Rutgers rallies, hand Nebraska its 8th straight loss, 63-61

Jan 30, 2022, 02:48 am

LINCOLN, Neb. -- — Geo Baker scored eight of his 14 points in the final 5-plus minutes, Mawot Mag had 13 points on perfect shooting and Rutgers rallied from an 11-point deficit to beat Nebraska 63-61 on Saturday night, handing the Cornhuskers their eighth consecutive loss.

Baker was called for a foul as Kobe Webster shot a potential tying 3-point shot with 0.9 seconds left but Webster missed the first free throw, made the second and then intentionally missed the third — an air ball, which gave possession to the Scarlet Knights, who ran out the clock.

Baker scored the first six points in a 9-2 spurt that pulled Rutgers within a point when Ron Harper Jr. — who had been 0-for-8 shooting, hit a 3-pointer with 3:54 to play. Mag and Nebraska's Trey McGowens traded 3s before Bryce McGowens made two free throws to give Nebraska a 60-57 lead about 70 seconds later but Baker answered with a contested fade-away jumper in the lane. After the Cornhuskers missed a 3-point shot, Baker missed a straight-away 3 but Paul Mulcahy grabbed the offensive rebound and scored in the lane to give Rutgers its first lead at 61-60 with 1:32 left.

Nebraska went 0 for 3 from the field and 1 for 3 from the free-throw line with a turnover from there.

Mag went 4 of 4 from the field — including his first made 3-pointer of the season — and 4 of 4 from the free-throw line and Mulcahy finished with 10 points for Rutgers (12-8, 6-4 Big Ten). Clifford Omoruyi added eight points, nine rebounds and four blocks.

Bryce McGowens went 14 of 18 from the free-throw line and finished with 29 points for Nebraska (6-15, 0-10). Trey McGowens hit three 3-pointers and scored 11 points before fouling out with 10 seconds left.

The Cornhuskers used an 11-1 run to take their biggest lead of the game at 31-20 late in the first half and led by eight points with 6 minutes to play.

Rutgers plays at Northwestern on Monday before returning home for games against No. 10 Michigan State and No. 16 Ohio State.

Nebraska hits the road to play Michigan on Monday. The Cornhuskers have lost 16 straight against high-major opponents.

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