Rutgers keeps rolling.
The Scarlet Knights extended their current winning streak to four games, the longest ever in a Big Ten game, with a 76-72 win over Minnesota at the Rutgers Athletic Center on Thursday. Rutgers (11-6, 7-6) surpassed 0.500 in the Big Ten game for the first time since January 5.
The dispute was balanced, in which neither team achieved a double-digit advantage at any time and had 22 leadership changes.
Nine of these leadership changes have occurred in the past five minutes.
After Minnesota (11-7, 4-7) kept Rutgers at bay for most of the second half thanks to guard Marcus Carr (18 points, seven assists), the Scarlet Knights narrowed the gap with a powered 10-2 race by guard Caleb McConnell (14 points) to retake the lead with 4:41 remaining.
The game turned into a slugfest from there, with senior guard Geo Baker (16 points) pulling the magic of the late game for which he is known. He scored 8 of Rutgers’ 14 final points, hitting clutch kick after clutch kick, and the Squirrels continued to answer on the other end of the line.
Rutgers gave the last word with a minute to go, gaining a 73-72 lead with a Baker jumper. After the Scarlet Knights managed two defensive stops, Ron Harper Jr. closed the game on the free-throw line, making 2 of 4 in the final 30 seconds, and Baker sealed the victory with an offensive rebound.
With that, the Scarlet Knights won the easiest (at least on paper) of their two meetings with Minnesota this season. The Gophers are now 0-6 on the road, but are 11-1 at the Williams Arena in Minneapolis, where Rutgers will end his season on Saturday, March 6.
The victory is another step in the right direction for Rutgers on the road to March Madness. With seven Big Ten games remaining, the Scarlet Knights are three wins away from feeling safe on Selection Sunday and probably breaking a 30-year drought at the NCAA Tournament next month.
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Brian Fonseca can be reached at [email protected].