Field Level Media
Mar 11, 2021
Ron Harper Jr. and Jacob Young each scored 13 points, lifting seventh-seeded Rutgers to a 61-50 victory over 10th-seeded Indiana in the Big Ten tournament at Indianapolis.
Paul Mulcahy and Myles Johnson added 10 points apiece for the Scarlet Knights (15-10), who will move on to face No. 3 Illinois in the quarterfinals Friday night.
With Indiana up 48-47, Young made a jumper and Mulcahy hit a pair of corner 3-pointers to give Rutgers a 55-48 advantage with 5:34 remaining. Rutgers cruised to the victory from there, defeating Indiana for the third time this season.
Trayce Jackson-Davis led Indiana (12-15) with 19 points and 9 rebounds, but the Hoosiers were unable to avoid their sixth consecutive defeat. Indiana went through a brutal offensive stretch to close the game, failing to score a basket from the field over the final 9:50. The Hoosiers went 2 of 8 from the free-throw line during the stretch.
Indiana 37.5 percent from the field and 12.5 percent from 3-point range (2 of 16) in its lowest scoring game since a 66-44 loss to Texas on Dec. 1.
Harper scored 11 points in the first half, helping Rutgers take a slim 33-32 lead into the break.
Indiana led by as many as 10 points in the first half, going up 21-11 on a pair of Rob Phinisee free throws, before Rutgers began to come back. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Geo Baker and Harper cut Indiana's lead to 21-17. The Hoosiers answered with a driving basket from Armaan Franklin and a 3-pointer from Jerome Hunter to go up 26-17.
But after a Hunter put back gave Indiana a 28-19 lead, Rutgers closed the half with a 14-4 run.
A 3-pointer by Young cut Indiana's lead to 30-27, then Young made a driving layup to cut Indiana's advantage to 32-31 with 2:08 left in the half. Baker then stole the ball from Phinisee and scored on a breakaway layup with 1:41 remaining, putting Rutgers up 33-32.
Rutgers, which started the game 0 of 6 from 3-point range, made four of their last five 3-point attempts.
--Field Level Media