Rutgers University
14-20,6-14Big Ten
Creighton
16-17,9-11Big East
Men's Basketball's Season Ends vs. Creighton at The Crown
Apr 03 | Men's Basketball
Rutgers got off to a hot start, making five of its first seven shots as seven early points from Lino Mark pushed the Scarlet Knights to an 11-4 lead. RU later used a fastbreak layup from Chris Nwuli to stretch the advantage to double digits and built a 22-12 lead midway through the opening half.
Creighton responded with a 9-0 run to cut into the deficit. After starting 9-of-14 from the floor, Rutgers made just one of its final 16 shots of the half, allowing the Blue Jays to climb back into the contest. Rutgers led for 15:21 of the opening 20 minutes, but Creighton closed the half on a 19-6 run to take a 31-28 lead into halftime.
Tariq Francis led Rutgers with nine first-half points, going 4-for-4 from the free throw line, while Lino Mark added eight points at the break.
The Scarlet Knights opened the second half with a dunk from Emmanuel Ogbole, but Creighton answered quickly and used a 7-0 run to extend the lead to 52-39. The Blue Jays continued to control the tempo, holding a 54-44 advantage midway through the second half.
Francis finished with a team-high 19 points, going 12-for-12 at the free throw line. Jamichael Davis added 17 points off the bench on 7-of-9 shooting, while Mark recorded 14 points and seven rebounds. Ogbole contributed six points in the loss.
Creighton pulled away late behind 28 points from Nik Graves and 16 points from Jasen Green. The Blue Jays shot 61.5 percent in the second half and outscored Rutgers 51-41 after the break.
Rutgers shot 36.9 percent from the field and 2-for-14 from three-point range, while both teams scored 36 points in the paint. With the result, Rutgers concludes the season at 14-20 overall.
