Geo Baker wins Co-Big Ten Player of the Week
Senior guard Geo Baker of the Rutgers men’s basketball team was named Co-Big Ten Player of the Week yesterday.
The Scarlet Knights (15-9, 9-5) have been on a roll, winning three straight matchups against Big Ten teams ranked in the top 20 in the nation. Against then-No. 13 Michigan State, then-No. 16 Ohio State and then-No. 14 Wisconsin, Rutgers has made remarkable progress in a potential bid in the NCAA Tournament.
One of the top players during the stretch has been Baker, whose recent performances in the past week earned him the Player of the Week honors.
During the two-game span, Baker averaged 20.5 points per game as he had 25 points against No. 18 Buckeyes (15-6, 8-4) and followed with 16 points in the road win at the No. 15 Badgers (19-5, 10-4).
It is the second time in his career that Baker has won the award, the first coming in March of last season. The Derry, New Hampshire, native shared the honors with Iowa’s Keegan Murray.
Baker also recorded nine total assists, two blocks and two steals throughout the past week of play. He also committed no turnovers in the home win against Ohio State, and one of his blocks against the Buckeyes was a game-winning defensive stop at the final buzzer.
"That was an old-fashioned (Baker) night," head coach Steve Pikiell said after the win over Ohio State. "Twenty-five points, and down the stretch he was confident. The fact that he had zero turnovers is a huge stat. He had to guard people today, too. We were able to get it done."
Against Wisconsin, Baker led the team in points at the half with 16 and finished the game in double figures once again. The senior also was perfect from the free throw line, a similar stat to what he had three days earlier at Jersey Mike’s Arena on Livingston campus.
Baker’s performance on Saturday helped the Knights defeat the Badgers for the first time at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wisconsin, and for the third time in program history with Pikiell as head coach.
Before going on his current run, Baker went scoreless in Rutgers’ overtime loss at Northwestern on Feb. 1. The Knights had trailed by as much as 24 points and ended up losing by just 1 point in the extra frame.
After the loss to the Wildcats (12-11, 5-9), the senior responded with 12 points and five assists against No. 19 Spartans (18-6, 9-4) four days later. Baker also put up double-digit points against Minnesota, Maryland and Nebraska to end January.
Throughout the run, Baker also continued to climb up the all-time scoring charts in program history. Last week, he passed Roy Hinson for 11th place all-time in points and joined Eddie Jordan as the only other player in program history to reach 1,550 points, 450 assists, 350 rebounds and 150 steals.
Baker has kept Rutgers’ hopes of a second consecutive March Madness appearance alive with his recent play. He will look to continue his strong play tomorrow night as the Knights host No. 12 Illinois.
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