More on Rutgers Basketball’s third loss in a row, as Indiana dominates

Rutgers Basketball dropped its third in a row after falling to Indiana 82-59 at Jersey Mike’s Arena.

[On3 Deal: Get The Knight Report right now for just $1]

[On3 App: Get Rutgers push notifications from The Knight Report]

HOOSIER CLOSURE

It was a tough night for Rutgers’ perimeter defense as it allowed 15 3-pointers, with six coming from Indiana’s Nick Dorn. The Scarlet Knights (9-11, 2-7 Big Ten) also had trouble on the backboards, being out-rebounded 40-27.

”Obviously, I’m disappointed with how we played on both ends of the floor, and it’s on me,” Head Coach Steve Pikiell said. “It started yesterday, we had a terrible practice, the worst of the season. Then we came out today against a team that shoots the ball at a high percentage. I thought we’d been taking steps forward, especially rebounding the ball, but today was a huge step backward, and that’s on me to change it.”

The Hoosiers (13-7, 4-5 Big Ten) had three players record 20+ points as Lamar Wilkerson recorded a team-high 27 points and five rebounds. Dorn added 23 points, while Tucker Devries had a double-double with 22 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists.

”Nick [Dorn] is really good, I thought that when I watched the film, Lamar [Wilkerson] got his average, Tucker [DeVries] got his average plus some, so we have to play better,” Pikiell said. I thank the crowd for being there. The energy wasn’t there from our guys, and that’s on me. I’ve got to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”

Indiana took its largest lead of the game, 60-40, with 15 minutes remaining in the second half before Rutgers used a 7-0 run to cut it to a 13-point game with 13:02 left.

”We’ve been taking steps forward, but again, it started yesterday in practice,” Pikiell added. “We didn’t have the right focus, and we’re not good enough to play without focus. Against a team like Indiana, to not be ready to play is 100 percent on me.”

Much like for most of the night though, Indiana had a response and used a 6-0 run to put the game out of reach and take a 69-51 lead with 8:31 remaining.

“I didn’t like anything today, I thought we were getting better,” Pikiell said. “We out-rebounded our last three opponents, and this should have been another one. I hated that we only had five fouls, that tells you you’re not doing enough defensively. We need to be physical. We’ve shown signs of that, but we didn’t have any of it tonight.”

The Scarlet Knights finished 36 percent (21-for-58) from the field, with Tariq Francis supplying most of the offense with 28 points. No other player scored more than eight points.

FRANCIS FIGHTS FOR THE KNIGHTS

Francis did everything he could to keep Rutgers in the game in the first half, recording 21 of the team’s 32 points while shooting 8-for-14 from the floor.

”It didn’t really matter tonight,” Pikiell said. “His numbers coming off the bench are unbelievable. He started 11 games and has doubled his production coming off the bench. He’s playing the most minutes and taking the most shots. If starting matters to him, then we need to get other guys ready. He plays a lot with the starters anyway. That wasn’t our issue tonight, we had a lot of issues.”

Indiana’s shooting proved to be too much for Rutgers to handle though, as it finished 50 percent (16-for-32) from the field and 8-for-20 from three. The Hoosiers finished the half on an 8-2 run, taking a 47-32 lead into halftime.

”Our focus wasn’t there in practice, and we didn’t understand how that could carry over,”Francis said. “We’ve got to be better as players. It’s not on Coach, he told us. We have to come ready to practice.”

Team captain Jamichael Davis echoed the same sentiments.

”Our focus and energy weren’t right,” he said. “Preparation is everything, and we didn’t come ready.”

DeVries led Indiana in the first half, nearly recording a double-double with 16 points and seven rebounds. Dorn added 14 points, while Wilkerson had 13 points and four rebounds.

”You can’t give up 82 points at home, and you can’t get out-rebounded,” Pikiell continued. “Those have been our Achilles heels all year. I know we have ten new guys, but we’ve shown signs of improvement. Yesterday set the tone for today, and we can’t let that happen again. This is the toughest league in the country. You get knocked down, but you have to get back up, and these guys will.”

Francis kept Rutgers in the game early, scoring 12 of its first 14 points to make it a 20-14 game with 10:11 remaining in the first half. However, Indiana took back control by hitting five of its next six shots to take a 33-19 lead with 5:15 left.

”Tariq can score at a high level, but there are other things too, he didn’t have a rebound tonight,” Pikiell said. “When guards don’t rebound and you get out-rebounded, that’s a problem. We’ve been taking steps forward, and tonight was a big step back. We’ll practice tomorrow, we’ll have a long, intense practice, and we’ll be ready.”

Powers answered with back-to-back threes to make it 33-25 with four minutes left.