1/29/2021 basketball Edit

Fueled from its poor showing, Rutgers flips the script defensively vs. MSU

Chris Nalwasky • TheKnightReport

Beat Writer

In sports, it’s important to have a short memory and just move on to the next play if something bad happens, but Geo Baker and Myles Johnson didn’t forget how poorly they and their teammates played earlier this month against Michigan State.

A little over three weeks after Rutgers lost to the Spartans, the Scarlet Knights flipped the script and dominated them on the RAC on Thursday night with a 67-37 win.

The win marked the first time Rutgers (9-6, 5-6 Big Ten) defeated Michigan State (8-5, 2-5) in program history.

“We had a tough loss there, and we had that in the back of our mind,” Johnson said. “We're the team that broke history and happy we got the ‘W’ that way. We all played hard and everybody came into their part. It was a good team win.”

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On Jan. 5, Rutgers was outrebounded 45-25, shot just 30.5% from the floor and 35.3% from the free-throw line in its 68-45 loss in East Lansing. That day, the Spartans shot 47% including 43% on 3-pointers and 84% from the foul line and that was with 18 turnovers.

This time out, Rutgers shot 43%, went 10-of-12 from the free-throw line, outrebounded Michigan State 42-33, and held it to 28.6% shooting.

“It's great,” Baker said. “We've never beaten Michigan State so we definitely wanted to come out and just make a statement, and we didn't forget how we lost to them earlier this year too, so just wanted to bounce back and just get a good win and we're just happy that we did.”

During its five game losing streak and stretch of six losses in seven games, Rutgers’ defense wasn’t up to par. But it was against the Spartans as they held them to 37 points, which is the least amount Rutgers has given up against a Big Ten foe since joining the conference in 2014-15. The 30-point margin of victory was also the most in Big Ten play and it is the fewest points the Scarlet Knights surrendered since allowing only 30 against St. Bonaventure in the EEA in 1982.

It’s fitting that Rutgers wore jerseys from the 1982-83 season.

“Defense was a huge part of this one today and that's who we are,” said Johnson, who had five blocks to go along with his 13 points and 14 rebounds for his sixth double-double this season. “I feel like we kind of lost that a little bit during the season and we're just getting back to it these past two games and we all just have that mindset of we're gonna play defense and you're not going to score. Defense is our main focus and today was just a great showing of what we're capable of doing from that end of the floor.”

As a team, Rutgers had 14 steals, seven blocks, and forced Michigan State into 21 turnovers. The Scarlet Knights were able to get out in transition and scored 33 points off of those turnovers and 36 points in the paint.

“Kind of what I said last game, we were gonna let our defense dictate our offense,” Baker said. “We weren't shooting well in the first half at all, but our defense was there the whole time and we just know that we're talented enough where shots are gonna start to fall, and we played as a team. We made a lot of great passes. Guys we're cutting and guys we're moving, and if you look back at the first game against Michigan State we had no movement at all so that was kind of the difference right there on the offensive end. We just played together, and it worked out well.”

One of the main aspects of head coach Steve Pikiell’s teams has been defense. Since he took over, Rutgers now has six of the program’s 10 all-time games of holding opponents 40 points in the shot clock era. The guards and wings on the perimeter were able to fluster the Spartans all game long and if they did get inside the paint, Johnson was there waiting.

“It just helps our team a lot,” Baker said of Johnson and his defense. “We try our best to stay in front of the ball. That's one of our keys, guarding the ball without fouling, but no defense is perfect so we're going to be a couple times and Myles is just always there. He's just a presence. Even when he's not blocking shots, I think he definitely affects a lot of shots. It just helps us a lot, and we appreciate it.”

Rutgers started the game on a 15-0 run, but Michigan State clawed back to make it 26-20 at halftime. After the break, it was all Rutgers, as it outscored the Spartans 41-17 in the contest’s final 20 minutes.

“Starting off like that looked great. They came back and we knew they weren't just going to lay down. We had to play even harder in the second half to retaliate their effort to come back,” Johnson said. “We knew it wasn't over at halftime. We just held it together.

“A win is a win and it feels good to win that way, but I'm more happy that we played that good of defense against that program. I pride myself on the way we handled ourselves and the way we banded together as a group. We played 40 minutes and we had a great defensive showing for us and I'm glad that we did that.”

The Scarlet Knights are now on a two-game winning streak. They play at Northwestern on Sunday and home against No. 21/20 Minnesota on Thursday later this week. Pikiell shook up the starting lineup prior to the win over Indiana. It worked, and he kept it the same for this one sending Montez Mathis and Jacob Young to the bench.

Young, while he was inconsistent at times with turnovers, had 10 points and Mathis had eight. They combined for 6-of-11 shooting including 4-for-5 from deep. Mathis also had two steals after playing just three minutes versus the Hoosiers.

“Tez, who obviously didn't play a lot against Indiana, he was the happiest on the team that we won the game,” Baker said. “I mean that just shows the type of teammate that he is and then he comes back in practice and is playing the hardest out of everyone just so he can get back on the floor. That's just the type of team that we are. They've been great.”

After the victory over Indiana, the players said the guys lost focus and weren’t being good teammates to speak. Well now they are playing together and they have their eyes on the prize.

“We've just been very connected as a team. We all really liked each other like this is a great group of guys. I think we just needed to remind ourselves of that and you know just get back to who we are as a team,” Baker said. “Everyone's been great. Everyone's focused on one thing and that's winning the game, so that's that's just been our mindset.”