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Indiana threw a couple of punches. Rutgers dodged them and moves on to face Illinois tomorrow at 6:30 pm.
Four Thoughts.
40 Gets You 40: New Title! Forty minutes today gets you another forty minutes tomorrow. The Scarlet Knights did what they had to do. They hit key shots. Got key steals. They got key rebounds. They wore down Indiana. The defense was incredible and they held the Hoosiers without a field goal for almost the last ten minutes of the game. Just an all around great performance. Now a big match-up with the Fighting Illini tomorrow.
Indiana Choked This Away: They missed free throw after free throw. They were able to put two scares into Rutgers—one in the first half after the open tip and one in the second when they were able to take a one point lead. But Indiana went 2-16 from three (yeah defense) and only 6-15 from the free throw line. Indiana had opportunities to make this close late. But they didn’t keep going. Says a lot about the veteran presence of Rutgers.
Shoot, Paul Mulcahy!: That was the turning point of the game. On two consecutive posessions, Rutgers found Mulcahy for three in the corner. He buried them both and helped the Scarlet Knight pull away from Indiana. Paul had 10 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists. Just a great game all around for a role player who does all the dirty work.
Rutgers Swaggers: You know what I love about this team? The swagger. They believe they can win. They talk and chirp. And usually they can back it up. In previous regimes, it was all about matching up with the other team and hoping you can get hot. This team believes it can win games. And you know what? They’re dancing, so the pressure is off. There’s only one thing left to do. You’ve come this far? Might as well win the whole thing. Illinois is very, very, very good. But Rutgers matches up well with them, and now they believe. Let’s see how tomrorow goes.