Northwestern held Rutgers to 18 first-half points en route to a 98-59 drubbing of the Scarlet Knights on Saturday at Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Ill.

Guard Tre Demps led five Wildcats in double figures with 24 points. Center Alex Olah recorded a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Guard Bryant McIntosh handed out 13 assists for the Wildcats.

Forward Jonathan Laurent led Rutgers with 17 points and six rebounds. The Scarlet Knights were playing without leading scorer guard Corey Sanders, who was serving the fourth game of a four-game suspension for violating team rules.

It took the Wildcats (18-11, 6-10 Big Ten) just six minutes to open a double-digit lead. Demps' 3-pointer put the Wildcats up 19-4 at the 14:01 mark.

The Scarlet Knights (6-23, 0-16) have not won a Big Ten game since Jan. 11, 2015, when they beat Wisconsin.

Another 3-pointer by Demps at the nine-minute mark put Northwestern up 30-9.

The Scarlet Knights finally got into double figures when Laurent sank a pair of free throws at the 8:21 mark.

Northwestern outrebounded Rutgers 43-23 and recorded 33 assists on its 37 baskets.

The Wildcats shot 37 of 69, a 53.6 percent clip. Rutgers made only 16 of 47 field-goal attempts.