Rutgers takes fight to Iowa, but comes up two points short in Top 15 showdown

 

Ron Harper, Jr.’s dunk in final minutes of second half put Rutgers ahead briefly, but Scarlet Knights were unable to hold lead in loss to Iowa. (Photo by Rutgers Athletics)

One possession short.

That was how Steve Pikiell summed up a heavyweight fight at the RAC Saturday afternoon, one in which his Rutgers team — ranked 14th in the nation — matched 10th-ranked Iowa and reigning National Player of the Year Luka Garza shot for shot, tooth and nail down the stretch — came up on the short end of a 77-75 loss to the Hawkeyes at the RAC that proved the hosts belonged on the same stage as their visiting guest, considered by many to have legitimate national championship chances to match their lofty aspirations.

“That’s life in a league like this that we play in,” Pikiell recollected as Rutgers (7-2, 3-2 Big Ten) saw each of its five starters score at least 13 points, but after Keegan Murray’s two free throws in the final seconds gave Iowa a lead it would not relinquish, the Scarlet Knights fell short on a Jacob Young heave at the buzzer. We’ll keep getting better. We got some good news with Caleb McConnell returning, but we played really hard, we had chances. They were one possession better.”

“We went out there and fought,” Ron Harper, Jr. added as he returned to the lineup after a sprained ankle sidelined him in Rutgers’ win over Purdue this past Tuesday. “Wins and losses happen, but what we took away from today is we gotta make foul shots.”

Often an obstacle that has hindered Rutgers more than it has helped it, the Scarlet Knights took a dozen free throws, making only four of those attempts while Iowa went 18-for-23 at the charity stripe. In his pregame conference call Thursday morning, Pikiell wisely predicted that drawing fouls and converting at the line would ultimately make the difference Saturday afternoon. Lo and behold, the affable head coach was unfortunately vindicated.

“It was one of our huge keys, to win the free throw line battle,” he reiterated. “Obviously, we didn’t. They do a lot of things well, too: They shoot threes, they make free throws, they offensive rebound. We did a lot of good things in a lot of different areas, but we certainly didn’t win the battle of the free throw line, and that was a key for us.”

“That’s just unacceptable,” Harper lamented of the foul shooting. “You’re not going to win a lot of basketball games like that, so it’s on everybody in the locker room to keep getting better.”

Aside from the lackluster showing at the stripe, there were more positives for Rutgers overall. For starters, Myles Johnson’s defense on Garza exceeded expectations. Although the senior managed to tally 25 points, Johnson held him to a mere four rebounds while posting a double-double of his own with 13 markers and 10 boards. The backcourt trio of Geo Baker, Montez Mathis and Jacob Young accounted for 43 points on 18-of-34 shooting, with each of the three keeping the Scarlet Knights in the game with clutch shots in a back-and-forth second half. Dean Reiber made the play of his career leaving Garza to block Murray in a highlight-reel sequence, and Caleb McConnell made his season debut after he initially planned to take a medical redshirt at the start of the year. Finally, Iowa — who entered Saturday’s contest with the nation’s best scoring offense — was held 17 points under its season average. All in all, even if the result in the scoreboard says different, Rutgers acquitted itself yet again in a game few would have thought this team would be in just two years ago, a sign of just how far this team has come.

“My takeaway from the game is that we can hang with anybody,” said Baker. “That’s a really good team and we’re a really good team, too.”

“We play hard,” Pikiell reaffirmed. “I like my team a ton. These guys are good, they’re resilient, they’re tough. We have to head to play Michigan State, so you’ve got to move on quickly from this.”

The encouraging sign for Rutgers here is that the Scarlet Knights continue to buck trends during their climb up the ladder. Rutgers had never won a Big Ten opener or at Maryland before defeating the Terrapins in College Park on December 14, then amassed 91 points six days later against Illinois. Following a loss to Ohio State two days before Christmas, Pikiell’s team rebounded with a gritty win over Purdue, and will need to figure out a way to do the same Tuesday night at the Breslin Center, where Rutgers has yet to pick off the Spartans.

“I love how our guys play,” Pikiell proclaimed. “We make the extra passes, they share the game, they play hard. We’re on to the next obstacle this league brings. You’ve got to have a really short memory in this conference. We’ve never won at Michigan State, but I’m happy with our guys.”

“The main message is we played one of the best teams in our league and we were one possession short. We’ve got to find that one possession, and we will. We’ll continue to get healthy and we’ll continue to work on our rotations, and there are better days ahead.”