The Garden was erupting in chants of “R-U, R-U,” and “Let’s go, Rutgers.” Corey Sanders was making everything he put up, carrying his teammates on his broad shoulders.
The Big Ten Tournament, in New York City for the first time, has a Cinderella story, and it’s a local one.
Last-place Rutgers, the 14th seed, is headed to Friday night’s quarterfinals after stunning sixth-seeded Indiana 76-69, beating the Hoosiers for the first time in seven contests. The Scarlet Knights, who beat 11th-seeded Minnesota on Wednesday night, became the first 14th seed to advance to the Big Ten quarterfinals, their biggest moment since joining the powerhouse conference four years ago.
“We did something special I knew we could do,” said Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell, who is in his second season trying to rebuild the dormant program that last reached the NCAA Tournament in 1991. “And it was nice to do it here at Madison Square Garden.”
After winning two conference tournament games for the first time since reaching the Big East semifinals in 1998, Rutgers has won more games in the last 48 hours than it did in the previous five weeks. It will try to keep it going Friday night against eighth-ranked Purdue, the third seed it nearly upset at home on Feb. 3.
The Scarlet Knights (15-18) reached Friday’s quarterfinals by overcoming a terrible start and by getting contributions from several different players amd by outscoring Indiana 40-24 in the paint, limiting the Hoosiers (16-15) to 35 percent shooting and taking advantage of their opportunities.
“I just thought the tougher team won tonight,” Indiana coach Archie Miller said.
There was senior forward Deshawn Freeman owning the paint to the tune of 15 points, eight rebounds and five steals, willing his teammates out of an early 16-point deficit, freshman Geo Baker (15 points) hitting several timely shots, and, most of all, Sanders refusing to let this season end.
The junior guard sliced up Indiana with dribble penetration and his patented pull-up jumpers late in the shot clock. He threw down dunks and soft floaters, ringing up a game-high 28 points on 12-of-20 shooting.
“Corey was terrific again and I think he has something to prove,” Pikiell said. “He’s a really good player, and I think this is a great venue for him to showcase that.”
For most of the first half, Rutgers looked lost. It trailed 24-8 at the third media timeout, and had more turnovers (five) than made shots (three). The offensive movement was missing, and the shot selection was poor, reminiscent of last year Big Ten Tournament first round when Rutgers was on the wrong end of an unheard of 31-0 run in a blowout loss to Northwestern. But after consecutive tough baskets from Freeman, there was new life.
“I didn’t want this to be my last game,” Freeman, a versatile forward, said.
The defense tightened, leading to transition opportunities. Baker hit a 3-pointer and Sanders scored on a drive, cutting the deficit to single-figures. The two guards scored on a consecutive steals a few possessions later, Sanders throwing down a dunk in transition and screaming in jubilation.
“Like Coach always said, let our defense come and offense catch up,” Sanders said.
It was part of a head-spinning 21-4 run to close the first half, turning a 16-point deficit into a one-point lead, drawing the first of many “R-U, R-U” chants.
When Pikiell walked off the court minutes after the victory, several scarlet-clad Rutgers fans gave him a standing ovation, and he made sure to high-five every one of them. Rutgers had a March moment, and the second-year coach was enjoying every second of it.
“I’m excited,” he said, “we’ll get a chance to play again.”