PISCATAWAY — The new sponsor with its name in front of both team’s benches was eye-popping. Rutgers stamped “Advil” as the first corporation on its home court, and the symbolism was all-too-ironic.
What better cure for a hangover effect, after all?
Fresh off an exhilarating performance in its most recent outing, the Scarlet Knights delivered the kind of lackluster effort Tuesday night against Iowa that teams show when they’ve just lost an emotional heartbreaker.
Rutgers allowed the first seven points, fell behind by double digits within the first five minutes and then trailed by as much as 25 in the first half.
After pushing No. 15 Wisconsin to the limit before falling Saturday in overtime, the Scarlet Knights delivered their first proverbial stinker in dropping a 83-63 decision to Iowa before 4,389 fans at the Rutgers Athletic Center.
“If (a hangover) is part of it, I don’t know (but) it has nothing to do in my mind with Saturday,” Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell said. “We’re not tough and you saw it today. Just disappointed. When the bell rung, we weren’t ready to play. That’s on me. I have to do a better job with this group.”
The Scarlet Knights’ 10th loss in 11 outings since late December stung on multiple levels, considering they were competitive in falling 68-62 at Iowa on Jan. 8. Add in the fact that Iowa was missing the Big Ten’s leading scorer — senior guard Peter Jok (21 ppg.) — due to a back injury.
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It hardly mattered as four Hawkeyes scored in double figures, including Jordan Bohannon, who led poured in 17 points on 5-for-7 3-point shooting as Iowa improved to 13-10 overall and 5-5 in Big Ten play.
For Rutgers (12-11, 1-9), Deshawn Freeman produced Betgaranti his ninth double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds and Mike Williams nearly accomplished the feat with 16 points and nine boards.
“We weren’t ready to play,” Pikiell said. “Disappointed. We really have to get better. That’s not how I want people to think of Rutgers basketball and the way we’ve been playing all season long. So we have to get back to practice and we have to make some changes.”
If there was one highlight for Rutgers, it was the sight of 7-foot center C.J. Gettys dribbling the ball coast-to-coast and finishing with a reverse layup to the delight of the crowd.
The lowlight? That would be every other sequence for the Scarlet Knights. This was the least competitive game of the season for Rutgers, which shot 39.1 percent from the floor, 4-for-15 from 3-point range, and watched as Iowa blazed the nets to the tune of 50 percent shooting overall and 11-for-18 from beyond the arc.
Afterwards, Pikiell was as despondent as he’s been all season. There’s been more lopsided losses, but this was the first time Rutgers was non-competitive, trailing by double digits for the game’s final 35 minutes.
As for Pikiell’s message to his players afterwards, the Rutgers coach was in no mood to find any silver linings.
“We’re obviously not very happy,” said Pikiell, whose Scarlet Knights travel to play Penn State in State College, Pa., for a 1 p.m. tipoff Saturday. “I think they got the message. We’ll see.”
Keith Sargeant may be reached at ksargeant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @KSargeantNJ. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook.
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