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Rutgers avoided one of the last landmines on his journey to a long-awaited NCAA tournament appearance.
The Scarlet Knights beat Northwestern solidly at the Rutgers Athletic Center on Saturday, leading for the final 27 minutes of a crucial 64-50 victory.
The Wildcats (6-12, 3-11, 91st in the NCAA NET rankings) represented a potential loss in Quad 3, which would make for a disastrous inclusion in the Scarlet Knights (12-7, 8-7) playoff resume. ).
Rutgers didn’t need to consider this nightmare scenario much in what was a largely one-sided contest.
The Scarlet Knights found themselves in a first 10-point hole after six minutes, but they reversed the result just as quickly. Rutgers responded with a 16-5 run to take a lead he never gave up, one that would reach 14 points with 18 minutes remaining.
The Wildcats threatened to make it a game, reducing their deficit to three points with 12 minutes left after keeping Rutgers scoreless for seven straight minutes. The Scarlet Knights responded with an 11-2 run in five minutes to put the game out of reach.
Junior center Myles Johnson led the way for Rutgers, scoring 12 points on 5 of 6 shots, registering 14 rebounds and blocking 3 shots. The Wildcats had no answer for him inside.
Junior forward Ron Harper Jr. (14 points, 10 rebounds) and senior guard Jacob Young (15 points) also contributed. Sophomore goaltender Paul Mulcahy, who played with a face mask after breaking his nose against Iowa, finished with 8 points and two assists.
With five games to play in the regular season, the Scarlet Knights have just one game not to lose: a trip to Pinnacle Bank Arena to face Nebraska (166th in NET, a Quad 3 game) on Sunday, February 28. .
If Rutgers wins this contest and at least one of the other four remaining games (@Michigan, vs Maryland, vs Indiana, @Minnesota), an NCAA tournament entry is almost guaranteed.
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Brian Fonseca can be reached at [email protected].
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