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No. 23 Rutgers loses to Michigan State 70-57: Rapid Reaction Video and Recap

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Photo credit Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

No. 23 Rutgers had one of its worst performances of the season on Thursday in a 70-57 loss at Michigan State. It was a terrible shooting night in which RU shot just 34% from the field and only 2 of 17 from three-point range (12%). On the flip side, Michigan State made 12 of 22 from behind the arc for 55%. The 30 point differential from the three-point line was the difference in the game.

“Give Michigan State a ton of credit,” head coach Steve Pikiell said in the postgame call. “Their coach does a great job, and they really shot the ball extremely well. I really thought we could defend them. Their transition hurt us and we got some good looks too. You have got to make a few on the road, you got to play better than that on the road to beat a Hall of Fame coach with the fan base here and tough place to play.”

The Scarlet Knights jumped out to a 14-5 lead to start the game before the Spartans responded by finishing the first half on a 31-16 run. Rutgers was able to keep it close most of the second half and trailed 52-47 with just over eight minutes to play. However, RU was held without a field goal for seven minutes down the stretch as Sparty closed out the game on a 18-10 run.

Michigan State broke down the Rutgers defense with drives and kick outs to shooters who were able to convert. The Spartans finished with 19 assists on 26 made field goals.

On the glass, the Scarlet Knights grabbed 42 rebounds and had a +8 rebounding margin. That included 18 offensive rebounds but they were unable to take advantage as much as they needed to with only 15 second chance points. RU were 16 of 23 on dunks and layups, but they missed a lot of other shots in their halfcourt offense.

Leading scorer Cam Spencer struggled in making just 3 of 14 shots. He finished with 8 points on 1 of 8 from behind the arc. He added 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals.

Cliff Omoruyi had another double double finishing with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Paul Mulcahy finished with 12 points on 5 of 8 shooting, 4 assists and a steal. Caleb McConnell had 11 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals. However, Mulcahy and McConnell struggled taking care of the basketball as they both committed 4 turnovers apiece.

Mawot Mag finished with 6 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and a block. Aundre Hyatt struggled for a second straight game, scoring just 2 points on 0-7 from the floor along with 4 rebounds.

Here is my rapid reaction video that includes key takeaways and a big picture outlook as Rutgers began a difficult seven game stretch with a loss.

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2 Comments

2 Comments

  1. InPikeWeTrust

    January 20, 2023 at 3:36 am

    This surprised me because I liked every matchup 1-5 but I think teams just have nights. We couldn’t shoot it and they did. We got up 14-5 and were unable to build off that momentum because we just couldn’t make a basket after that. I recall a number of 3’s that just rimmed out or went in-and-out. Those drop and we so missed a couple of front end 1 and 1’s. You get those to go down and it’s a totally different game. Key is not letting this fester. Dump this game. Dump this film. Take advantage of a rare weekend off and figure out how to get some buckets against a really tough PSU who I think matches up really well with us. It’s not going to be easy but it never is in this league…such a grind. We need one of those games where things are “easy”…where the ball just finds the bottom of the net and Aidan Terry gets in the ballgame.

  2. pj43

    January 20, 2023 at 3:58 am

    You have to give credit to MSU tonight.  They were the better team.  I think Hyatt must lead the team in failures to finish around the rim.  Rutgers had a great start but went into their usual snooze when they struggle to score for a span of minutes .  Spencer had an uncharacteristic poor shooting night, but I credit MSU who seemed focused on making him rush things just enough to throw him off although he had some good looks.  All things considered, MSU is a good team who is getting better.  Their losses were to quality teams and they just put Rutgers away in the last 4-5 minutes.  On to PSU where this team has got show their resilience and bounce back with a win.

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