PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Rutgers' home arena is quickly turning into a house of horrors for Michigan State.
A year after getting run off the floor by 30 points, the Spartans, once again, were overwhelmed in Piscataway, succumbing to a torrid shooting game by Rutgers as the Scarlet Knights used a second-half surge to cruise to an 84-63 victory over No. 13 Michigan State.
The Spartans had won all 11 meetings in the series before last season and now have lost two in a row to the Scarlet Knights, who seemed to make every shot they took, putting together an 11-0 run early in the second half to seize control of the game.
Six players scored in double figures for Rutgers (13-9, 7-5 Big Ten), which shot 61.5% (32 for 52), including 9 for 20 from 3-point range.
Ron Harper Jr. led the way with 17 points, matched by Clifford Omoruyi while Paul Mulcahy scored 15 and handed out 12 assists, dicing up the Michigan State defense. Geo Baker and Dean Reiber each added 12 points while Caleb McConnell scored 11 for the Scarlet Knights.
Michigan State (17-5, 8-3) had trouble finding any offensive rhythm at any point in the game, failing to score in transition as its half-court offense was laboring for most of the game.
Gabe Brown was a lone bright spot, breaking out of a shooting slump to score 20 on 6-for-7 shooting from 3-point range. Marcus Bingham Jr. added 12 points as Michigan State ended a stretch of four of five games on the road by managing three victories with only one coming on the road.
The Spartans now sit a full game back in the loss column behind first-place Illinois with home games next week against Wisconsin and Indiana.
Rutgers could hardly miss to start the game, making 10 of its first 13 shots as the Scarlet Knights had control, opening an eight-point lead in the first nine minutes of the game. However, the Spartans kept chipping away, overcoming three first-half fouls on point guard Tyson Walker as Brown and Max Christie started to heat up from long range.
Back-to-back 3-pointers from Christie pulled Michigan State within 21-16 with 11 minutes left in the half before Brown scored eight points in a row, putting back a Christie miss then hitting two 3-pointers in a row to cut the Rutgers lead to 27-26 with five minutes to play in the half.
After Michigan State tied the score at 28, Rutgers responded with a 7-2 surge to push the lead back to 35-30. But a Joey Hauser 3-pointer kept the Spartans close, and after Harper converted his own three-point play for the Scarlet Knights, Brown hit his fourth 3-pointer of the half to cut the Rutgers lead to 40-38 headed to the halftime locker room.
The Scarlet Knights finished the half shooting 61.5% (16 for 26), including 4 for 9 from 3-point range. Michigan State, however, hit eight 3-pointers and turned it over only five times to keep within striking distance.
The bucket from Brown offered little momentum as Rutgers took off again, scoring the first seven points of the second half as MSU coach Tom Izzo drew a technical foul during the surge. A Brown 3-pointer helped Michigan State pull within 49-43 with 16:14 to play
After a Malik Hall bucket made it 50-47 in favor of Rutgers, the Scarlet Knights went on an 8-0 run to seize control once again, taking a 58-47 lead with 12:50 to play.
Michigan State never mounted any sort of comeback from there as Rutgers rode the momentum, pushing the lead to 24 at one point in the final four minutes as the home crowd celebrated.
