Akwasi Yeboah didn’t win Joe Calabrese MVP honors in the Rutgers men’s basketball team’s Garden State Hardwood Classic win over then-No. 22 Seton Hall this past Saturday, but he was arguably the best player on the floor when the dust settled.
Yeboah, a graduate transfer from Stony Brook, played a team-high 30 minutes and recorded 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting including 3-for-5 on 3-pointers. He also grabbed eight rebounds, and had two assists, two blocks, and a steal.
He was all over the floor making plays.
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After the game, Seton Hall head coach Kevin Willard raved about the Chigwell, England native.
“... I think Yeboah is a bigger difference maker for them than they had last year just because of his ability. He's such a smart player. He's a veteran guy,” Willard said. “I thought he was a bigger difference because of the way he can just spread guys out. The way Steve has kind of gone away from what they were doing earlier in the season and just giving it to Geo [Baker] in space on the floor and put a lot of pressure on your pick and roll defense. Having [Yeboah] out there, you can just tell he's a fifth-year guy and just knows what to do."
Told of Willard’s comments, Yeboah was appreciative.
“It’s humbling,” Yeboah said. “I practice hard. I try to give everything I can and to help the team whether it’s rebounding, scoring, or getting stops on defense. I’m all about the team.”
Yeboah was a key contributor that held the Pirates to 32 percent shooting in the game and 14 turnovers.
“I feel like I’ve taken huge strides ever since I got here in the summer,” Yeboah said. “I’m a better team defender as well as an on-ball defender. We were really connected and we helped each other on defense and that was a difference.”
Through the previous first 10 games of the year, Yeboah, on the offensive end, was one to hang around the 3-point line -- and for good reason as he’s shooting a team-best 43 percent from beyond the arc. But against Seton Hall, he used the Pirates’ scouting report to sprint to defend him from deep to his advantage. Yeboah showed a different side of him by driving to the hoop and either finishing or passing for an assist.
“I just read the defense, really,” Yeboah told TKR. “You have to make reads. If a guy closes out hard to me I’m going to take the ball to the basket. That’s another part of my game that’s gotten better. Guy’s now know to really close out on me and I have to take advantage of that.”
Ever since the preseason, Scarlet Knights head coach Steve Pikiell has talked about Yeboah’s maturity that he brings and that didn’t change on Saturday.
“He's just mature. He gives us a maturity about him,” Pikiell said. “He can really shoot the ball. I think he's as good a shooter as there is. We can post him , we can do a lot of different things. His maturity has really helped. He gets locked in, he comes to practice every day, they love him. I think these guys are really enjoying what he brings. He's figuring it out too with a new team. He's been a nice addition."
The first six-eight minutes in the contest was the game. The Scarlet Knights jumped out to a 14-0 in a blink of an eye and rose that lead to 20-3 at the 11:56 mark.
“It built our confidence,” Yeboah said of the hot start. “Seeing the ball go in, that really helped us. On top of that, we got stops on defense, and that really boosted us.”
Despite the hefty advantage and the fact that Seton Hall lost star guard Myles Powell to a head injury in the first half, Yeboah knew he and his teammates had to keep the foot on the gas.
“The game is never over,” he said. “We continued playing hard throughout the game. Basketball is a game of runs and they could have easily came back. We made it an emphasis to keep playing the right way.”
The 8,329 fans in attendance, the most at the RAC for a game since 2002, were hyped for the entire duration of the contest and made a difference for the Scarlet Knights.
“That was by far the best crowd. It was great,” Yeboah said. “They really gave us a lot of momentum, adrenaline, and energy. We fed off the crowd and dominate both ends of the floor. It was big for us to get a win going into a little break. We have a lot of support when we are at home.”
Follow Chris Nalwasky on Twitter @ChrisWasky.
