Rutgers basketball: Cam Spencer does it again, sinks Northwestern with late 3
Cam Spencer has been with Rutgers basketball for just six months, but he's already carved out a place in program lore.
Nine days after sinking top-ranked Purdue with a late 3-pointer, the junior guard drilled a triple with 15 seconds left to lift the Rutgers basketball team past Northwestern 65-62 Wednesday. The transfer from Loyola-Maryland finished with 23 points and made six of his seven 3-point attempts -- the latest notch in his remarkable journey from a former zero-star recruit who was largely unknown outside of the Patriot League last season.
"There was never a doubt," Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell said of Spencer's fit at the Big Ten level. "I loved the guy the minute he set foot on campus."
Spencer's resilience embodied Wednesday's effort by Rutgers (12-5 overall, 4-2 Big Ten), which squandered a 10-point second-half lead, then rallied from four down in the final 1:14 to earn a resume-building victory in thrilling fashion.
“It’s just trusting the work you put in and staying poised in those moments," Spencer said, speaking for himself but also the program.
How hot is Spencer right now?
He's 19-of-30 (.633) on 3-pointers over his last five games and 40-of-83 (.482) on the season from deep. That's on pace to eclipse the program's single-season record of .474 set by by Tom Savage in 1988-89. Spencer's six 3-pointers against Northwestern tied for the second-most ever by a Rutgers player in a Big Ten game, behind only Geo Baker seven at Minnesota last January.
Northwestern (12-4, 3-2), which was ranked 13th in the Big Ten’s preseason media poll, has been the league's biggest surprise thus far. This was a collision of the conference's top two defenses, with Rutgers ranked third nationally at that end and Northwestern 11th. The defensive numbers in this game wound up pretty close to a stalemate, though Rutgers did post a 13-7 edge in second-chance points thanks in part to 11 boards from center Cliff Omoruyi.
Here's a telling stat: The Scarlet Knights have held all 17 opponents this season under their scoring average (Northwestern's was 68 points per game).
Also of note: Postgrad guard Caleb McConnell has moved into a tie for fifth place on Rutgers’ career steals list with Jammin’ James Bailey at 178. Some good company there:
1. Eddie Jordan - 2202. Myles Mack - 2113. Rashod Kent - 1894. Geo Baker – 1805. James Bailey, Caleb McConnell - 178
The Scarlet Knights have beaten Northwestern in six of their past eight meetings.
3 THOUGHTS
1. The game-winning sequence
With Rutgers trailing 62-60 and 23 seconds left, senior point guard Paul Mulcahy (12 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists) drew a double team on the left wing as the 6-foot-11 Omoruyi rolled to the basket without a defender. That forced Northwestern's Chase Audige to choose between the big man and Spencer, who was isolated on the far side. Mulcahy looked at Omoruyi first and when Audige committed to him, sent a pass across the arc to Rutgers' unguarded sharpshooter.
“We spaced the floor out and put the ball in Paul’s hands and he makes really good decisions," Pikiell said. "It could have went anywhere and I feel confident in all my players.”
Rutgers' spacing was well-executed, but it was still shocking to see Spencer, who beat Purdue from a similar spot and who tore up Northwestern all game, so alone for a 3-pointer. When the only shot that can beat you is a 3, and there's a guy shooting the eyes out of the ball from deep, how is no one face-guarding him from the inbounds? Anyone with a brain could have foreseen Spencer licking his chops there.
2. Road woes are history
Rutgers is now 2-1 in Big Ten road games, and those arguably were its three best performances so far this season. Two things were gained Wednesday. For the resume, a second Quad 1 victory to go with the triumph at Purdue, and a verdict that raises the Scarlet Knights' road/neutral ledger to 2-3 -- an important metric and one that bedeviled the program in the past.
But perhaps bigger than that, reinforcement that this group is capable of rising above difficult circumstances, an intangible that can make all the difference come March. The core of this team is now 6-6 on the road in Big Ten play since last January -- an unthinkable record for a program that won six Big Ten road games throughout the entirety of Pikiell's first four seasons on the banks.
For the record, here are those road wins:
At Maryland 70-59
At Nebraska 63-61
At Wisconsin 73-65
At Indiana 66-63
At No. 1 Purdue 65-64
At Northwestern 65-62
3. Never a dull moment
There is so much parity in the Big Ten this season, it's tough to draw any grand conclusions week to week. The only constant is the roller-coaster that just about every team endures. Rutgers is in good position right now and has a chance to gain some separation on Sunday in what is sure to be a high-voltage event.
The knives will be out when Ohio State (10-5, 2-2), which has dropped two straight heading into Thursday’s home game against Minnesota visits at 2:15 (Big Ten Network). The Buckeyes have been without ace big man Zed Key (shoulder), whose status is game-go-game. No matter who is on the court, don't expect a letdown from the Scarlet Knights, who dropped a one-point decision in Columbus last month due to officiating errors so egregious they required a statement of error by the league.
"I told the guys, enjoy the road win," Pikiell said, "but we’ve got five minutes until Ohio State comes in."
3 QUOTES
Cam Spencer, on Rutgers' late-game poise on the road: “You have to credit the veteran leadership we have in Paul, Caleb, Cliff, they just have so much poise down the stretch of games. There’s never any panic before the clock hits zero.”
Spencer, on his transition to Rutgers from Loyola-Maryland: “Give a lot of credit to my coaches and my teammates who helped me. They made my transition easy. The trust Coach Pikiell had in me is really all I needed.”
Pikiell, when asked about the loose whistle in the first half becoming a tight whistle in the second: “It’s hard to tell your team how it’s being officiated when it’s like that.”
Jerry Carino has covered the New Jersey sports scene since 1996 and the college basketball beat since 2003. He is an Associated Press Top 25 voter. Contact him at jcarino@gannettnj.com.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Rutgers basketball: Cam Spencer does it again, sinks Northwestern
