Twenty-five days.

That's how long Rutgers had to go between wins. Six games, over the span of 25 days, all of them ending in losses for the Scarlet Knights. A mark that tied for the longest consecutive in-season losing streak in non-conference play in the program's history. That's what Eddie Jordan's team had to face when it walked into the Rutgers Athletic Center on a snowy Saturday afternoon.

Finally, when it was all over, so was the losing streak.

"I think it's fun," senior forward Wally Judge said. "The thing we have to take from it is to have fun. A lot of times in the losses, we did gel, but then we got away from that. And then the game became unfun. And we'd answer by making individual plays, when we needed team effort. Tonight, it was just fun.

A three-letter word that hasn't been utter much around Piscataway these days.

Saturday's 89-72 win over UNC-Greensboro snapped the six-game losing streak against Division 1 teams that the Scarlet Knights had endured since it's last win on Nov. 18 against Canisius. There, of course, was the win against Stillman College on Nov. 25 in the midst of the slide, but the Tigers are Division 2.

So with two games left on its non-conference slate before the end of the year and the start of AAC league play on Jan. 1 against Temple, Rutgers knew it had to make them count.

And they did just that.

"It boosts everybody's spirits," said junior guard Myles Mack. "We're just grateful for this win and are going to go out there and get some more."

In his postgame remarks, Jordan held up Mack as an example of what Rutgers (5-7) had been lacking when it moved from the practice floor to the bright lights of the games.

Rutgers' first-year head coach loved the aggressiveness and intensity that his team showed daily in practice, but then when it came time for that to translate over — was baffled when it didn't. Friday afternoon in practice, Mack dove for a loose ball on the floor during a drill and ended up cracking his two front teeth. Some minor oral surgery was needed, but he was in the starting lineup against the Spartans (5-6).

He ended up as the game's leading scorer, dropping 21 points and dishing out eight assists on the afternoon.

In the process, he became the first Rutgers player since Jonathan Mitchell during the 2010-11 season, to score 20-plus points in four consecutive games.

"Our mantra going into today's game, was that we practice so much more physically," Jordan said. "We practice with more energy. We practice with more communication. We're more competitive. And then when we get to the games, we don't bring it to the game. No disrespect to UNC-Greensboro, but we said: 'Let's play like we practice.' Let's make it a 50-minunte practice because we wanted to go through the finish line."

Jordan said that was what he was most interested in seeing on this day. Not only what his team would do with that challenge, but what they would do if they were able to meet it. He admitted that it wasn't perfect. That there were still some things to correct.

But the end result was a win. And on this day, that's all that mattered.

"I think in practice, we play harder when there's nobody around," Mack said. "So (Jordan) just said play like we practice. Play like there's nobody in the stands. Just get after it like you do against each other. That's what we did and we came out successful."