Rutgers men’s basketball fell to Creighton 82-69 in the first round of the College Basketball Crown, which officially brings to an end the 2025-2026 season for the Scarlet Knights. Despite a strong showing from the defense early on, Rutgers could not generate the offense it needed to stay competitive throughout the entire game.
Emmanuel Ogbole would get the scoring started for Rutgers, hitting a layup in the paint for the first score of the game. The Knights’ high energy level of play would put Creighton
in a hole early on, as they led 11-4 early on. Rutgers would keep up the pressure over the next five minutes, clawing their way to a 22-12 lead with 10 minutes left to go in the half. Guards Tariq Francis and Lino Mark would be the engine for the Knights offense early on, as they would combine for 14 of Rutgers 22 points after the first 10 minutes of play; however, it was their aggressive defense that forced the Blue Jays to start slow offensively.
Despite the fast start, the Knights’ lead would quickly evaporate after Creighton went on a 9-0 scoring run to shrink Rutgers lead to one before tying the game off a Josh Dix three-point shot a few short moments later. Creighton would get their first lead of the game with just over a minute left to go in the half. The Blue Jays would finish the first half on a 19-6 run to go into the half up 31-28.
In the second half, it was once again Ogbole who opened up the scoring with a dunk. Rutgers would retake the lead with a Francis free throw. The lead would bounce back and forth until Nik Graves tallied a three-point play for Creighton. From that point forward, the Knights would not seriously challenge the Blue Jays’ lead.
Rutgers main struggles throughout the game were their shooting and shot selection, finishing the game hitting 37 percent of their shots from the field and 14 percent of their shots from three. In comparison, Creighton shot 46 percent from the field and 29 percent from three. The Blue Jays shot significantly better from the line as well, hitting 83 percent of their free throws compared to the Knights’ 73 percent.
One concerning site is that the offense looked less and less organized as the game went on. Rutgers was attacking the paint early with some success, but they started to move away from that before Creighton essentially shut the door down low. The Knights could not find a way to solve the Blue Jays’ adjustments, which allowed their offense even more of an opportunity to get rolling.
Rutgers top scorer in the game was Francis, who had 19 points. However, even he struggled in shooting from the floor, hitting just 3 of 15 shots, but getting 12 points from free throws.
With this loss, Rutgers men’s basketball will look to the transfer portal in the hope that it can address the team’s many needs. The hope is that they can make this happen with a much bigger NIL warchest aiding their efforts.
