PISCATAWAY — Rutgers suffered their first home loss of the season in a 75-63 defeat to Wisconsin Monday night.
It was a slow start for the Scarlet Knights. Wisconsin led 24-11 with 8:30 left in the first half after RU went five minutes without a made field goal.
The Badgers took a 43-34 halftime lead by making 11 of their last 12 shots, however, the Scarlet Knights had momentum making nine of their last 11 themselves. Graduate student Tyson Acuff led the Scarlet Knights with 11 off the bench – 26 of Rutgers’ 34 points were bench points.
Five-star Ace Bailey had a quiet first-half with three points, though foul trouble limited his availability. He ultimately fouled out in 27 minutes of action.
Bailey came out of the break nailing a triple and Acuff picked up where he left off with his third from beyond the arc to cut Wisconsin’s lead to four with under 10 minutes remaining. Acuff finished with a season-high 17 points.
After trailing by as many as 16 in the first half, Rutgers cut the lead to 58-55 at the under-8 media timeout thanks to defensive stops and a Jamichael Davis layup through traffic, but poor shooting the rest of the way made the deficit too large to overcome.
Rutgers shot 25-for-73 (34 percent) from the floor, Wisconsin 31-for-57 (54 percent).
Freshman Dylan Grant was a spark off the bench posting a career-high eight points, three rebounds, two blocks, and an assist in 16 minutes. He also finished a team-high +4. Grant has played in three games prior to tonight’s game.
Freshman Lathan Sommerville and sophomore Jordan Derkack added six and eight points, respectively, as RU’s bench accounted for 41 of its 63 points (65 percent).
Five-star Dylan Harper went scoreless but only played 15 minutes as he was still dealing with flu-like symptoms according to head coach Steve Pikiell.
Rutgers lost the rebounding battle 40-37 but had 18 offensive boards compared to Wisconsin’s six. RU forced 16 Badger turnovers compared to its eight.
Wisconsin is the best free-throw shooting team in the country and shot 6-for-6 from the line tonight, Rutgers 6-for-13.
Wisconsin’s John Blackwell and Steven Crowl combined for 39 points, 14 rebounds, and 11 assists.
Rutgers falls to 8-7 on the season (1-3 in conference play) and the Badgers improve to 12-3…
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