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Rutgers vs. Nebraska: 2019 Big Ten Tournament game preview

By Robert Kennedy

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 04: Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman #12 of the Michigan Wolverines celebrates after defeating the Purdue Boilermakers 75-66 during the championship game of the Big 10 Basketball Tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 4, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 04: Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman #12 of the Michigan Wolverines celebrates after defeating the Purdue Boilermakers 75-66 during the championship game of the Big 10 Basketball Tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 4, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /
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PISCATAWAY, NJ – FEBRUARY 05: Head coach Steve Pikiell of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights yells to his team during the first half of a game against the Michigan Wolverines at Rutgers Athletic Center on February 5, 2019 in Piscataway, New Jersey. Michigan defeated Rutgers 77-65. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
PISCATAWAY, NJ – FEBRUARY 05: Head coach Steve Pikiell of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights yells to his team during the first half of a game against the Michigan Wolverines at Rutgers Athletic Center on February 5, 2019 in Piscataway, New Jersey. Michigan defeated Rutgers 77-65. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /

Sticking with Rutgers…

Over the second half of the Big Ten regular season, Rutgers record is 3-7. The team is currently on a two-game losing streak, with defeats being dealt by Penn State and Indiana, to close out the last two regular season conference games. The loss to Indiana dealt a death-blow to the Scarlet Knights first-round bye hopes and sent them into a three-way tie for tenth place in the final conference standings. Coach Pikiell discussed his team’s results, post-Indiana’s 89-73 victory.

"We’ve got to play a lot better. Obviously, than we did today. We usually play a lot better on the defensive end…obviously we didn’t. We fouled too much. I mean, we’ve got to play with better energy. You know, leading into this tournament, I don’t even know what the seedings are or anything like that, so I’m not sure about any of that, yet. I just know we are going to have to play a lot better basketball, or it’s forty minutes and your seasons over."

He clearly wasn’t happy with his team’s performance.

Record Against Nebraska

Coach Pikiell is dead even with two wins and two losses against the Cornhuskers. Both wins occurred at the Rutgers Athletic Center. The first for the coach was on January 21st, 2017, when his team defeated Tim Miles’ team, 65-64. Nebraska swept Rutgers during the 2018 season with wins on the 24th of January, (54-60) and the 10th of February, (55-62). The Scarlet Knights have only played the Cornhuskers once during the 2019 regular season; they won at home on January, 21st, by a score of 76-69. At 2-2, these teams seem to be equally matched.

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