Northwestern rebounded from a brutal first half to outlast Rutgers, 69-60, for its second straight Big Ten road win.

The Scarlet Knights jumped out to a 7-0 lead and held a 28-25 advantage at the half. But the Wildcats found their offensive rhythm in the second half, taking their first lead of the game, 33-32, at the 17:20 mark, and building their edge to as much as 14 points before coasting to the finish.

Vic Law scored 19 of his game-high 23 points in the second half to pace Northwestern, while Dererk Pardon almost pulled a rare triple-double, with 8 points, 11 rebounds and a career-high 8 blocks.

Corey Sanders led Rutgers with 18 points.

Here are our three pointers on the win that raised Northwestern’s record to 14-4 (3-2 Big Ten):

The first half was as ugly as it gets: Northwestern has had a habit of starting fast this season, but the Wildcats flipped the script tonight to produce a stinker over the first 20 minutes. The Wildcats’ starters combined to hit 3 of 22 shots for 7 total points in the first half, as Bryant McIntosh, Dererk Pardon and Sanjay Lumpkin were all shut out of the scoring sheet. The Wildcats shot 26.5 percent overall, including just 2 of 13 3-pointers, and produced 2 assists, 6 turnovers and 11 fouls. Without the spark created by Isiah Brown, who came off the bench to score 11 points, and Gavin Skelly, who added 5, Northwestern’s deficit could have been much more than just 3 points. The Wildcast were lucky that Rutgers wasn’t much better, as the hosts shot just 29 percent and failed to hit a 3-pointer.

The Wildcats found their groove in the second half: The Wildcats must have regained their mojo by drinking Gatorade in the locker room because they almost doubled their shooting percentage to 51.7 percent (15 of 29) in the second half. Law hit 5 of 6 shots, while Scottie Lindsey went 4 for 8 and Pardon was 4 for 6. Northwestern had 9 assists on its 15 second-half baskets and overcame a large early deficit to outrebound the Scarlet Knights 49-41 for the game. The Wildcats’ long-range shooting, however, never came back; they finished 3 for 20 from beyond the arc.

McIntosh continued to struggle: Northwestern’s floor leader had a rough night, shooting just 2 for 10 and finishing with 6 points, 4 assists and tied for the team lead (with Skelly and Lumpkin) with 3 turnovers. Over the last two games McIntosh is 5 for 20 from the floor. After coming up with a strong game against Minnesota that seemed to snap him out of his shooting funk, McIntosh has now taken two steps back. The Wildcats managed to beat Nebraska and Rutgers with subpar games from their star junior, but they will need him to improve to make it through a Big Ten schedule that figures to be a dogfight every night.