenges of away environment:

"Yeah, this place is awesome. What Steve (Pikiell) has done here is awesome. I just love his demeanor, his approach, and the confidence he puts in his players. They played so hard for him and we wanted to come out and give ourselves a chance. We have not responded great after big wins. We just had a great comeback against Wisconsin and the last two days have been big with mental preparation. I wanted to save our guys legs as much as possible. You have to do that, but we got it going at the right time, we attacked the basket, and we hit a variety of very difficult shots. Overall, though, in this building you have to play with poise. With multiple freshmen out there, for those guys to go out there playing through adversity and making great plays, that's what it's all about".
 
Hoiberg on C.J. Wilcher big performance:

"Yeah it is great to see anytime you play in front of your family and friends like C.J. did.  He had a ton of people in the stands watching and I am really happy for C.J.  He has been absolutely shooting the heck out of the ball in practice and I told our staff that C.J. was going to have a game where he hits five threes. I should have said seven because he had two going into half. But, he did so many good things out there on the court for us. Not only offensively, but I thought he competed on the other end as well. It was good to see him get going like that. Hopefully that can give him some confidence here down the stretch. He was terrific in the game and got us off to a great start.  
 
Hoiberg on the defense against Clifford Omoruyi in the post:

"It really is what we do. We double team most times when the ball goes into the post.  Last game against Wisconsin we had to go to a more one on one situation but Cliff is really good down there especially if he has a good angle.   We were coming from the base line side and I thought we had good activity.  We had good hands and got pressure and thought we did a good job of getting our weak side high and rotating out of it.  Hyatt give him credit he really got it going for Rutgers and hit some tough shots.  We were right there just needed to get a little higher.  But I thought we did a solid job on Spencer.  The double teams always had to know where he was.  But the thing I was pleased with was that we were physical with their double teams.  We had good hands and that forced a looping pass and we were able to rotate out of it.  Our double teams were much better than they had been the last couple of games.  And then we switched up defenses that is where we are right now with this team.  2 of our best defenders and two of the guys who really gave us our defensive identity this year with Gray not being on the floor.  It is just who we are right now we have to change defenses and I thought the guys executed well.  
 
Hoiberg on the loss of Mawot Mag:

"Yeah, (Mawot) Mag is a hell of a player. But (Aundre) Hyatt was pretty darn good tonight in his place. Anytime you have a key guy out that is a starter (it hurts). I think he started all 14 games he played in. But anytime you take an important piece like that out of the lineup. it just shifts roles. We have had to deal with that as much as anybody with the key injuries we had, but you just have to find a way to play through them.  This team will bounce back in a big way. There is no doubt that they have so much experience and length and toughness. This team will be back in a big way."