PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Having won three of its past four games, No. 24 Rutgers men's basketball has a two-game road swing this week. The week starts Tuesday night with a game at No. 18/18 Indiana.
The game will be on BTN with Dave Revsine and Stephen Bardo on the call, with Andy Katz patrolling the sidelines. Ralph Bednarczyk and Austin Johnson will provide the radio call for 880 AM.
THE SERIES
Rutgers and Indiana will meet for the 16th time, with RU leading the series, 8-7. RU has ran its winning streak against the Hoosiers to six straight and eight of the past nine games.
Earlier this season, the Scarlet Knights earned a 15-point home win over then-ranked No. 8/10 Indiana. RU went on a 19-0 run in the second half fueled by an 8-0 run by true freshman guard
Derek Simpson to blow past the Hoosiers in the second half behind a sold-out crowd in Piscataway.That run erased Indiana's final lead of the game and turned it into a double-digit lead that the home team would hang on to. The last time at Assembly Hall,
Ron Harper Jr. drilled a three-pointer with 2.1 seconds left on the clock for a 66-63 victory.
WITH A WIN
A victory at Assembly Hall would represent:
- An 11-3 mark in the past 14 games
- Ninth Big Ten win, the second most league wins of any team
- Seven straight wins versus IU
- Wins in nine of the past 10 games against the Hoosiers
- Third ranked win this season (3-1 record, with lone loss by one-point at No. 23 Ohio State).
- 16th ranked win under
Steve Pikiell
- Fifth true road ranked win in past 22 seasons, four of which would be under
Steve Pikiell.
- Prior to the 2018-2019 season, RU only had four true road ranked wins in program history. A win at No. 18 IU would give RU four ranked wins in true road games over the past six seasons.
Over the past two seasons, RU is 5-9 on the road in Big Ten play and has eight Big Ten road wins in the past three seasons. Prior to that, RU won just five Big Ten road games in the first five seasons as a league member.
ABOUT RUTGERS
Rutgers has been propelled by an outstanding defense. The Scarlet Knights are 16-1 when holding its opponent to 65 or fewer points and 8-0 when doing so in Big Ten games. Rutgers has allowed 65 points or fewer in all but 3 games this year.
RUTGERS LAST TIME OUT
Senior point guard
Paul Mulcahy came on in the second half to lead Rutgers to a 61-55 victory over Michigan State at Madison Square Garden on Sunday. Mulcahy scored eight of the Scarlet Knights' last 15 points to help secure the win. The guard finished with 17 points, three assists and two rebounds. Mulcahy added three steals and shot 4-for-7 from the field. The RU defense held the Spartans to a season-low 55 points.
ABOUT INDIANA
IU is coming off a court-storming victory as they joined the Scarlet Knights as just the second team to defeat No. 1 Purdue this season. The Hoosiers come in at No. 18 in this week's AP Poll, and will be the first ranked opponent for RU in a 10-game span since downing No. 1 Purdue on January 2. The Scarlet Knights are 2-1 against ranked teams this year.
The Hoosiers are fifth nationally in field goal percentage and 8th in blocks. Trayce Jackson-Davis is third nationally in blocks and sixth in rebounds, while third in the league at 19.8 points per game.
MILESTONE WATCH
Cliff Omoruyi has 103 career blocks, needing one more to tie or two to pass JR Inman for 10th in blocks all-time at RU.
Cam Spencer has 54 steals this season, needing one to tie for 15th, two to tie for 11th and four to tie for ninth on RU's single-season leaderboard.
