Rutgers men's basketball's 4-game win streak snapped at No. 5 Purdue
The Rutgers men’s basketball team’s four-game winning streak came to an end this evening in an 84-72 loss to Purdue at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Indiana. The Scarlet Knights (16-10, 10-6) dropped their first game to the No. 5 Boilermakers (24-4, 13-4) since January 2019.
The beginning of the game saw Purdue start red-hot from the field, jumping out to an early lead off several three-pointers and easy baskets. After a three-pointer from Trevion Williams with 11:55 remaining in the first half, the Boilermakers led 24-15.
After that point over the next 7 minutes of game action, Rutgers would outscore Purdue 16-8 to bring it to a 1-point deficit. One of the highlights of this stretch was a monster dunk from sophomore center Clifford Omoruyi over 7-foot-4-inch Zach Edey.
The Knights would maintain a one-possession deficit for the next few minutes, but would never take the lead.
The last 2 minutes of the first half is when the game changed. The Boilermakers would outscore Rutgers 9-1 over those last 2 minutes to take a 45-36 lead into halftime. During that time frame, Omoruyi picked up a rare technical foul which resulted in two Purdue free throws.
The Boilermakers would only expand their lead in the opening minutes of the second half, turning a 9-point halftime lead into a 20-point second-half lead. This was done on an 11-0 run to start the half which was a part of a wider 20-1 Purdue run over the last 2 minutes of the first half and first 5 minutes of the second half.
The Knights would ultimately never recover from this deficit caused by this run and would not get the game below double-digits the rest of the way. By the time the Boilermakers stopped and expanded on a Rutgers run which got the lead down to 11 with 5:33 to go, Purdue was well on its way to victory.
A key to the Boilermakers’ success was their ability to get to the free throw line. Purdue would shoot 24 free throws for 82.8 percent. As a result of the repeated trips to the line, senior guard Caleb McConnell and junior guard Paul Mulcahy fouled out in the final minutes of the game.
The Boilermakers also finished the game shooting 53.1 percent from the field and 36.4 percent on threes.
“They got to the free throw line, so that slows down the transition game a ton. And we gave up a high percentage,” said head coach Steve Pikiell after the game. “It’s hard to run on makes … we still scored 72 points, plenty of points to win the game. But they’re an elite offensive team, and you got to do a better job.”
Four players scored in double-figures for the Knights led by Mulcahy with 15 points. Omouryi had 14 points and tied McConnell for a team-high six rebounds. Mulcahy also turned in a game-high six assists.
Senior guard Ron Harper Jr., who was injured at the end of the win over No. 12 Illinois, scored 12 points while senior guard Geo Baker scored 11 points on 38.5 percent shooting. Sophomore forward Dean Reiber led all bench scorers with 8 points.
In the winning effort, Jaden Ivey scored a game-high 25 points and hit 15 of his 18 free throw attempts. Edey scored 15 points, grabbed a game-high seven rebounds and had two blocks while Williams had 11 points, four rebounds and four assists off the bench.
Rutgers will head back out on the road to face Michigan on Wednesday. The game will tip off at 7 p.m. and will be broadcasted on the Big Ten Network and 88.7 WRSU-FM.
“We got a lot of basketball left,” Pikiell said. “But this team has been tough. They’ve been easy to coach, they’re really great … They prepare, even tonight we fought until the end. We’ve done a lot of firsts, and hopefully, we got a lot more going down the road here.”
For updates on the Rutgers men's basketball team, follow @TargumSports on Twitter.
