Rutgers Men's Basketball won its second straight Big Ten game for only the second time this season, downing USC 95-85 at Jersey Mike's Arena on Sunday night.
The Scarlet Knights (14-14, 7-10) got back to .500 on the season and all but secured a Big Ten Tournament berth with the victory in one of Rutgers' most efficient offensive performances of the season, securing a head-to-head result over the Trojans (14-13, 6-10) as well.
Here are Five Thoughts from the home win.
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1. Dylan Harper dazzles again
After two games where he struggled, Harper, in the most recent two games, has regained his form from earlier in the season when he was fully healthy.
The star freshman got it done on both ends of the floor against USC, imposing his will on offense and defense. He scored 25 points on an efficient 9-for-13 shooting from the floor - including 4-for-8 from the three-point line and 3-for-3 from the free throw line - while also dishing nine assists, tied for the second-most this season.
"I thought we did a really good job of sharing the ball at the end, getting it to the right people," head coach Steve Pikiell said after the game.
On defense, Harper racked up six steals - most by a Scarlet Knight in a game this year - by jumping passing lanes, poking at the ballhandler, and coming up with loose balls. Part of Rutgers' arm's-length lead for much of the game was thanks to forcing 16 turnovers on defense.
The freshman guard controlled the tempo as he always does, and passed the ball on a surgical level on Sunday, propelling the Scarlet Knights to a red-hot offensive performance and a big home win.
"I think I got the same mentality every game," Harper said. "Kill, kill, kill. Kill whoever's in front of me, I'm just gonna go out there, play my hardest and just try to win. I mean, they definitely were a little physical with me today, but [that's] just a testament to my teammates just getting me in the right spots, getting me going, stuff like that, just finding a way to fit in."
2. Bryce Dortch, welcome to the spotlight
The final freshman of Rutgers' heralded 2024 class to make his collegiate debut, Dortch had been thrown into the fire, so to speak, after Emmanuel Ogbole's meniscus injury that had originally sidelined him for the season. Dortch played his first career game at Madison Square Garden against No. 8 Michigan State but had yet to make a big impact before Sunday.
Against USC, that changed.
The Massachusetts product scored nine points - coming into the game with only two career points - on 4-for-4 shooting with two rebounds and two blocks. Two of Dortch's baskets came on thunderous dunks, showcasing his athleticism around the rim.
"Just go get it," Dortch said. "I think it was a fast-break layup, a little contested, but I always think miss, so I went up, go get it, and just pulled myself up on the rim, hearing the crowd just roar, it was amazing."
Dortch's role has fluctuated even in just nine career games, playing a wing defender at times, while also serving as a small-ball center at other times. Over the last three games, Dortch has scored 11 points, grabbed four rebounds, and blocked four shots with two steals in 27 total minutes of play.
"It's a 40-minute league," Dortch said on what he's learned in his freshman season. "You know Pike says that, but it's definitely a 40-minute league. You can never back down, have to always play hard for each possession, and each possession matters."
With Ogbole now back in the fold, Dortch's presence and development now serves as a bonus for the Scarlet Knights as he continues to make a case for a rotation spot next season, especially after sacrificing his redshirt to contribute for Rutgers.
"When [Ogbole] went down, I just had a feeling that this was my time just to help the team," he said. "Me - and shoutout Coach [TJ] Thompson - we had a talk, we brought it to Coach Pikes. Coach Pikes was already thinking about it, so I just went up to him, told him that I can help this team as much as he wants me to. I'll do anything, all the little things, bring energy, even if that's two minutes, ten minutes, regardless, just help the team as much as I can, and I'm glad I did it."
3. Making shots
Sometimes, basketball can be simple: Put the ball in the basket more than the opponent.
The Scarlet Knights did so on Sunday, and it propelled them to a win.
Offensively Rutgers had one of its finest games of the season, scoring the most points since the November 15th win over Monmouth while shooting 56% from the floor, hitting nine three-pointers, and - arguably the most important - shot a blazing 26-for-28 from the free throw line, led by an 8-for-8 mark from Jamichael Davis and 6-for-6 from Lathan Sommerville.
Even while the defense let up for stretches, the Scarlet Knights stayed at arm's length thanks to an offense that was firing on all cylinders with five double-digit scorers and 16 assists on 30 made baskets, averaging 1.4 points per possession.
The efficiency at the charity stripe has been an ongoing saga for Rutgers throughout the year - and Pikiell's tenure - but the game-to-game performance at the line this season has been arguably the best in several years. Davis - shooting 60% from the foul line coming into the game - was entrusted to close the game on the floor and made six free throws in the final 27 seconds to ice the game.
"J-Mike always does what he does, and we made a ton of free throws too down the stretch," Pikiell said. "Sharing the ball and making free throws, makes your life a little bit easier."
According to Bart Torvik, the Scarlet Knights had their second-most efficient offensive output of the season - only trailing January's win over Nebraska - behind a near-fully healthy roster and pieces that are finding their groove at the right time. With two straight road games against the Big Ten's elite in No. 15 Michigan and No. 20 Purdue coming up, Rutgers will need the efficient offensive performance it has put forward in the past two games.
4. Bench production comes up big
Another relatively simple concept in basketball came to light in Sunday's win: When the Scarlet Knights get consistent contributions from its non-Harper and Bailey pieces, good things usually happen.
Rutgers' reserves scored 37 points - one of its top marks of the season - and served as a driving force for the offensive efficiency. Davis' 13 points led the bench unit, followed by Tyson Acuff's 10 points and Dortch's nine.
Much of Davis' production came late at the free throw line in the pivotal final seconds, while Acuff scored five points in each half, with his three baskets coming in a similar fashion, two from an isolation pull-up when the Scarlet Knights needed a basket, and a catch-and-shoot three off an offensive rebound. He also drew a foul on a three-point attempt in the first half, and hit all three free throws.
Dortch did not have the ball in his hands a lot in the game, but made the most of his opportunities at the rim with all four shots coming in the paint with a made free throw.
Zach Martini had another solid game, scoring five points and grabbing five rebounds with a made three-pointer in 18 minutes, finishing third on the team with a +11 mark. Despite a fluctuating role throughout the year, Martini has stabilized his game and become a reserve that Pikiell can count on as a forward and - sparingly - a small-ball center in tandem with Dortch.
"Everybody's important," Pikiell said. "They were able to wrestle some big rebounds too, Zach Martini, which helped us a great deal, but Cuff can score the ball, he gives us a calmness too, on the court."
5. Where to improve?
While Rutgers got back in the win column and had one of its best offensive outputs of the season, it was not without need for improvement, mostly on the defensive end.
USC had its best day on the offensive glass of the season (season-high 18 offensive rebounds, 15 second-chance points), especially given the Trojans' struggles on that end, ranking 273rd nationally in offensive rebound percentage.
They also took advantage - as many teams have especially lately - of the Scarlet Knights' weaker paint defense, scoring 48 of their 85 points in the paint shooting 19-for-34 at the rim.
While the efficiency at the rim left some to be desired - Rutgers also blocked eight shots - it shows the Scarlet Knights do not have the same deterrent protecting the rim as in years past. With teams featuring standout big men including the Wolverines' standout seven-foot duo of Danny Wolf and Vlad Goldin and Boilermakers' Trey Kaufman-Renn coming up, Rutgers' problems defending the rim will likely once again show themselves.
The defensive struggles also made the end of the game a bit more stressful than it needed to be, as a 17-point lead with 4:48 left eventually turned into just a six-point lead with 15 seconds left as the Trojans got hot from the floor and got close in the end with a 20-9 run.
Even with the late run however, the Scarlet Knights hit their free throws and ultimately held strong with the lead, notching their second straight win in Big Ten play.
Rutgers travels to Ann Arbor on Thursday to take on Michigan, a game streaming on Peacock at 9 pm.
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