March Madness: Rutgers gag away late lead in latest example of Big Ten Heartbreak

By losing a late lead, Rutgers joined the Big Ten party of disappointment in the NCAA Tournament.

As if things could not possibly get worse for the Big Ten in the NCAA Tournament, leave it to the Rutgers Scarlet Knights to aggravate the situation.

Holding onto a late lead against the Houston Cougars, Rutgers could not close the deal and wound up losing 63-60 and exiting the tournament. If that wasn’t bad enough, after Baylor knocked Wisconsin out, the Big Ten now has six teams knocked out before the Sweet 16, leaving only Michigan, Iowa and Maryland.

Rutgers should not have lost. They led in several categories. They had a better field goal percentage than the Cougars with 44 percent to Houston’s 37.3 percent. They had the better percentage from beyond the arc, a better free-throw showing, more assists, etc. In the end, what mattered was the final score, and it’s the Cougars who will be moving on instead.

Rutgers is the latest Big Ten team to fall, further embarrassing the conference.

To be honest, no one really believed that Ohio State would lose to Oral Roberts, who are now in the Sweet 16 after knocking out Florida in Round 2. Also, after Michigan State took the lead on UCLA after the first half, you didn’t expect them to collapse in the second half. The same could be said for Illinois, who became the first 1-seed in this year’s tournament to be eliminated, thanks to Sister Jean and the Loyola-Chicago Ramblers.

But Rutgers had a chance to bring relevance back, only to let it slip away and negate a good performance from senior Geo Baker, who had 14 points on the night, and junior Montez Mathis, who provided 10 points off the bench. Instead, Quentin Grimes and DeJon Jarreau are still dancing after dropping 22 and 17 points, respectively.

This tournament has been a blessing for the mid-majors and the unknowns. As for the Big 10, this has been nothing short of a humiliation.