PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers men's basketball has been revitalized by a recent three-game winning streak and will look to keep that going on Thursday night, welcoming Northwestern to Jersey Mike's Arena. The contest against the Wildcats, who enter the week in third place in the league standings, tips off at 6:30 p.m. on Big Ten Network.
Rutgers is riding a three-game winning streak entering this matchup, having earned back-to-back road wins at Michigan and then at Maryland, and finally bringing it back home for a dominant performance in a 78-56 win over No. 9/11 Wisconsin. The streak marks the first time in program history that RU has won three straight conference games, with at least two of them coming on the road and at least one ranked win. It is the first overall three-game conference winning streak since February of 2022 and the first three-plus game conference winning streak with at least two road wins since 2021.
Rutgers' defense has been on point, holding opponents to 56.0 points per game over the past three contests, with a scoring margin of +11.7. In that span, RU has an advantage of +3.3 on the boards and +5.0 in turnovers. Over the past week of action RU had the nation's best field goal percentage defense (32.1%) and was No. 4 in blocks (7.5 bpg), No. 7 in scoring defense (54.5) and No. 8 in 3-point % defense (17.9%) - first in the Big Ten in all of those categories. Rutgers' 56.0 ppg against over the past three-games was the best three-game defensive stretch in Big Ten play since Jan. 24-31, 2021, a stretch that included RU's Big Ten defensive record of 37 points against Michigan State.
Jeremiah Williams has been the catalyst behind this recent streak, with the Scarlet Knights holding a 3-0 record since the veteran was deemed eligible, as he has stabilized the backcourt. He was named the Big Ten Player of the Week after averaging 16.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists over the two wins last week. Williams has scored in double-figures in all three of his games, and in his short time on the floor is the team's current leader in scoring average, including a 10-of-10 mark at the free throw line.
The 22-point victory over the Badgers was the largest ever margin of victory over a ranked opponent in program history and it marked the third time under coach Pikiell with a 20+ point win over a ranked foe (20-point win over No. 22 Seton Hall, 2019, 21-point win over No. 13 Michigan State, 2022). Rutgers' first ranked win of the season was the program's 16
th ranked win over the past six seasons, and the team earned its sixth Big Ten ranked home win since 2021-22, second most in the league in that span.
Cliff Omoruyi had a near-triple-double performance against Wisconsin with 13 points, 13 rebounds and eight blocks. He became the sixth Scarlet Knight all-time to reach 200 career blocks and passed his previous career-best with 74 blocks on the season, vaulting into the top-10 all-time at RU in a single-season. It marked his 9
th game this year with at least four blocks and third time with at least seven blocks. Omoruyi is the only Big Ten player since 1999-2000 to have at least eight blocks in multiple conference games in the same season and is just one of two Big Ten players since 2010 to have at least 13 points, 13 rebounds, eight blocks and an assist in a game.
Noah Fernandes also provided a spark off the bench for RU in the win over UW. After scoring just five combined points in the previous four games, he made a season-high five three pointers, shooting 5-of-5 from distance, and totaled 17 points, tying his largest output in a Big Ten game.
Boosted by Fernandes' sharpshooting, Rutgers made 10-of-17 three-pointers against Wisconsin, shooting 58.8 percent from three-point distance. It was RU's best three-point shooting performance against a Big Ten team since making 62.5% from 3-point range against Wisconsin on Jan. 5, 2018. Three out of four of RU's best ever three-point shooting games in Big Ten play have come against the Badgers.
Mawot Mag also added 12 points for RU. It was his third straight game with at least 12 points and has scored double-figures in eight of the past 11 games. 6-foot-10 center
Emmanuel Ogbole has also played in three contests and seen a 3-0 record, averaging 8.0 minutes and 2.7 rebounds in providing RU with good size off the bench.
Northwestern, receiving votes in both the AP Poll and Coaches Poll, and the fourth highest ranked Big Ten team in those polls, enters the matchup with a 17-7 overall record and 8-5 league mark. The Wildcats open the week tied for the second most wins both overall and in conference play among Big Ten teams.
NU started the season with a 7-1 record, including an overtime win over No. 1 Purdue, with the only loss in that early stretch to mutual opponent Mississippi State. The Wildcats rose to as good as 12-3, 3-1 in league play, and have gone 5-4 in the nine league games since. They are the only league team to beat both Purdue and Illinois thus far. Both of those wins came at home, where Northwestern is 13-1 this season, but holds just a 2-5 away record.
As a team, Northwestern takes great care of the ball, ranking eighth nationally (first in the Big Ten) with just 9.1 turnovers per contest. They are also second in the league in turnover margin (4.4), and sixth nationally plus second in the league in assist/turnover ration (1.79) and three-point percentage (39.5%).
Fifth-year guard Boo Buie, who is set to play in his 140
th game as a Wildcat, leads the team at 18.8 points per game (fourth in the Big Ten) and 130 assists (third in the league). Brooks Barnhizer also contributes 14.5 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. Ryan Langborg is at 12-0 points per game, his third straight year averaging in double-figures after playing three seasons in the Garden State with Princeton.
Rutgers is currently 7-12 all-time against Northwestern in a series that dates back to 1984. Since Rutgers started the series 1-9, Rutgers has won six of the past eight games against the Wildcats after the two teams split the season series last year, with the road team winning each game.
With a victory, Rutgers would
- Have won seven of the past nine against Northwestern.
- Have a four-game winning streak for the second time this season.
- Have a four-game conference winning streak for the first time since grabbing four straight ranked wins on Feb. 5-16, 2022.
- Have consecutive wins against top-3 teams in the league standings.
- Improve to 11-3 this season at home, 25-9 over the past two seasons, 34-13 over the past three seasons and 53-14 over the past four seasons.
Cliff Omoruyi (1,170 career points) is 7 points from 26
th all-time at RU (Jamal Phillips, 1,177) and 10 points from 25
th (Doug Patton, 1,180).
Omoruyi (475 career field goals) is 4 makes from 19
th (Jeff Greer, 479) and 9 field goals from 18
th (Bucky Hatchett, 484).
Omoruyi (74 blocks this season) is 4 blocks from matching the 8
th most blocks in a single-season at RU (Gregory Echenique, 78 in 2008-09 and Roy Hinson, 78 in 1981-82).
Rutgers will go back on the road. The Scarlet Knights play at Minnesota (Sunday, February 18, 6:30 pm) and then at No. 2 Purdue (Thursday, February 22, 7 pm).
