Rutgers defeats Michigan State at The Garden

 

photo courtesy of Rutgers Athletics

Rutgers triumphant over Michigan State at the World's Most Famous Arena

by Richard Kent, Contributor

NEW YORK, NY -  Rutgers defeated Michigan State 61-55 at Madison Square Garden to improve to 16-7 overall on the season, and 8-4 in the Big Ten. Now, the Scarlet Knights undisputedly hold onto second place, and inched closer to a second straight double-bye for the  Big Ten Tournament at the United Center in Chicago, which takes place March 8-12.

Michigan State led 25-19 at the half, but Rutgers responded and outscored the Spartans by 12 in the second half to secure the win. Paul Mulcahy led the Scarlet Knights in scoring with 17 points, while Cliff Omoruyi had 15 points and 12 boards. Caleb McConnell and Paul Mulcahy also combined for 7 steals. The win avenged a 70-57 loss to Michigan State at the Breslin Center on January 19.

In yesterday's meeting, Rutgers did a much better job shutting down Michigan State's offense. When both teams met in January, the Spartans shot 12-of-22 from 3-point range, but yesterday Rutgers limited the Spartans to 4-of-19 from deep.

Two other major storylines developed and might become just as significant as the win itself. With six and a half minutes left in the first half, defensive stalwart Mawot Mag went down with what appeared to be a knee injury. Mag grimaced in pain and never returned to the game. In the first half through 13 minutes of play, Mag was the leading scorer for Rutgers with 7 points. He is scheduled to meet with doctors today for a further evaluation of his knee.

The attendance at Madison Square Garden was the other significant storyline. About 14,844 fans were announced at the game, and easily 80% of the total attendance were clad in Scarlet. Anyone questioning whether Rutgers should play at least one game per year at the world’s most famous arena or questioning whether Rutgers would travel in numbers as well as any other team to Madison Square Garden is way off base. Yes, that includes the traveling contingents from UConn, Duke, and Syracuse. Rutgers fans showed up and made themselves heard.

There were more than 50 members from the media at yesterday's game, and many of them were national writers. If the game had been held at Jersey Mike's Arena, there probably would have been no more than 15 members of the media at the game.

Rutgers Should Consider a Future Non-Conference Game at MSG

In 2020, the Jimmy V Classic had scheduled Rutgers to face off against then ranked #1 Baylor at Madison Square Garden. Unfortunately, the game was scrapped due to COVID-19 and logistics. Since then Rutgers has not been considered for the Jimmy V Classic, but maybe the Jimmy V Classic should reconsider having Rutgers participate after yesterday's massive turnout. After all, Rutgers is New York City's team.

Rutgers should also show interest in trying to schedule a worthy non-conference foe to play at Madison Square Garden. A game that could ignite The Garden more than any in the future would be a Rutgers-UConn matchup; however, for a number of reasons that game will probably not happen unless the two meet at an NCAA Tournament game. 

A close source to the program shared that a Rutgers-Providence game at Mohegan Sun was considered for this season, but never developed; however, a future Rutgers-Providence matchup at The Garden could be another attractive non-conference matchup that would certainly put fans in the stands.