Men’s Basketball Downs No. 11 Seed Minnesota in Big Ten Tournament

Wednesday, March 11

Chicago, Ill.

9 PM

Rutgers University

14-18,6-14Big Ten

University of Minnesota

15-17,8-12Big Ten

Rutgers

Minnesota

Men’s Basketball Downs No. 11 Seed Minnesota in Big Ten Tournament

Mar 11 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

Tariq Francis leads RU with Progarm's Big Ten Tournament Record 29 Points

CHICAGO – Rutgers men's basketball had a strong effort in its first game of the 2026 Big Ten Tournament to extend its postseason run at the United Center. The Scarlet Knights defeated Minnesota 72-67 to improve to 14-18 overall and drop the Gophers to 15-17. The Scarlet Knights have been hot down the closing stretch of the season, winning three of their past four games and five of the past eight.

RU was led by an elite scoring performance from Tariq Francis. The guard posted 29 points to lead RU to the victory, scoring the most points for any RU player in a Big Ten Tournament game. Francis made five three-pointers, and RU made 10 as a team, representing the most three-pointers for RU in a Big Ten Tournament game. As a team, Rutgers had 22 assists, the most for RU in any Big Ten Tournament game.

"This is what I've worked for, just trusting in my coaches and everyone that I've worked with, knowing I could perform on this stage," Francis said on the Big Ten Network studio set postgame. "Our coaching staff has been keeping us together, letting us know that there will be ups and downs, we're a young team. When we get to this point of the year, it's just one game at a time."

Jamichael Davis added 13 points and six assists for RU. Emmanuel Ogbole had 10 points, seven rebounds and three blocks. RU shot 46 percent for the game, including 50% from the field after halftime. RU made 10-of-23 three-pointers and 12-of-17 from the free throw line.

Rutgers came out of the gate shooting well against the Minnesota zone defense. The Scarlet Knights made seven of their first 11 shots in the game, with an early six points inside from Emmanuel Ogbole and capped by a triple from Jamichael Davis to take a 16-13 lead.

"We've been better against zone right now," head coach Steve Pikiell said on Big Ten Network when interviewed on Big Ten Network shortly after that Davis three-pointer. "We're well prepared, but we have to rebound and we can't foul. Darren Buchanan getting two early fouls is not good for us, so we've got to keep playing defense."

The two fouls on Buchanan sent him to the bench and led to a Minnesota run. With Buchanan sitting for nine minutes, the Gophers responded with a 12-5 run, capitalizing on a stretch where RU made just one shot over seven minutes. The Gophers lead grew to four, but Tariq Francis stayed hot for RU, hitting his first three shots from long range and was 4-of-5 on threes in the first half.

At halftime, Minnesota held a slime 31-24 lead. Francis (16) and Ogbole (eight) combined for 24 of RU's 29 points. Francis had the last eight points for RU, the only player to score in the final 5:26 of the half, and had 11 of the final 13 points for RU across the last 12:45 of the frame. The Scarlet Knights did not shoot any free throws in the opening stanza.

"We've got to limit our mistakes defensively," Francis said on BTN to Andy Katz as they headed into the halftime locker room. We need to lock in, and I feel like we'll hit our shots and be good.

In the second half, Francis scored the first five points for RU for a 34-34 tie. Harun Zrno (two of them) and Jamichael Davis then hit three-pointers, with the score even at 47-47. Rutgers made six of its first 11 shots in the second half. A three-pointer from Jamichael Davis, RU's 10^th of the game, put RU in front 54-52 on a 7-0 Scarlet Knights spurt.

The Scarlet Knights blanked Minnesota for a five minute stretch, with seven turnovers forced in a span of eight possessions, stretching their lead to 58-52 with five minutes to play and 62-55 as the game hit the three minute mark, with a well-timed 13-2 run.

The Scarlet Knights closed out the game strong to ensure the victory. After Minnesota led by five, 52-47, with 9:49 to play, RU closed out the game on a 25-15 run.

"Our defense was really good," head coach Steve Pikiell said on the Big Ten Network to sideline reporter Andy Katz. "We showed some grit today, on the backboards, some timely threes. I'm proud of our guys and their effort. We're getting better. Our young guys are getting better and they've stayed the course, they've been connected, and you saw that today. We live another day, and tomorrow we have our work cut out for us against UCLA."

Postgame Notes

Rutgers made 10 three-pointers, the most triples ever for RU in a Big Ten Tournament game.
Tariq Francis scored 29 points, the most ever by a RU player in a Big Ten Tournament game.
- It was Francis' 10^th time this season reaching 20+ points
- He has scored double-figures in 25 of 32 games this season.
Francis was 6-of-7 at the free throw line. He has now made 150 free throws on the season, tying for the fifth most free throws made in a single season by a RU player.
Francis hit five three-pointers, matching RU's Big Ten record for threes (5, Nigel Johnson, 2017 vs. Northwestern)
Emmanuel Ogbole scored 10 points with seven rebounds.
- He reached double-figures for the fourth time this season and second time in the past three games.
Ogbole tied his career-high with three blocks
Darren Buchanan had a career-high seven assists

With the Win:

Rutgers won its first Big Ten Tournament game since 2023 (versus No. 8 seed Michigan).
Rutgers earned its sixth lifetime win at the Big Ten Tournament since joining the league in 2015 (6-10 record).
Rutgers defeated Minnesota for the second time in three meetings at the Big Ten Tournament.
Rutgers improved to 9-12 all-time against Minnesota, having won seven of the past 11 games.

Up Next

With the win, RU advances to play No. 6 seed UCLA. That game will be the final contest of Thursday's session, tipping off on Big Ten Network at approximately 9 pm.