Everywhere Rutgers turns of late, it seems, it makes a bit of history.

Modest history, sure. But it’s history nonetheless. The Scarlet Knights believe it all matters as their young team keeps growing and striving toward the highest Big Ten finish in program history (an admittedly low bar to clear).

The next goal: Win a third straight conference game on Wednesday night when reeling Indiana enters the RAC in Piscataway with its season teetering on the brink.

“They’ve had challenging years here, obviously, but we want to be here for the better days and turn things around. We want to make history,” freshman forward Ron Harper Jr. said. “And even if that seems like such a little thing, it’s important for us. We want to turn the program around, and winning three Big Ten games in a row, that’s impressive for any team. It would be a very big step for our program.”

Rutgers has bounced back from an embarrassing three-game skid with back-to-back Big Ten regular season wins for the first time ever, including last Saturday’s victory at Penn State, its first conference road win in two years. Now it will go for an unprecedented third straight win against the Hoosiers, who have lost six straight, and try to move into sole possession of eighth place in the conference as it pushes to avoid a last-place finish for the first time.

The last time Rutgers won three straight regular season league games? It was four coaches and two conferences ago, when Gary Waters’ team pulled it off during the 2003-04 Big East campaign.

“We’re trying to go 1-0,” head coach Steve Pikiell said, downplaying the subplot when informed of the stat. “We were trying to go 1-0 before the Nebraska game, before Penn State, 1-0. We have a 40-minute game, 1-0. That’s what we’re trying to do, that’s where we are. We’re a young program, and we’ve got to do A, B and C to win this game. We’ve got to go 1-0. Those things are all great, but we’re just trying to get the next one.”

Indiana really needs this one. The Hoosiers (12-8, 3-6) have completely collapsed over the last month after getting as high as No. 21 in The Associated Press Top 25. Four of the six losses have been by double digits, and only one came by a single possession. Indiana is also 1-6 in true road games this season. A loss to Rutgers could dash any realistic hopes for an NCAA Tournament bid with a tough remaining slate still to come, including two games against No. 6 Michigan State and road trips to Iowa and Minnesota.

Rutgers knows Indiana will be desperate. “But we’re desperate too,” Harper said. “We don’t want to lose any more games, and we’re going to try to go through whoever we have to and make that happen.”

What jumps out at Pikiell about the Hoosiers? “How athletic they are,” he said. “It’s a storied program. Archie Miller is a great coach. They play hard, they have matchup problems for us. They’ve got a lot of good players. It’s going to be a war.”

Freshman guard Romeo Langford is Indiana’s leading scorer, averaging just over 17 points per game. Senior forward Juwan Morgan is averaging 16.5 points and eight boards a game. No other Hoosier is averaging more than 8.7 points per game. Junior guard Devonte Green has missed the last two games due to suspension, which has hurt. Indiana has been abysmal from 3-point range during its losing streak.

Rutgers’ backcourt of Geo Baker and Montez Mathis has combined to average 33.5 points per game during the Scarlet Knights’ two-game win streak. Mathis has scored in double-figures in six of his last seven games. Baker has done so in six straight and 16 of Rutgers’ 19 games this season.

“Making history is why we all came here,” Baker said. “We talk about it all the time. Every single one of us that was recruited, we said we wanted to make history at Rutgers. We didn’t want to go to a school that already had a winning culture; we wanted to create a winning culture. Every time we make history, it’s a step in the right direction."

James Kratch may be reached at jkratch@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JamesKratch. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook.