Paul Mulcahy scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half and Rutgers used suffocating defense to control Maryland in a 64-50 Big Ten victory Thursday night in Piscataway, N.J.
Cam Spencer contributed 13 points and five assists and Cliff Omoruyi added four points, 13 rebounds and three blocks as Rutgers (11-4, 3-1 Big Ten) won its fifth straight.
Coming off a 65-64 conquest of No. 1 Purdue on the road on Monday, the Scarlet Knights were energized by a sellout crowd and used intense pressure defense to rattle Maryland (10-5, 1-3).
The Terps committed 20 turnovers and made 41.3 percent of their shots from the floor.
Jahmir Young led Maryland with 13 points, all in the second half. Donald Carey added 12 points, all on 3-pointers, as the Terps lost for the fifth time in their last seven games following an 8-0 start.
A driving three-point play by Young with 14:27 left brought Maryland close at 34-30. But over the next 4:11 the Terps went cold and Rutgers responded with 12 straight points, half of which were provided by Mulcahy, who finished 6-of-6 from the floor.
The key play in the run came when Mulcahy got free on a fast break and drew an intentional foul on Maryland’s Julian Reese (eight points, six rebounds).
Mulcahy dropped two free throws and on the awarded possession, Aundre Hyatt scored on a putback. The run put the Scarlet Knights up 46-30 and their advantage stayed in double digits the rest of the way.
After the Terps scored the first two buckets of the game, they went stone-cold, missing 11 straight shots during a scoring drought that spanned 8:45.
During the stretch, Rutgers scored 15 straight, with three coming on a long-distance shot by Spencer. Derek Simpson topped the spree with a fast-break slam set up by a blocked shot by Hyatt.
Maryland had 12 turnovers in the first half and missed its first 10 shots from beyond the arc.
But in the final 2:32 of the period, Carey made a pair of 3-pointers, including one with 2 seconds left, as the Terps went to the locker room down 24-17.
–Field Level Media