MADISON, WI – The Scarlet Knights secured their third road win of the season in the final moments at the Kohl Center on Saturday.

A dunk and a put back finish from center Clifford Omoruyi and forward Aundre Hyatt respectively gave RU a one-point lead after trailing by three points with just over a minute to play.

Rutgers had an impressive defensive stand on the final possession to secure the 58-57 win.

The Scarlet Knights defense was on fire throughout the game, holding the Badgers to 33 percent from the field. Wisconsin was held eight points under their season average (65 points) and the Scarlet Knights defended to hold them to 1-for-7 to finish the game.

The win marked back-to-back victories at the Kohl Center, the first two in school history.

Senior guard Cam Spencer made his first six shots, with five of them coming from downtown. Spencer shots 7-for-14 from the field and had a game-high 22 points.

Paul Mulcahy's six assists moved him into a tie for fourth place on RU's all-time assist list with Geoff Billett (428).
 
Fifth-year wing Caleb McConnell was a game-time scratch (back) after coming off the court during warmups.

The Scarlet Knights are back in action at home on Thursday against Michigan at 8:30 PM.



Game Notes

Wisconsin averaged 65.0 points per game.

RU has now held 24 of its 27 opponents to date under their scoring average entering the game. RU has held eight of those opponents to a to­tal that is 20+ points below their average and 18 to 10+ points below their average.

The Scarlet Knights are now 17-1 when holding its opponent to 65 or fewer points and 9-0 when doing so in Big Ten games.
 

Postgame Quotes

Opening Statement:

"First of all, the Kohl Center is always a tough place to play. Coach Gaard does an unbelievable job and the way they play and how connected they are. This was a tough game. But we are lucky to get it on the road. Our defense came back. We haven't been playing Rutgers defense the last few games, but I am proud of our guys. We were down a couple guys and everyone checked in and did some great things but just another Big Ten grind."
 
Pikiell on when he found out McConnell wouldn't ready to play:
 
"Right before the game I found out. His back just went out on him and he couldn't walk. It was during warmups right before tip off. So that's when we knew. We've lost Mawot Mag for the season and now we were down Caleb McConnell, who I think is the best defender in the country. The next guy was ready. Oskar Palmquist hasn't played a lot of minutes and gave us 18 really good minutes. Dean Reiber and everyone chipped in and you needed that in a game like this against a really good Wisconsin team."
 
Pikiell on switching all the screens against Connor Essegian

 "They have a lot of weapons. So it starts with their post guys who do a really good job trying to limit their touches, quite honestly. Connor Essegian is having a great season playing at a high level. He's an elite shooter obviously just wanted to make sure you didn't get any clean looks as best as you can.  It is hard to do because they got a lot of other good players too. We were fortunate to do that today but their post guys are what you know always concern you and they always have three point shooters so if it's not him other guys stepped up and McGee was great and he picked up the pace and help them but they have a lot of weapons from three point land when we were trying to make it difficult for them"
 
Pikiell on Wisconsin's run in the second half:
 
"They were making some shots. We weren't surprised about that. There's a lot of runs in this league, but our defense has been locked in. Today, to hold them 33 percent for the game, is a really good number. They're very good shooting the ball. We knew they would go on runs but you count on your defense to make some stops, huge stop at the end there. Cliff gets involved, gets a block, out rebounds, finished up the game on that end of the floor. It's always a low scoring game when you play Wisconsin. They're really good at controlling the clock and they never turn the ball over. Very difficult team to prepare for in a couple of days. Then when the defensive player of the year isn't available that makes it a little more challenging." 
 
Pikiell on the team's emphasis on scoring in the paint down the stretch:
 
"We did a really good job of getting the ball inside and trying to get Cliff (Omoruyi), Cliff (Omoruyi) was very active. I couldn't take him out of the game tonight. But he did a lot of good things for us. He was able to finish. We had a couple other plays too that we didn't finish that I thought were good looks, down the stretch, just had enough to win, very thankful on the road and a tough place to play."