Rutgers Men's Basketball scored 43 total points in its last game against Seton Hall.
Saturday, the Scarlet Knights scored 43 in the first half en-route to an 81-57 win over Wake Forest at Jersey Mike's Arena in Piscataway.
Here are five takeaways after the game....
"We were locked in. It was a big game for us to bounce back," guard Paul Mulcahy said. "We were having fun. The way we bounced back I thinks speaks to us as a team. We're learning."
"Our energy got us going. We had to re-gather ourselves and re-focus," added forward Caleb McConnell. "We took time away. I felt even in the Ohio State game we lacked energy. We did deserve to win though I fee like. Seton Hall game there was zero energy. I told the guys to keep playing. We followed the game plan and it worked. We needed our rest. It was a tough five game stretch for us with Miami, Indiana, Ohio State, Seton Hall, and then Wake Forest."
1) Ramping up the pressure
Rutgers came out on fire on the defensive end forcing Wake Forest into four turnovers less then three minutes in and five within four minutes. Caleb McConnell, the reigning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, got a steal right away against Wake Forest's Tyree Appleby and slammed it home on the other end for a quick two points.
Rutgers swarmed almost every Demon Deacons ball handler. The Scarlet Knights had five steals and 10 points off of turnovers six minutes into the game.
In six of Wake's 11 previous games, it had 11 or less turnovers. Wake finished the game with a season-high 22 turnovers and was held to a season-low 57 points.
“I think it’s both [strategizing for Rutgers and them having an elite system], they play great in the ways they score off turnovers, but we also have to be stronger with the ball," Wake Forest head coach Steve Forbes said. "I’ll go back and see how many of those they actually forced. They got a tough team, not saying that I don’t. They made it tough every possession we had to try to score. I knew coming in here that we couldn’t just score on the first attack offensively."
2) Wake Forest still shot the ball well
Despite the turnovers and takeaways by the Rutgers defense, the Demon Deacons were efficient shooting the ball. Wake went 8-of-13 to start the game including 3-for-5 on 3-pointers. Wake was hovering over the 60% mark much of the opening half. The Demon Deacons were 6-for-9 on triples in the first half and 55% on field goals as a whole in the opening 20 minutes of play. Every time Rutgers pushed itself to have a large lead, Wake got back into it by making buckets behind the arc. Lots of wide open threes, and Damari Monsanto drained six of them.
"They're a good team. They hit shots, but we stayed together," Mulcahy said.
3) Welcome back Cam Spencer
Spencer started off the season hot since transferring from Loyola-Maryland. He made 15 of his first 32 3-pointers and was 21-of-22 on foul shots. But, in the last four games coming in, he didn't attempt a single free throw and was just 3-for-14 on 3-pointers. Against Wake Forest, Spencer dealt with a bit of foul trouble which kept him off the floor a bunch in the first half, but he didn't miss a shot and scored a team-high 15 points on 5-of-5 shooting with three assists and two steals.
"We know Cam can do it. Cam is a flat-out shooter, scorer," McConnell said. "Cam can do it all. I'm glad to see that. Shooting 100% is great in 19 minutes and he was in foul trouble. He had to deal with that mentally too. I'm glad he stayed with it and he got us going in the second half."
4) Balance
Yes Rutgers played pressuring defense, and it scored a good amount of points off of Wake's turnovers, but it didn't score over 80 points because of one or two guys. Five players scored in double figures. Spencer led the way with his 15, Cliff Omoruyi had 14, McConnell scored 13, and Paul Mulcahy and Aundre Hyatt both had 10. Mawot Mag also netted eight points and Derek Simpson notched seven.
Rutgers shot a season-best 58%. There was no let up despite the big advantage.
"We have to continue to take good shots," McConnell said. "It's confidence. Once we are confident like today and we're making shots, this team can be unstoppable almost. But even if we aren't making shots, we have to continue to focus on the other end and play good defense."
5) Avoided another Quad 3 loss and got back in the win column.
The Scarlet Knights came into the game with already an 0-2 mark in Quad 3 games, and one of them (Temple) could become Quad 4). Not being able to have any more mishaps like that, Rutgers had to beat Wake Forest especially at home. It took care of business. The Scarlet Knights led by as many as 17 points in the first half and 22 in the second. Rutgers has Bucknell and Coppin State (both Quad 4) to end 2022 before it faces No. 1-ranked Purdue at Mackey Arena on Jan. 2, 2023. If Rutgers lost to Wake, it would be another major dagger for its NCAA Tournament resume, and it would not have beaten a quality non-conference opponent. The last two games against Seton Hall and Ohio State didn't end in Rutgers' favor, so no doubt it is glad to finally come out on top again.
"Every game we have to come out with the same mindset," Mulcahy said. "We're not thinking (this was a must win). I know people write about it. We're in a much different space here."
Follow Chris Nalwasky on Twitter @ChrisNalwasky.
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