Rutgers men's basketball suffers defeat against Nebraska
The Rutgers men’s basketball team fell to Nebraska 82-72 yesterday night. The Scarlet Knights' (16-10, 8-7) woes continued as they suffered their third straight loss and now have a 2-3 record in February.
Rutgers started the first half strong and took a quick 8-2 lead in the first 2 minutes. From that point on, the Cornhuskers (13-14, 6-10) slowly chipped away at the Knights' lead and with 6:29 left in the half, Keisei Tominaga converted a fast break layup to give Nebraska a 27-25 lead.
Both teams would trade buckets for the next 5 minutes before the Cornhuskers went on a 6-0 scoring run to take a 5-point lead into halftime.
Nebraska was a step ahead of Rutgers' press defense throughout the first half, and the Cornhuskers shot 65.4 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from beyond the arc in the first half.
Junior forward Aundre Hyatt was a lone bright spot for the Knights in the half. Hyatt was proactive on the wings and in the corners and scored 13 points, shooting 5-6 from the field.
Rutgers trailed for the entire second half as its defensive struggles continued. Nebraska attempted 28 three-point shots in the entire game and connected on 12 of them. The Cornhuskers also shot 74.1 percent from inside the arc. This is the highest percentage the Knights have allowed an opposing team to shoot in the KenPom Era.
"They were better than us today," said head coach Steve Pikiell after the game. "It is on me, I got to get us to play Rutgers' defense. We certainly didn’t tonight."
Tominaga caused the Knights problems on the perimeter and led Nebraska with 22 points and shot 8-15 from the field.
Hyatt finished the game with a team-high 24 points shooting 5-11 from beyond the arc. Junior center Clifford Omoruyi posted another double-double and added an additional five blocks.
Fifth-year senior guard Caleb McConnell got four steals in the losing effort. He became just the third Rutgers player to get 200 steals in his career and is 18 steals away from breaking the team's all-time steal record.
The Knights will look to right the ship when they go back on the road to take on Wisconsin. The game will tip off on Saturday at 12 p.m. and will be broadcasted on the Big Ten Network and 88.7 WRSU-FM.
"This place is awesome. What Steve has done here has been amazing," said head coach Fred Hoiberg after the game. "I just love his demeanor and his approach and the confidence he puts into his guys. They play so hard for him."
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