Ron Harper Jr. had 14 points and 11 rebounds, Myles Johnson controlled the paint with 12 points and 14 rebounds and No. 25 Rutgers beat Northwestern 64-50 on Saturday night.
The Wildcats shot just 33% in their lowest-scoring game of the season. They have lost 11 consecutive games after a 6-1 start.
Harper, a preseason All-Big Ten selection, struggled after a strong start to the season.
“Sheesh. It feels so good for the ball to go in,” Harper said. “Just seeing it go in, the 3s are going to fall. I told y’all (the media) at the beginning of the year, 0-for-4, 0-for-100, 2-for-58, I’m going to shoot it when I’m open. I have confidence in myself. My teammates have confidence in me.”
Johnson scored all 12 of his points in the first half on 5-of-6 shooting.
“It’s not really me,” Johnson said. “It’s just my teammates. They find me when I’m open, and I put the ball in the basket. I’m happy that they found me and they’re always looking out.”
Jacob Young added 13 points for Rutgers (12-7, 8-7 Big Ten), and Caleb McConnell had 10 points and seven rebounds.
Anthony Gaines and Chase Audige each scored 11 points for Northwestern (6-12, 3-11), which led by as many as 10 early in the first half at 14-4. But Rutgers went on a run of its own to go into halftime leading 37-27.
“After they jumped on us quickly, I thought we settled down,” Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell said.
The Wildcats used 11-0 run early in the second half to pull within 41-38 with 13 minutes, 4 seconds remaining. But Rutgers outscored them 23-12 the rest of the way.
After a lopsided loss at No. 15 Iowa, Rutgers needed the victory to have any chance of staying in the Top 25. Barring a collapse in the final few weeks of the season, the Scarlet Knights have put themselves in good position to end the program’s 30-year NCAA Tournament drought.
Northwestern plays at No. 6 Illinois on Tuesday night, while Rutgers visits No. 3 Michigan on Thursday.
