Rutgers men's basketball falls to Purdue in Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals
The Rutgers men's basketball team fell to Purdue by a score of 70-65 in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals today. In a highly physical matchup with 41 total fouls, the Boilermakers (27-5, 15-5) ultimately outlasted the Scarlet Knights (19-14, 10-10).
The physicality would start right from the opening tip-off. At first, this seemed to bother Purdue as Rutgers got out to a 17-5 lead with just more than 13:30 to play in the first half. In the final 10 minutes of the half, though, the Boilermakers began settling into the game and slowly started cutting its deficit.
A three-point make from Mason Gillis in the dying seconds of the first half gave Purdue its second lead of the half and a 1-point lead heading into halftime.
The Knights played intense defense in the first half, forcing the Boilermakers into six turnovers and only allowing Purdue to shoot 2-10 from beyond the arc.
During the same time period, Rutgers shot 36.4 percent from three-point range and had eight assists. Paul Mulcahy led the way by scoring 8 points, grabbing three rebounds and dishing out three assists.
The second half would be a back-and-forth affair. With 10:13 left in the half, David Jenkins Jr. hit a deep, contested three-point shot to give the Boilermakers a three-point lead. Though the Knights kept the game close in the final 10 minutes, Purdue would lead for the rest of the game.
The aggression of the contest boiled over in the final minutes of the game when a foul from senior guard Cam Spencer led to a scuffle underneath the net. This resulted in Zach Edey being awarded a Class A technical foul for elbowing Mulcahy.
Rutgers pressured Edey for the entirety of the game, and he consequently ended the game with only 16 points and 11 rebounds.
Gillis played an outstanding game for the Boilermakers, scoring a team-high 20 points and shooting a hyper-efficient 7-8 from the field. Gillis also got five offensive rebounds and four defensive rebounds, helping Purdue get seven more total rebounds than the Knights. Despite the dominant display, Gillis credited the intensity of Rutgers' play.
"They're experienced, and they just play harder than whoever they're playing," Gillis said. "The majority of times, whenever they win, their defense is winning the game for them.
In what started and ended as an aggressive game, the Knights were called for 26 fouls, which was 11 more fouls than the Boilermakers.
"We were in foul trouble the whole night," said head coach Steve Pikiell. "Two really physical teams … I guess we got caught more than they did."
Mulcahy continued his stellar play in the Big Ten tournament by scoring 10 points, leading the team with five assists and playing tough on the defensive end.
Freshman guard Derek Simpson led the team with 18 points but shot an inefficient 5-16 from the field, including a missed contested layup with 2:12 left in the second half that would have cut Purdue's lead to just 2 points. Simpson also had a team-high three steals.
Fifth-year senior guard Caleb McConnell scored just 6 points, all in the second half, in his last Big Ten Tournament game.
Rutgers will now wait to potentially hear its name called for the NCAA Tournament on Selection Sunday, which will air at 6 p.m. on CBS.
"They're obviously an NCAA Tournament team," said head coach Matt Painter. "I think they could do some real damage."
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