Scarlet Knights Avenge and Advance

No. 14 seed Rutgers advanced to the third round of the TIAA Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament and avenged its 19-point, regular-season loss with a win over No. 11 seed Minnesota. The teams battled in a tightly contested first half, featuring nine lead changes and four ties. Tariq Francis carried the Scarlet Knights with 16 of their 29 first-half points, while Grayson Grove led the Gophers with 10. Minnesota held a slim 31-29 edge at halftime, despite Rutgers’ early 7-0 run and Francis’ hot hand.

The second half saw both teams trading blows, highlighted by a flurry of three-pointers (six straight scores were triples) and a decisive 11-0 Rutgers run fueled by Minnesota turnovers. The Scarlet Knights capitalized on 15 Gopher giveaways, scoring 17 points off turnovers. Down the stretch, Rutgers sealed the 72-67 win with clutch free throws from Jamichael Davis, Harun Zrno, and Francis, who set a Rutgers Big Ten Tournament record with 29 points.

No. 14 seed Rutgers advances to play No. 6 seed UCLA in the third round at about 8 p.m. CT tomorrow on Big Ten Network (following Northwestern-Purdue). The Bruins bested the Scarlet Knights by more than 30 points in their last meeting. We'll see if RU can avenge big regular season losses on back-to-back nights. Want to see the rematch in person in Chicago?  Click here .

Full breakdown below. 👇 Get more tournament stories here .

First Half: Seesaw affair

• Both teams score before Rutgers goes on a 7-0 run to take a 9-4 lead! Emmanuel Ogbole has a quick six points for the Scarlet Knights (16:27).
• Isaac Asuma nets his seventh point of the game for the Gophers to tie it up at 13 with 13:54 left in the first half.
• Minnesota's defense holds Rutgers scoreless for over five minutes, but the Gophers only put together a 5-0 run. They lead 18-16 (9:45).
• Tariq Francis (Rutgers) is the first player of the game in double digits after nailing a three to cut Minnesota's lead to one. 25-24 with 4:01 left in the half.
• Francis puts up another five points to give the Scarlet Knights a 29-27 lead! 1:45 to go.
• Grayson Grove scores four for the Gophers in response to take the advantage right back heading into halftime! 31-29 Gophers.
• Notable: We've had nine lead changes and four ties in the first half already! The largest advantage was just five points and came back in the first four minutes of the game (RU).
• Key Contributors: Francis has scored 16 points for Rutgers; the rest of the team has 13 combined. Grove leads the Gophers with 10 points.
• Notable: Darren Buchanan Jr. (RU) picked up three fouls in the first half.

Second Half: Defense gets it done

• Rutgers and Tariq Francis put together a 9-2 run to take a 38-36 lead! (15:32).
• It's raining threes! Between the two teams, six straight scores come from distance. Two from Bobby Durkin (MINN) and two from Harun Zrno. The last one leaves the game tied at 47 with 11:11 to go.
• The Gophers pull ahead 52-47 courtesy of a Cade Tyson three-point play and a Langston Reynolds layup (9:49). Rutgers responds right away with four quick points to get back within one.
• The Scarlet Knights mount an 11-0 run to take a 58-52 lead! They take advantage of six consecutive Minnesota turnovers to get back in the game (5:43).
• The teams go back and forth as Rutgers takes a five-point lead into the final minute of the game. 👀
• Minnesota starts fouling to regain possession. Jamichael Davis drains four straight free throws, Ogbole comes through with a massive block, and Zrno hits two more from the charity stripe for the Scarlett Knights. Francis' two free throws break Rutgers' single-game Big Ten Tournament record with 29 points.
• Scarlet Knights advance with a 72-67 win!
• Notable: Rutgers earned 17 points off 15 Minnesota turnovers.

Want more features like this?  Click here  and tell us who you root for.