Men's Basketball Feb 07

RU took a 66-60 loss to the Indiana Hoosiers, which marked the first loss in seven matchups.

In the first half, Indiana established a lead of as much as 14 points. Rutgers was spurred by Oskar Palmquist and Aundre Hyatt, as each hit two three-pointers down the stretch of the opening half.

The visitors made six of their last 10 shots in the first stanza, finishing the frame on a 19-6 run to cut the lead to one possession, 38-35 at the half. An 11-2 run over the final 3:50 got RU back within three points at the break.  

Senior guard Cam Spencer hit a three-pointer on the team's second possession of the second half, tying the game at 38-38. Indiana answered with an 11-2 run.  

A layup from freshman Derek Simpson cut the lead to three at 59-56 as Indiana had an eight-minute field goal drought. That made for a 12-5 run, with Simpson scoring seven in that stretch. The visitors would get no closer as IU finished out the win.  

RU will return to play on Saturday at Illinois at 2 p.m.

Postgame Notes

Rutgers held Indiana, who entered the game averaging 77.6 points, to 66 points in the game. It was the 18th time this season RU held an opponent to 10+ points below their average entering the game.  

Oskar Palmquist 

Entering the month of February, Palmquist had played just 27 minutes over RU's first 21 games, shooting 2-of-8 (1-of-4 from three-point distance) in that span. 

Over the past three games, Palmquist has played 39 minutes, and scored 21 points (8-of-13 and 6-of-9 from three-point).  

Derek Simpson 

Scored seven points, his most points in a game since Jan. 8.  

After posting 14 points against Indiana in December in the true freshman's first ever Big Ten game, he averages 10.5 points per game in the two contests versus Indiana.  

Cam Spencer  

Had three steals. Now has 57 steals on the season, moving into 10th ­­­on RU's single-season leaderboard.