Dererk Pardon had 17 points and Ryan Taylor added 14 to lead the Northwestern Wildcats to a 65-57 win over the host Rutgers Scarlet Knights on Friday night at Rutgers Athletic Center in New Brunswick, N.J.

Montez Mathis had 16 points and Geo Baker added 12 to lead the Scarlet Knights, who dropped their third straight game to fall to 8-9 and 1-6 in Big Ten play.

Northwestern led by 10, 47-37, with 9:40 left in the game before Rutgers went on a 12-2 run to tie it at 49 with just under six minutes left. The Wildcats responded with a 10-3 run over the next four minutes to take a seven-point lead before coasting to the win.

The Wildcats, who improved to 11-7 on the season and 2-5 in conference play, relied on their outside game to make up for poor shooting. While Northwestern shot just 39.6 percent from the field, it shot 40.9 percent from 3-point range, with Taylor leading the way with four 3-pointers.

Northwestern also limited Rutgers on the perimeter, as the Scarlet Knights shot just 4 for 17 from downtown. Rutgers' starters, who shot 2 of 10 from long range, were particularly hampered by the Wildcats' defense.

Northwestern also got big production from its bench, as Anthony Gaines (nine points), Miller Kopp (eight) and Pete Nance (seven) helped them outscore Rutgers' reserves, 24-11.

Pardon had 12 points at the break to lead the Wildcats, who led 33-26 at the half after holding Rutgers to 44-percent shooting. Northwestern shot 54 percent from the field before halftime, as Pardon connected on all six of his attempts. Taylor had eight in the first half for the Wildcats, including a pair of 3-pointers.

Carter had nine points in the first half on 4 of 4 shooting to lead the Scarlet Knights.

--Field Level Media