Cam Spencer scored 22 points and Clifford Omoruyi added 12 as Rutgers snapped a three-game skid by holding off cold-shooting Wisconsin 58-57 on Saturday afternoon in Madison, Wis.
Rutgers (17-10, 9-7 Big Ten) erased a 57-54 deficit when Omoruyi scored on a dunk and Aundre Hyatt added a putback on the next possession for a 58-57 lead with 1:08 left.
Wisconsin called a timeout with 11 seconds left, but freshman Connor Essegian missed a leaner from the lane and then missed a 3-pointer from the corner at the buzzer.
Jordan Davis had 14 points and Max Klesmit added 11 for the Badgers (15-11, 7-9). Wisconsin, which missed its final five shots, shot just 21.9 percent (7 of 32) in the second half.
Essegian, who had a career-high 23 points in his last game and averaged a team-high 17.2 over his last five, had just two free throws, missing all 10 field-goal attempts — including 0 of 7 beyond the arc.
The Badgers hit just 3 of their first 22 shots in the second half before Kamari McGee’s 3-pointer snapped a scoring drought of more than six minutes to bring Wisconsin within 50-48.
Klesmit and Davis sandwiched 3-pointers around a layup by Hyatt to put the Badgers up 54-52 with 5:09 remaining. McGee’s 3-pointer put Wisconsin up 57-54 with 3:36 left.
Rutgers snapped a 45-45 tie when Spencer hit a 3-pointer to snap a scoring drought of almost five minutes and Paul Mulcahy turned a steal into a breakaway layup for a 50-45 lead with 7:53 left.
Rutgers opened the second half with a 7-3 run, going in front 43-37 on Mulcahy’s jumper from the lane.
Wisconsin answered with eight consecutive points as the Scarlet Knights went scoreless for almost 4 1/2 minutes before Dean Reiber’s dunk tied it 45-45 with 12:54 remaining.
Spencer shot the Scarlet Knights to a 36-34 lead at the break with 19 first-half points. Spencer hit his first six shots, including 5 of 5 from beyond the arc, before finally missing a 3-pointer with 38 seconds left.
–Field Level Media
