PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Rutgers followed a blowout of Michigan State last Saturday with a 66-64 win over No. 16 Ohio State in a Big Ten men’s basketball game on Wednesday night.
The Buckeyes led 64-56 with 3:48 left in the game but Rutgers fought back to tie it with just over a minute to play then took the lead at 66-64 with 18 seconds left on the clock on a pair of free throws by Geo Baker to complete a 10-0 run.
Rutgers blocked two shot attempts by OSU in the game’s final four seconds to hang on for the win. First, Ron Harper Jr. blocked a shot by Malaki Branham out of bounds with 3.6 seconds left to play. Then Justin Ahrens’ 3-point attempt from the corner was partially blocked by Baker.
Baker scored 25 points and had 6 assists to lead Rutgers (14-9, 8-5 Big Ten). Clifford Ormoruyi added 13 points and Paul Mulcahy scored 12 points.
Branham’s 19 points led Ohio State (14-6, 7-4 Big Ten). E.J. Liddell scored 16 points and Zed Key had 10 points and 12 rebounds.
Rutgers took a 32-31 edge at halftime. There were 10 lead changes in the first half. Ohio State’s 8-point lead was the biggest lead for either team.
Ohio State led a significant amount of the second half before Rutgers dominated the final 3 1/2 minutes. OSU had won four of its last five games before Wednesday night’s loss. It had won 10 of its previous 13 games against Rutgers.
Ohio State will play at Michigan at 6 p.m. Saturday in its next game.
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