EVANSTON, Ill. — With every successive shot that he made, each more absurd than the other, Ace Bailey would turn to the stunned crowd at Welsh-Ryan Arena with a smile, a word, a point, a celebration — sometimes, all at once.

Freshman star Ace Bailey scored 24 of his 37 points in the first half and Rutgers picked up a rare road win 79-72 over Northwestern on Wednesday night. Bailey missed his school freshman record by two points but had his third 30-plus point game,