Rutgers crushes Minnesota to avoid landmine, move chains in NCAA Tournament, Big Ten top-4 pursuits

Rutgers could not afford to fall on the landmine that presented itself at Jersey Mike’s Arena, and it left little doubt sidestepped it pretty easily.

The Scarlet Knights dominated a putrid Minnesota side on Wednesday, leading the last-place Golden Gophers for all but four seconds en route to a crucial 90-55 victory. Rutgers outscored its visitors by 25 points in the second half, holding Minnesota to 36.1% shooting while getting 10 Scarlet Knights got on the scoresheet, four of which in double-digits.

They were led by a game-high 17 points on a slump-busting 3-of-3 shooting on three-pointers from junior guard Cam Spencer, a career-high 13 points from seldom-used reserve Oskar Palmquist and efficient outings from junior forward Mawot Mag (10 points on 5-of-6 shooting) and third-year center Cliff Omoruyi (13 points on 6-of-8 shooting).

By avoiding the résumé-cratering loss, they moved the chains in their two remaining season goals — an NCAA Tournament at-large bid and a top-four finish in the Big Ten standings — heading into a pivotal upcoming three-game stretch outside of Piscataway.

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Rutgers (15-7, 7-4) is now tied with Illinois for second place in the league, a position it will stay in until its all-important meeting with Michigan State at Madison Square Garden on Saturday. The Scarlet Knights can build a two-game lead on Tom Izzo’s team with a win, creating separation from one of its main competitors for a top-four finish.

But they could not be in that position unless they took care of business Wednesday against Minnesota, easily the worst team in the Big Ten. The Golden Gophers entered the game ranked 221st in the NCAA’s NET ranking, meaning a loss would mark a dreaded Quadrant Four defeat that would drop Rutgers down two seed-lines in its NCAA Tournament outlook and significantly hurt its chances at a second consecutive Big Ten Tournament double-bye.

The Scarlet Knights played with urgency from the opening tip, with point guard Paul Mulcahy finding center Cliff Omoruyi within four seconds for an alley-oop dunk. Rutgers went back to its center twice on the next three possessions, and he returned the favor by hitting two lay-ups and a free throw.

The Scarlet Knights hit six of their first eight shots, building an 11-point lead in eight minutes, with Spencer — who had been in a three-point shooting slump entering the game, shooting 4-of-21 from deep in the last four games — putting his team up 18-7 from beyond the arc.

Then Omoruyi picked up his second foul and Rutgers struggled to score without him. It missed five of its next seven shots and turned the ball over three times in the span of four minutes, allowing the Golden Gophers to chip away with a 13-4 run that cut their deficit to two points with six minutes left in the first half.

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With backup big Antwone Woolfolk out for personal reasons — his grandmother passed last week, so he was back home in Ohio for the funeral — the already-thin depth behind Omoruyi was limited. Backup Dean Reiber played for a three-minute stretch before being replaced by Palmquist, who did not play once in Rutgers’ eight games in January or in any of its first 10 Big Ten games.

The Sweden native made the most of his opportunity, knocking down his first three-point attempt of the game to kickstart a 12-4 run from the Scarlet Knights to close the first half. Palmquist would score another x points in his team’s monster second half, adding to the best performance of his college career.

Rutgers would cruise to what is likely the most stress-free Big Ten win it will earn this season. The difficulty ramps up significantly for Saturday’s meeting with the Spartans, an opportunity to get revenge and take another step toward making this a historic season.