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As the ball left Geo Baker’s hands, the sellout crowd gasped in anticipation, expecting it to drop.
So much had gone right in the building over the last month, so many memorable moments over the last few years. A miracle was almost expected.
Just not this time.
Baker wrapped his jersey over his face, then hung his head. The shot didn’t fall. Rutgers wasn’t going to clinch another victory over a ranked opponent at Jersey Mike’s Arena. Wisconsin, the 13th-ranked team in the country, got out of Piscataway, N.J. with a hard-fought 66-61 victory.
The Scarlet Knights’ NCAA Tournament hopes remain precarious, dependent on them getting off the mat Wednesday at Indiana and possibly winning at least one game in the Big Ten Tournament.
As for Baker, he scored 16 of his 19 points in the second half, almost willing Rutgers (16-12, 10-8 Big Ten) back from an 11-point deficit. Ron Harper Jr. added 15 points.
Tyler Wahl’s reverse layup extended Wisconsin’s lead to five with 1:13 left. When Baker was stripped on the other end, the game seemed over. But Harper raced back to block Chucky Hepburn’s layup, wedging it on the side of the rim and giving Rutgers the ball back on the alternate possession.
Baker cut the deficit to a single possession with a layup that spun in, to snap a field goal drought of 5:03, and Harper’s 3-pointer made it a two-point game with 28.3 to go. But there was no magic left in the building. Baker’s 3-pointer was well off to the right and Wisconsin’s Johnny Davis (19 points) iced the game from the line with four seconds left.
Rutgers was fortunate to be down just nine at halftime after an ugly opening 20 minutes on the offensive end. The Scarlet Knights missed nine of their first 11 shots and committed eight turnovers. On defense, however, they answered the challenge. Caleb McConnell held Davis to four points on 2-for-9 shooting in a replay of their previous encounter, and the Badgers were held to 10 points in the paint.
Wisconsin did do damage from deep, hitting five 3-pointers, and Rutgers couldn’t find its rhythm offensively. It shot 37 percent from the field, didn’t hit a 3-pointer and missed four of 10 free throws.
At halftime, Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell made a major tweak, sitting point guard Paul Mulcahy in favor of Jalen Miller to give him a second top-notch perimeter defender. It worked, to the tune of an 18-9 run to start the second half.
With Miller on Hepburn and McConnell locked onto Davis, Wisconsin went through a 4:52 scoring drought. In that time, Baker began to find the range, scoring eight quick points to start the half. When Harper sank a right-wing 3-pointer with 12:01 left, Rutgers had erased an 11-point deficit, pulling even at 42 to the delight of the large crowd.
Wisconsin, though, responded with an 8-2 run, only for Rutgers to take its first lead on a Baker step-back jumper with 7:28 left.
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