For a second straight season, Rutgers defeated No. 1 Purdue. On Monday night, the Scarlet Knights knocked off the Boilermakers 65-64 at vaunted Mackey Arena. It was a tremendous performance from RU in handing Purdue their first loss of the season.
After holding a 10 point halftime lead and a 13 point lead early in the second half, Rutgers trailed 64-62 with 29 seconds left in the game. Cam Spencer hit the game winning three on a pass from Paul Mulcahy. On the next Purdue possession, the defense prevented National Player of the Year candidate Zach Edey from getting a shot off before they settled for a contested jumper that missed.
Paul Mulcahy took over down the stretch after Pikiell made the adjustment to hand him the ball from Cliff Omoruyi repeatedly. It worked as Mulcahy was able to get to the rim and converted several key baskets with the game on the line. He finished with a heroic 16 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals and 0 turnovers.
Cam Spencer was clutch in making 6 of 8 shots including the game winning three after not taking a shot the prior 13 minutes and fighting through four fouls.
A remarkable stat is that Rutgers had seven players with at least three fouls. As a team committed 13 more fouls than Purdue. The Boilermakers attempted 17 more free throws. And yet, the Scarlet Knights were able to overcome it all for the signature win of the season.
Rutgers held a 26-22 advantage with points in the paint. In addition, they also held Purdue to 12 of 25 from two-point range. The Boilermakers came into the game shooting 56% from two-point range.
Additionally, RU forced 13 turnovers against a team No. 15 in offensive turnover rate and held a 18-11 advantage in points off of turnovers. Lastly, they limited Purdue to just +1 on the offensive glass while Rutgers outscored them 14-13 in second chance points.
The Scarlet Knights are now 10-4 on the season and 2-1 in Big Ten play. They host Maryland on Thursday and Iowa on Sunday. Each game just gets more important with Rutgers having a legitimate chance to challenge at the top of the league.
You can watch game highlights, the postgame press conferences for both teams, the locker room celebration and more here.
Here is my rapid reaction video to the Rutgers win. Takeaways include key performances, overcoming adversity, the big picture for this team and more.
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