Box Score MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - The Scarlet Knights took a tough loss in Minneapolis on Thursday night.

RU surrendered a 10-point lead with 1:15 remaining on the clock. Golden Gophers forward Jameson Battle hit a game-winning buzzer-beater as the horn sounded to give Minnesota the 75-74 victory. 

Rutgers was carried by a stellar night from senior guard Cam Spencer (21 points) and a career-high from junior center Clifford Omouryi (23 points). 

Spencer made his first four shots from the field and Omoruyi had his 13th double-double of the season.

The Scarlet Knights return home with a chance to finish up the season (12-8) in the Big Ten for the second-consecutive season. RU hosts Northwestern at 7:30 PM at Jersey Mike's Arena for the team's Senior Night. Caleb McConnell will play his final game in Piscataway and Paul Mulcahy, Aundre Hyatt, Andrew Fulin and Oskar Palmquist will walk in a pregame ceremony with their families.
   
Postgame Quotes
 
Rutgers Head Coach Steve Pikiell
 
 Opening Statement:
 
"Obviously, it was a very difficult game. I knew this would be a difficult game and we didn't finish it off. We had turnovers, some missed free throws, some bad block outs, and just didn't finish. It's a very difficult way to end, but I wanted to congratulate Minnesota. They've been hanging around in all their games and Ben (Johnson's) done a good job. He has a ton of injuries that they're healthy now. It's just a tough one on the road and we had our chances, obviously, but you have to finish it off and we didn't. 
 
On the defensively struggles behind the 3-point line:
 
"Yeah, they obviously hit 11 threes. I mean, we scored plenty of points today. It's been kind of what we've done sometimes in games when we score points, we just don't defend the way we're supposed to. I'm very disappointed in our defense and they got open.  Jameson Battle had one of those nights for them too.  We were really concerned with him. He was a main focus. We had two great days of prep. I thought we were very prepared. We just didn't finish the game. We missed the free throws when we needed to and we didn't get big stops. They got that last possession and I have no idea what happened with the clock or any of that stuff, but he made that three. 
 
On the message to the locker room after a loss like that:
Yeah you got a group in there that's worked really hard. They had chances here, but this is how it is in this league you better get ready for the next game and you still have a few more games left here down the stretch. We don't have a lot of time. We got to get ready for Northwestern. We have got to bounce back. Penn State did the other day. They bounced back, and we have to do the same thing." 
 
On difficulties getting the ball up the court down the stretch:
 
"I thought Aundre (Hyatt) had the ball and I don't know why he turned around and threw the ball backwards. We just didn't handle that well. Then when we got to the free throw line, you kind of got to make those free throws, down the stretch, but we didn't do that and then we had a bad block out there where they got two extra points. They did what they needed to down the stretch. We kind of didn't make the free throws or the stops. We could have done either or, and we didn't do either." 
 
On recent loses impacting Rutgers in the tournament:
 
"At the end of the year they decide who goes to the tournament. I always tell you that. They don't do it after every game. I know everyone likes to talk about it after every game. But we've done a lot of good things. We lost this game by one point with a few seconds left. We lost the Ohio State game the same way. We have ten wins in this league. We have 18 wins overall.
I'm not worried about those things. It's great, everyone else can talk about it. We've got to get ready for Northwestern."
 
On Caleb McConnell's fall:
 
"He's not feeling great right now. He took a bad fall. They viewed it and said it wasn't excessive, but he's tough. He's tough."
 
On not being able to maintain the lead down the stretch:
 
"Just our defense. Again, this team averages 60 points. We do a great job and pride ourselves. We scored 74 points, which is plenty of points. If we made a couple more free throws we could have got to 80. We just couldn't get those timely stops down the stretch and there's no lead in this league especially the way they were shooting threes tonight. That's their best three-point shooting night. We're one of the better three point shooting defensive teams in the country. We just didn't finish the job tonight. I would say that even if the clock had run out before he took the three, we just didn't defend the way we need to defend on kind of a consistent basis."
 
On uncharismatic veteran mistakes down the stretch and if it's due to mental fatigue: 
 
"This was our toughest stretch in the history since I've been here. Six games away from Jersey Mike's (Arena) out of eight. I've never played a tougher stretch. The guys had been tired, and we lost Mawot (Mag) in the middle of this. Those are good players and I trust them. I trust them at the end the games to make good decisions. They've made a lot of good decisions this year. We've won a lot of close games. Just today it didn't go our way and, you got to deserve to win and you got to finish the game. We didn't finish the game. We have to get ready quickly here for our senior night. I want everyone to show up, these guys deserve it. They've done a lot for our program. We're at 18 wins right now. That's what we won last year with Geo (Baker) and Ron Harper (Jr.). Hopefully, everyone shows up and appreciates what these guys have done. I know today's a tough day. It's an awful day for me, but we move forward quickly and do better in this league."
 
On if tonight's tough loss was the worst:
 
"No. I've had a lot of tough losses.. Ohio State was a tough one, too. We've had a lot of tough losses, and we've had some great wins too. But no, actually, I like how we played. I liked how our offense (played). We scored, we passed the ball. We had 19 assists. We got back to that. Cliff (Omoruyi) had a career-high, and we got him the ball. But, I didn't like how we defended. We came here last year and Minnesota had a depleted crew, and they made a lot of threes last year, too. We got to get off the mat and get ready. We got a lot of season left, then we got the next season — the Big Ten tournament. Anyone could win that thing, and then season after that."