No. 14 Seed Rutgers Upsets 6th-Seeded Indiana To Reach Big Ten Quarterfinals
NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ - FEBRUARY 19: A general view of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights playing against the Syracuse Orange at Louis Brown Athletic Center on February 19, 2012 in New Brunswick, New Jersey. (Photo by Chris Chambers/Getty Images)
The Big Ten saved a major upset for the nightcap on day two of this year's conference tournament.
Rutgers, the 14th and final seed in the field, won its second game in as many days. The Scarlet Knights knocked off sixth-seeded Indiana 76-69 to advance to the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals.
Counting its win over Minnesota on Wednesday, Rutgers has nearly as many conference tournament wins (two) this year as it did regular season Big Ten wins (three). They're the first 14-seed in Big Ten history to reach the quarterfinal round.
For the second game in a row, the Scarlet Knights were paced by junior point guard Corey Sanders. Sanders scored a game-high 28 points on 12-of-20 shooting, including this ferocious dunk in the final minute.
At the beginning of this game, it looked like Rutgers was going to get run out of the building. The Scarlet Knights couldn't buy a bucket and fell behind 24-8.
However, RU ended the first half on a 21-5 run to take a 29-28 lead at intermission. They never trailed in the second half.
With the win, Rutgers won two conference tournament games in the same year for the first time since the 1998 Big East tourney. That year, the Scarlet Knights beat West Virginia and Georgetown to reach the semifinals.
In order to reach the semis of this year's Big Ten Tournament, Rutgers will have to get past third-seeded Purdue in the quarters on Friday night. That's the fourth and final game of the day.
Michigan State-Wisconsin, Michigan-Nebraska and Ohio State-Penn State are the other three matchups.
