Rutgers men's basketball's offense falls flat in loss to Northwestern

The Rutgers men's basketball team lost to Northwestern by a score of 65-53 on Senior Night yesterday. The Scarlet Knights (18-13, 10-10) offense fell flat again as they failed to score more than 60 points for the seventh time in Big Ten conference play.

With the loss, Rutgers fell to 2-6 without junior forward Mawot Mag. The loss also means that the Knights' NCAA Tournament hopes are in real jeopardy.

Junior center Clifford Omoruyi got the game off to a fast start, catching a lob and throwing it down for Rutgers' first two points. Omoruyi also registered two blocks in the first 3 minutes of the game.

The Knights took advantage of Omoruyi's momentum to reach a 10-3 lead in the first 5 minutes. 

The final 15 minutes of the first half saw Rutgers' offense grind to a halt. The Knights scored 11 points in the final 15 minutes of the half, shot 33.3 percent from the field, 25 percent from beyond the arc and 20 percent from the free-throw line.

Rutgers struggled to move the ball in the perimeter as it only made nine field goals and committed eight turnovers in the first half. The Wildcats (21-10, 12-8) also grabbed four more rebounds than the Knights during that time, and Northwestern took a 25-21 lead into halftime.

Rutgers' offense continued to struggle throughout the second half. Nearly 2 minutes into the second half, the Knights cut the deficit to three points, but that would be the closest they got to evening the score all game. The Wildcats slowly began pulling away as Rutgers continued to struggle to generate open looks and put the ball in the basket.

Freshman guard Derek Simpson was the only bright spot on the offensive end. Simpson showcased his ability to create open looks on the ball and was second on the team with 12 points. He also dished out two assists. 

Senior guard Paul Mulcahy's struggles continued on Senior Night. Though he scored 8 points and corralled in five rebounds, he only shot 2-9 from the field.

Fifth-year senior guard Caleb McConnell played well on the defensive end, racking up six steals to put him past Myles Mack for the second-most steals in program history with 214 all-time. McConnell also wrecked many of Northwestern's offensive plays and sets. His defensive effort, though, was not enough to offset the Knights' offensive woes.

"We are definitely capable of playing better offensively," McConnell said. "That is something that we all have to figure out. Coach needs to figure it out, and players have to figure it out as well … I don't know what's going on offensively … We can play all the defense in the world, but if we can't put the ball in the basket, that's a problem." 

Rutgers did a good job limiting Boo Buie and Chase Audige for large parts of the game, but Brooks Barnhizer stepped up for the Wildcats. Barnhizer led Northwestern with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

The Knights ended the game with only four more total successful field goals than turnovers.

Rutgers will now face off against Michigan in Thursday's second round of the Big Ten Tournament. The Knights will be the number nine seed. Tip-off will be at noon, and the game will be broadcasted on the Big Ten Network and 88.7 WRSU-FM.

"We just weren't able to finish plays or make free throws, the whole gambit." said head coach Steve Pikiell. "We played plenty hard, and we played tough … But you gotta do more to beat Northwestern, and we didn't."

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