Rutgers men's basketball puts on defensive clinic in win over Iowa
The Rutgers men’s basketball team defeated Iowa 48-46 on Wednesday night in a tight, defensive battle. The Scarlet Knights (11-6, 5-2) improve to 5-2 in the Big Ten, 11-1 at home and 4-0 at home in conference play.
The game was tight and low-scoring throughout, with the largest lead of the first half being 5 points. Rutgers shot 33.3 percent in the first half while the Hawkeyes (13-5, 3-4) shot 29.41 percent.
When the first half was all said and done, after a last-second layup for Iowa was taken off the scoreboard, the Hawkeyes led 27-24.
Coming out of the halftime break, Iowa immediately opened up an 8 point lead off baskets from Jordan Bohannon and Keegan Murray. The Knights responded to this and never fell behind farther than 8 points the rest of the way.
For the final 17 minutes of the game, Rutgers would only allow 4 field goals for the rest of the game. This included a stretch where the Hawkeyes did not make a field goal for nearly 10 minutes of game time.
The air-tight defense on both sides led to a one-score game with less than a minute to play. After Patrick McCaffery converted a layup to tie the game with 27 seconds to go, the Knights settled in for a chance at the final shot.
Senior guard Ron Harper Jr. would be denied a chance to take the final shot as he was instead fouled by Murray with approximately 2 seconds left on the clock. Harper then stepped up to the free-throw line and buried 2 free throws to secure the win for Rutgers.
“We got a good call, you know, I thought he fouled me. And just going up there at the foul line with the game on the line, this is what I came here to do,” Harper said after the game. “My teammates trust me to come through in the big moments and make those foul shots.”
The Knights held their opponent to several season-lows in the win. Iowa came into tonight’s game as the No. 1 scoring team in the Big Ten and was held to a season-low in points. It was also the first time the Hawkeyes were held to less than 50 points since March 2019.
“I just thought these guys willed us a win, old-fashioned,” said head coach Steve Pikiell. “From start to finish, I thought we had some makeable shots. We just couldn’t seem to find the bottom of the net on some of those possessions, but we figured out a way to win.”
Harper finished as the game’s leading scorer with 15 points and five rebounds. Sophomore center Clifford Omoruyi dominated the boards, ending the contest with a game-high 14 rebounds to go along with 7 points. Junior guard Paul Mulcahy led in the assists department with seven on the game.
Rutgers finished the game shooting 31 percent compared to 27.9 percent for Iowa. The Knights were the victors in the rebounding category, holding a 49-38 advantage in the win. Rutgers also accumulated 10 blocks, tying a season-high.
Murray finished as the Hawkeyes’ leading scorer and rebounder with 13 points and 13 rebounds. McCaffery joined him in double-figures with 11 points. Bohannon, who is Iowa’s leading three-point shooter, finished with 6 points and was 2-10 from long distance.
Pending their next opponent’s clearance from coronavirus disease (COVID-19) protocols, the Knights will hit the road to take on Minnesota on Saturday afternoon. The game is scheduled to tip off at noon and will be broadcasted on the Big Ten Network and 88.7 WRSU-FM.
“Again, just found a way to get stops and really as good of a defensive effort as you’ll see,” Pikiell said. “The home crowd, too, was tremendous. I can’t say that enough. The crowd was terrific from start to finish.”
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