Men’s Basketball Returns Home to Host Northwestern

Sunday, January 11

Piscataway, N.J.

5 PM

Rutgers University

Northwestern

Buy Tickets

Photo by: Ben Solomon

Men’s Basketball Returns Home to Host Northwestern

Jan 09 | Men's Basketball

Watch on Peacock Live Stats Rutgers Game Notes

Sunday's Contest Tips Off at 5 PM on Peacock

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers men's basketball returns back home from the rugged road of the Big Ten this weekend. Following a trip to No. 16 Illinois, the Scarlet Knights are back inside the friendly confides of Jersey Mike's Arena, hosting Northwestern on Sunday at 5 pm on Peacock. The game makes it five of six contests at home, with RU then hitting the road for the next two games, as they will be away from the venue after the Northwestern game until January 23.

About Rutgers

The Scarlet Knights stand at 8-8 overall on the season, returning to Jersey Mike's Arena where they are 7-3 on the year, 18-7 over the past two seasons and 30-12 across the past three years. In their last home game this past Monday, the Scarlet Knights earned a thrilling win in front of the home crowd, overcoming Oregon 88-85 in overtime behind 30 points from Tariq Francis. That was followed by a ranked road loss at No. 16 Illinois.

Rutgers' key statistic has been offensive rebounding, where the team is fifth in the Big Ten with 12.75 offensive boards per game. The Scarlet Knights have three games this season with 18 or more offensive boards. RU center Emmanuel Ogbole is fifth in the Big Ten with 3.06 offensive rebounds per game and has the eighth best offensive rebounding percentage nationally (18.5%, second in the Big Ten).

Tariq Francis averages 21.2 points per game across his past five contests, which includes two 30+ point performances (Penn, Oregon). Francis has taken over the team lead with 14.4 points per game, also leading the team in scoring in conference play as well (13.4 ppg, 3.6 ppg more than the second leading scorer in league play, which is Harun Zrno at 9.8 ppg). Francis shoots 87.3 percent from the free throw line (fifth in the league). That total currently places him in the top-10 in RU history for a single-season, and second best under head coach Steve Pikiell (Cam Spencer, 2022-23, 89.4%).

Darren Buchanan Jr. has come on in conference play as well. He shoots 57.7% from the field in conference games (15-of-26) and is at 50% from behind the three-point line against Big Ten foes. Across the past three games with the return to conference games in 2025, Buchanan has shot 12-of-17 from the field (70.5%)

About the Opponent

Northwestern, who did fell 76-66 on Thursday at Michigan State, stands at 8-7 overall and 0-4 in Big Ten play, having faced Wisconsin, Ohio State, Minnesota and the Spartans in league play thus far. In non-conference play, the Wildcats notably defeated South Carolina at the Greenbrier Tip-off and fell to Virginia and Oklahoma State. On Thursday, the Wildcats got 28 points on 8-of-11 shooting from Nick Martinelli, and led by seven at halftime, but were outscored 76-66.

Chris Collins is in his 13^th season at the helm of the program with over 200 wins and three NCAA Tournament berths, the lone coach to bring the Wildcats to the NCAA Tournament.

Northwestern leads the NCAA in both assist/turnover ratio (2.12) and in turnovers per game (8.6). The team is also on pace for one of the team's best seasons offensively in points per game (79.4) and field goal percentage (48.2%). The 'Cats have scored 70+ points in 13 of 15 games this season

Nick Martinelli, the Big Ten's leading scorer last season, leads the team and is second nationally and first in the Big Ten at 23.4 points per game. He shoots 59.1 from the field and has 11 games this season of 20 or more points. He is averaging 28.2 points per game across the last six games and has the most 20+ points games in the Big Ten over the past two seasons, eight more than second place.

Jayden Reid is fourth in the Big Ten with 5.4 assists per game. A USF transfer who averaged 12.6 points and 3.6 assists last season and was on the AAC All-Freshman team the year before, has dished 84 dimes this year and averages 11.3 points per game.

Arrinten Page, who averaged 3.5 points per game at Cincinnati last season and 3.1 at USC as a freshman, is having a breakout season with career bests in scoring (14.1), rebounding (6.1) and field goal percentage (57.8).

About the Series

Rutgers holds a 9-12 advantage in the all-time series against Northwestern, dating back to 1984. However, Northwestern won nine of the first 10 matchups. Since then, RU has won eight of the past 10 games.

Last season, Ace Bailey led RU to a win over the Wildcats with a stellar shooting night, making 13-of-20 from the field to boost RU with 37 points in a 79-72 win. In 2024, Andre Hyatt (three-pointer with 56 second remaining) and Jeremiah Williams (floater on final possession) secured the win for RU late in a 63-60 win. Williams led RU scorers with 15 points.

With a Win