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1/5 Big Ten Recap: MSU Beats Rutgers

Recap all the Big Ten action from Tuesday.

NCAA Basketball: Rutgers at Michigan State Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports

The Big Ten was supposed to have two games on Tuesday night, but only ended up having one after Nebraska and Purdue’s matchup was postponed. Michigan State and Rutgers faced off in the lone remaining game.

Let’s take a look at what happened.

Game of the Night:

-No. 23 Michigan State Spartans 68, No. 15 Rutgers Scarlet Knights 45

After an exciting start to the season, things haven’t gone all that well for Michigan State. The team opened Big Ten play at 0-3 and the loss to Minnesota last Monday was really rough. There was more than enough time to turn it around, but Tuesday’s game felt like an important one in East Lansing. Fortunately for fans, Michigan State played really well and ended up scoring a 23-point win over a ranked Rutgers team.

Michigan State’s defense was really impressive on Tuesday night, holding Rutgers to a dreadful 0.66 points per possession and 45 total points. It was easily the team’s worst offensive showing of the season and something that won’t get it done in Big Ten play. Michigan State also shot well from three, connecting on 42.9 percent of the team’s attempts.

For Michigan State, this is clearly a really important win. The Spartans improved to 8-3 overall, 2-3 in Big Ten play, and 39th on KenPom with the victory. This gives Michigan State its first quality win in more than a month and should hold off the critics for at least a little while. Spartan fans will hope they continue to see Tuesday’s version of Aaron Henry moving forward. Michigan State will return to action on Friday at home against Purdue.

Meanwhile, Rutgers fell to 7-3 overall and 3-3 in Big Ten play with the loss. The Scarlet Knights still remain in solid position, but this one was rough. Rutgers couldn’t find anything on offense and Geo Baker and Montez Mathis both had really rough nights. Fans need to hope Tuesday doesn’t start a trend. Rutgers will try and bounce back at home against Ohio State on Saturday.

Cancelled/Postponed:

-Nebraska Cornhuskers vs. Purdue Boilermakers

This looked like it could be a fun one. The teams intend to reschedule it at a later date.

We’ll have to wait and see when that happens.