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Defense and rebounding remain issues as Rutgers hopes to get healthy

With Tuesday’s game against Penn State postponed due to COVID-19 issues with the Nittany Lions (who hope to practice starting early this week), No. 15 Rutgers, which won’t be ranked in less than 24 hours, and it’s because of a litany of reasons.

But now the Scarlet Knights (7-4, 3-4) losers of three in a row and four of five after starting the 2020-21 season 6-0, get a chance to rest and get healthy before Friday night’s Big Ten contest with No. 8 Wisconsin at the RAC (7:00 p.m., FS1).

Geo Baker and Ron Harper Jr. have each missed time with ankle injuries, Jacob Young has played through pain after falling hard on the court, and Cliff Omoruyi has missed several games with a knee injury. Omoruyi started to practice without contact last Thursday and showed his frustration on the bench during Saturday’s defeat at the hands of Ohio State when he slapped a chair.

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“The past couple games we've started off kind of slow. It could be fatigue, but I mean this week, I'm pretty sure we'll get rest and we're all gonna bounce back, and hopefully get a lot of players healthy to full potential,” Young said. “We need to get our big guy Cliff back.”

Jan 9, 2021; Piscataway, New Jersey, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes center Zed Key (23) shoots the ball as Rutgers Scarlet Knights center Myles Johnson (15) and guard Caleb McConnell (22) defend during the first half at Rutgers Athletic Center (RAC).
Jan 9, 2021; Piscataway, New Jersey, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes center Zed Key (23) shoots the ball as Rutgers Scarlet Knights center Myles Johnson (15) and guard Caleb McConnell (22) defend during the first half at Rutgers Athletic Center (RAC). (© Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports)

Getting Omoruyi, a starter at center before he went down, back would certainly help Rutgers in terms of rebounding, which grabbed 14 less boards than the Buckeyes. Rutgers has been out-rebounded in every game -- including by 20 twice -- in five straight games.

Last Thursday, Pikiell called for his guards to crash to the glass more, but the team was still out-physicaled. Getting Omoruyi back won’t cure all of Rutgers’ problems on the back boards, but he’ll help

“Obviously rebounding, it's become an issue,” Rutgers head coach Steve Pikiell said.

Over the course of the last two games, the offense for the Scarlet Knights has become stagnant. Teams appear to be getting more pressure on the perimeter and Rutgers hasn’t had much flow. There’s been a lot more one-on-one basketball and missed opportunities at the rim from that in addition to missed shots on the outside.

The Scarlet Knights are a team that likes to get out and run and hit the opposition for points in transition, but it has corral missed shots in order to do so.

“You got to rebound to be able to run and the more you foul, now they are shooting free throws, so you can't run on those possessions either so it's hard to run off of free throws. We got to continue to push the ball when we can,” Pikiell said. “Rebounding factors into how much you can run, and teams know that we like to run so they are not going to let us get up and down the court the way we want."

Since Pikiell arrived to Piscataway, Rutgers' trademark has been being tough, rebounding, and defense, but like rebounding, defense has been an issue this season -- especially the last six games -- as Rutgers has given up 88, 80, 76, 77, 68, and 79 points.

If Rutgers is able to get stops, rebound, and get out in transition, it makes everything fall in place.

“To me, the offense is good. It's our defense, our rebounds, and our second-chance effort that's not the same as it was at the beginning of the year,” Young said.

But first, it’s about getting healthy and playing at 100%.and getting back in the win column.

"This is the league that we play in so playing great teams, we've got to get healthy, 100% healthy, but these guys are good guys,” Pikiell said. “We'll keep working, that's what we do, we get better, we improve, it's six days to work on Wisconsin.”

Follow Chris Nalwasky on Twitter @ChrisWasky.

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