Rutgers did almost everything possible Saturday to keep the program from a dubious distinction decades in the making.
Instead Rutgers inched closer to the near-certainty of having the longest NCAA Tournament drought of any Power Five conference school in the country.
Northwestern's Bryant McIntosh drained a go-ahead 3 with 58 seconds remaining and made a key hustle play after that to send Rutgers to a 69-65 loss at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
In a season full of near-misses for Rutgers (13-15, 2-13), this one might have hurt most because of a losing a six-point second-half lead in search of a quality win.