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PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers men’s basketball fought back in the second half before falling to No. 2 Purdue on Sunday at Jersey Mike’s Arena.
RU battled with Purdue ultimately falling 68-60. Aundre Hyatt (15) and Cliff Omoruyi (13) led the scoring for RU, while Zach Edey had a game-high 26 points for the Boilermakers.
Purdue got out to a 21-7 lead after 10 minutes of action. The home team got the crowd back into it with a 9-0 run over a two-minute span, cutting the deficit to five. However, Purdue answered that with a 10-2 run of its own. Behind 50 percent shooting from the visitors in the opening half, the Boilermakers led, 33-20, at halftime.
Out of the break, Rutgers made three of its first five shots, including a triple from Aundre Hyatt, Rutgers’ first three-pointer of the game after shooting 0-of-8 from distance in the opening stanza. Purdue led as much as 43-29, but RU started off the second half 7-of-11 from the field, including a 7-0 run to force a Purdue timeout with the visitors leading 43-36. A Cliff Omoruyi dunk off an offensive rebound got RU within five at 45-40 heading into the under-12 media timeout.
Rutgers got it back to a two-point game at 50-48 Purdue off a three-pointer from Noah Fernandes that electrified the crowd. After Purdue’s 43-29 lead, the Scarlet Knights would hold the visitors to just two made field goals in the next eight minutes, cutting the 14-point deficit to two.
Purdue added to their lead with a late 7-1 run before Aundre Hyatt hit a three-pointer to make it a six-point game with two minutes to play. Rutgers shot 50 percent in the second half (15-of-30), but it was not enough to overcome the Boilermakers, who led for 39 minutes in the game.
Postgame Notes
- Aundre Hyatt (15 points) had his team-leading 13th double-figure scoring game of the year.
- Cliff Omoruyi (13 points) now has 1,126 points, passing Jim Valvano for 31st all-time at RU.
- Gavin Griffiths (eight points) scored his most points since December 23 and tied for his largest output against a Big Ten team.
- Purdue entered the game with the number 7 scoring offense nationally at 85.8 points per game, and Rutgers’ held them to 68 points, just one point higher than their previous season-low output.
- Lance Jones entered averaging 12.5 points, second on Purdue, and RU held him to a season-low of four points.
- Rutgers’ held Purdue to 32 rebounds, tying their season low.
- Rutgers’ recognized its inaugural class of the “Knights of Honor”, with Eddie Jordan, Mike Dabney and Hollis Copeland honored in a pregame ceremony and with the additions of their jerseys to the rafters.
- Rutgers’ coaching staff wore suits and sneakers in honor of the annual “Suits and Sneakers” week initiative, raising money to battle cancer with the Coaches vs. Cancer platform.
Postgame Quotes
Head Coach Steve Pikiell
Opening Statement:
“Good to see everyone, it was such a great environment today. Purdue is a really good college basketball team that has been ranked all year and has the college basketball player of the year. First I want to thank Eddie Jordan, Mike Dabney, Hollis Copeland, and James Bailey for coming back. To see their numbers up in the rafters is really impressive and I’m really appreciative that we were able to honor them the right way. It was great to honor the football team for their Pinstripe Bowl win too. Our team, cheerleaders, and band were awesome and we played hard today. I thought we had our chances but that was a really tough team to prepare for. Not many teams have a 7’5 guy who catches everything and makes free throws. I was pleased with our effort and we just have to get better. We have had a tough stretch these first few games of the season and I hope to add a few more pieces to the team soon.”
On second-half adjustments:
“We had some careless turnovers in the first half which gave them easy points. I liked some of the good looks we got but limiting our turnovers made a huge difference. I felt like our first half mistakes were on us and we really needed to settle down”.
On second half offensive improvements:
“I thought we did get some good shots early but it’s hard when you’re going against an elite rim protector. You need to make your shots early on in a competitive game like this. We had more opportunities in the second half because we didn’t turn the ball over as much. We needed the offense to relax and let the plays come to us. Getting second opportunities and outrebounding really helped us out too”.
On getting within two points multiple times in second half:
“We were right there. I did think we executed and got some good looks, we just couldn’t get over the hill. Then they came down the other end. Like I always say, there are two parts of it, we can stop them too, but they got timely baskets. Not only did we not finish the deal, we went back down their end and gave them more opportunities. That’s the best team in the conference, one of the best in the conference, so you have to play great for forty in that kind of game”.
On Gavin Griffiths and Jamichael Davis’ play:
“They’re both young and I am proud of Gavin. It hasn’t been easy but he had a great week of practice. He really focused and it showed today in the game. J-Mike is a great energy guy, he brings it everyday on both ends of the floor. Both of them are developing, but it’s hard. College basketball is hard and you have to go through obstacles”.
On Gavin Griffiths:
“He’s been very active in practice. He’s going through these stretches sometimes as a freshman and it’s not easy. Practices are long and hard, teams are scouting you, but he is doing more in practice which showed today”.
On rebounds:
“It’s always about who you’re playing, a lot of things factor into rebounds. If you’re making shots, you don’t have as many opportunities to rebound. If you’re not making shots, you have more opportunities to rebound”. We knew that’s been a key when we’ve played well, and rebounds have played a huge part in it. We had a huge problem the first 10 games, but have gotten to a place where we team rebound better. Our guards stick their noses in there and that’s been a huge emphasis for us”.
On the Omoruyi vs. Edey matchup:
“People don’t realize, but Cliff has come a long way. His freshman year he led the league in most fouls per minute and now he’s one of the best defenders in the country. So to flip the script in 3 years and to now be a presence on that end of the floor, I think he’s one of the elite defenders in the country. He’s second in blocked shots. I am proud of him, but it’s a tough matchup and you’re always playing against the whistle too. We need him in the game, but sometimes you get a foul. To stop a player like that who gets such a low post position and catches everything, it’s tough.
On the resilience of offense:
“We got 40 points in the second half. Sometimes you just have to figure out a way. When you have a seven-foot-five guy protecting the paint, you’re probably not getting to the paint a lot and we got in there a few times. We finished sometimes which hurt us. Whenever you get in there and he’s not at the rim protecting, you need to make those shots. You need to make some mid-range stuff too. And you need some threes too because that’s kind of what they allow you to do. I thought we played with a better rhythm in the second half. A lot of guys got touches and obviously, it helps you and you get some points coming off the bench too really, really helps you.”
On Jamichael Davis and Gavin Griffiths’ performance:
“Hopefully it gives us all confidence. That’s a really good basketball team and obviously they’re going to play for a long time, I think in the tournament, and everywhere else. You’re playing against the best player in the league. They have very experienced players too around them. I think the guy they got in the portal, Jones, is good and he’s a very experienced basketball player. We played Nebraska, they’re the one team that beat them and then we played them here. Our guys stay the course and just keep getting better. There are a lot of big blocks in the middle of our league and we need to just start playing a little bit better basketball, keep guys healthy, get two new additions hopefully soon and see what happens down the stretch. These guys are good captains (Clifford Omoruyi & Aundre Hyatt). They stay the course. They’re going to continue to lead us and keep fighting. Thankful for the crowd. The crowd keeps coming. They help us and we’re very appreciative of that”.
Purdue head coach Matt Painter
On Gavin Griffiths inbound:
“We were right there and he made a tough shot. You know, and you look at the stat sheet he’s three for eleven. He gives them that punch off the bench but you had a couple of non-conference games where he really got going. And that’s what we talked to our guys about. You get into conference play and you get to where it gets difficult for a young guy sometimes to grab minutes because he’s good in that role as a scorer. But there are other things to the game, right? And it’s hard as a freshman, but you can see that he’s got a bright future, anybody that has size and that can handle the ball and shoot, you’re going to be a guy that you got to stick with. I thought he did some really nice things.”
On this Rutgers team:
“They don’t have the same experience. You know, obviously Hyatt and Cliff have some experience, they have some other guys like Mag, those three guys. When you lose Caleb McConnell and Paul Mulcahy, those guys were so good defensively. Now these guys here are learning the system on the fly when you deal with the grad transfers, and they’re all good. I told our team I said between Simpson, Williams, Fernandes, and Davis you don’t know which guy is going to be the best guy. And so I think that’s a positive at times because now if a guy’s not going, bring the guy in off the bench, then he can get it going. We have a great deal of respect for Coach Pikiell and they’re tough. They’ve been great for the Big 10. They’re physical, they’re hard-nosed. It’s just a tough challenge. They’ve been better than us. That’s simple. We might be better in terms of winning games or based on being higher in the league but head-to-head matchups they’ve been better than us and I told our guys if you’re not ready for that, and we still look at the rebounds, the turnovers. They were better than us there. We were better because we put ourselves in a good position in that first half. We have a lot of respect for them.”
Up Next
Rutgers returns to action at Jersey Mike’s Arena on Wednesday night, January 31, hosting Penn State. The game will be on Big Ten Network at 8:30 p.m.
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