Field Level Media
Jan 28, 2021
Myles Johnson had 13 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks to lead Rutgers to a 67-37 home win over Michigan State in a Big Ten contest on Thursday in Piscataway, N.J.
Rutgers (9-6, 5-6 Big Ten) won its second straight game immediately following a five-game losing skid, and also snapped a three-game losing streak at home.
Gio Baker had 11 points, five steals, five assists and five rebounds and Jacob Young added 10 points for Rutgers, which also beat Michigan State for the first time since joining the conference in 2014.
No player for Michigan State scored in double figures.
Playing its first game in 20 days after having three games postponed for COVID-19 reasons, Michigan State struggled offensively.
The Spartans shot 28.6 percent from the field overall (16 of 56), 20 percent from 3-point range (4 of 20) and were 1 of 5 from the free-throw line.
Michigan State also committed a season-high 21 turnovers and was held below 40 points in a game for the first time since 2008.
Leading 26-20 at halftime, Rutgers surged ahead to start the second half, opening the half on a 11-2 run to take a 37-22 lead with 16:17 remaining in the game.
Rutgers stayed up by a big margin from there, going up 47-28 with 7:47 left on an emphatic putback dunk by Johnson.
The Scarlet Knights then kept building their lead from there, going up by 30 with 20 seconds remaining.
It was about as good of a start as can be for Rutgers, which stormed out to a 15-0 lead just 4:58 into the game.
Rutgers took a 22-9 lead with 7:41 left in the first half before Michigan State started to find some footing.
The Spartans went on a 10-0 run to cut the Rutgers lead to 22-19 with 3:20 left in the first half before Rutgers eventually took a 26-20 lead into the locker room at halftime.
--Field Level Media