Northwestern held a 56-50 lead over Rutgers with 52 seconds to go. From there, everything unraveled for the Wildcats.

Rutgers scored six straight points in regulation to force overtime and then outscored the Wildcats 11-2 in the extra session to claim a 67-58 win.

Gavin Skelly scored the first basket of overtime but that turned out to be the last points for the Wildcats. Issa Thiam hit a 3-pointer to give Rutgers its first lead of the game, 61-58, with 2:15 left in OT, and the Scarlet Knights held on the rest of the way to snap their seven-game losing streak.

It was a cruel blow to a Northwestern team coming off of a deflating loss to Maryland on Saturday. It was just the third Big Ten win of the season against 12 losses for Rutgers.

Bryant McIntosh, who scored just two points, played only the first few minutes of the second half before leaving the game for good due to a shoulder injury he suffered in the first half.

Scottie Lindsey scored 15 of his 19 points in the second half to keep the Wildcats afloat in McIntosh’s absence, but they eventually ran out of gas on the offensive end, allowing Rutgers to score 17 of the last 19 points.

Dererk Pardon finished with 12 points, but he scored just two in the second half. He grabbed 13 rebounds to lead all players.

Corey Sanders was a one-man demolition crew for Rutgers, scoring 30 points, including the last 10 of regulation.

Here are our three pointers on the loss that drops Northwestern’s record to 15-12 overall and 6-8 in the Big Ten:

McIntosh played with one arm before sitting for good: Northwestern’s star point guard ran into a hard screen midway through the first half and appeared to injure his right shoulder. He played the remainder of the half and the first 3:23 of the second with essentially one arm – he was clearly avoiding using his right arm whenever possible and was in visible pain. With McIntosh on the bench and Jordan Ash already out with an injury, head coach Chris Collins used Lindsey at the point instead of Isiah Brown, who played just nine minutes and had two turnovers in the first half to remain in Collins’ doghouse. McIntosh finished with just two points – he was held scoreless for the first time in his career against Maryland – but had five assists in the first half. The offense clearly stagnated down the stretch as the Wildcats scored just 22 points in the second half and overtime combined.

Pardon and Lindsey took turns carrying the offense: Pardon did some heavy lifting inside in the first half. He had six points and four rebounds in the first five minutes and hit all five of his shots to end the period with 10 points and eight rebounds. However, without McIntosh directing the offense and with Shaquille Doorson guarding him, Pardon managed just two shots and two points and pulled down three boards in the second half and overtime. Lindsey did his best to carry the load for the Wildcats over the last 25 minutes. Lindsey hit his third 3-pointer of the half to give the Wildcats a 44-33 lead with 11:25 left, but Rutgers took over from there. Lindsey didn’t get much help as Vic Law finished with just seven points and Skelly four. Aaron Falzon came off the bench to score eight points in the first half but was shut out in the second.

Sanders killed the Cats: Rutgers’ guard lit up Northwestern all night, hitting 11 of 22 shots and dishing out four assists to lead the Knights. Whenever Rutgers needed a bucket, they went to Sanders, who delivered time and again. He scored two straight baskets to draw Rutgers within 51-50 in the second half. Then, after a pair of Lindsey free throws and a clutch corner triple by Anthony Gaines with the shot clock winding down, Sanders went on a personal 6-0 run to force overtime. He hit three free throws after an ill-advised foul by Skelly and then drained the game-tying 3-pointer with six seconds left when he somehow shook loose of NU’s defense and got an open look from the top of the circle. Northwestern got one last shot for the win with 1.2 seconds left, but Skelly couldn’t convert a contested layup after an inbounds play sprung him loose.