Rutgers remains unbeaten at home, beats Indiana 59-50

PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) — Akwasi Yeboah had 14 points and seven rebounds and surprising Rutgers pushed its home record to 12-0 with a 59-50 victory over Indiana on Wednesday night.

The Scarlet Knights (13-4, 4-2 Big Ten) used a 24-6 spurt bridging the end of the first half and the start of the second and a tenacious defense to hold the Hoosiers (13-4, 3-3) to a season-low point total.

During the game-deciding run, Rutgers got points from eight players, with none scoring more than four points. It turned a 22-21 first-half deficit into a 45-28 lead.

Caleb McConnell added 10 points for Rutgers, which shot almost 47 percent from the field.

Justin Smith had 15 points to lead Indiana. Aljami Durham added 10 points and Joey Brunk had 10 points and 10 rebounds.

The Hoosiers shot 31.7 percent from the field (19 of 60), including 2 of 19 from long range. They did not make a 3-pointer until Durham hit one with 5:18 to play. The last time Indiana did not hit a 3-pointer in a game was Feb. 25, 2010 against Wisconsin.

Rutgers, which has not been to a postseason tournament since 2005-06, opened the game with a 12-0 run only to see the Hoosiers come back and take a 22-21 lead on a layup by Smith.

A 3-pointer by Ron Harper Jr. put the Scarlet Knights in front for good, and Jacob Young followed with a layup off a steal. Freshman Paul Mulcahy added a 3-pointer to stretch the margin to 29-22 and the team went to the locker room with Rutgers ahead 31-24.

McConnell hit from inside to open the second half and Yeboah nailed a 3-pointer to start a 14-4 run that put the game out of reach.