2/26/2021 basketball Edit

More work left to do for Rutgers men's, women's basketball teams

Chris Nalwasky • TheKnightReport

Beat Writer

The Rutgers men's basketball is fresh off of a roller-coaster of emotions win over Indiana on Senior Night while the women's hoops team, ranked No. 25 in the country, just won its sixth consecutive game on Thursday at Michigan State.

Both victories helped the Scarlet Knights inch closer to NCAA Tournament births, something they've together in the same year just twice, in 1989 and 1991. The women have made the Big Dance 25 times while the men have only made it six times.

Should the men make it, it would be the first time in 30 years.

“The guys had fun today, but we got a lot more work to do," men's head coach Steve Pikiell said after the win against Indiana. “It’s a special group, it really is, and I want to keep them playing for a while.”

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Rutgers WBB G Arella Guirantes (Rutgers Athletics)

Pikiell's squad has two regular season games remaining on the road at Nebraska on Monday night and against Minnesota on March 6. One more win that should make Rutgers a lock, but two losses could make it sweat out Selection Sunday on March 14. Combined brackets on BracketMatrix.com lists Rutgers as an 8-seed and even with losses though to the Cornhuskers and Golden Gophers, who have been really good at home, Bart Torvik's Teamcast would have the Scarlet Knights as an 11-seed and still in.

"It would be a dream come true," senior walk-on Nick Brooks said on making the tournament. "I told coach Pikiell the first day I got here that was the goal, and I was willing to do anything to accomplish it regardless of what it was."

Rutgers has come a long way. After three abysmal years under Eddie Jordan, Pikiell, his staff, and this senior class has risen the program up from the basement of the Big Ten to at least the middle floor.

"We've made so many steps in the right direction," redshirt junior Myles Johnson said. "And as a program we were kind of at the bottom in the beginning and now, we're maybe not at the top, but we're on our way. We're putting the ball motion for the future generations, but we got more stuff to do this year. Still have a tournament to play in and a tournament to try to win. We still have more marks to make for this year."

Senior Geo Baker, who has delivered Rutgers many wins over his time, helped change the culture for the better.

"I feel like we've seen the lowest of the lows and highs of the highs. We've progressed as the years have gone on," Baker said. "We stayed together, and we stuck to our goals. We came here to change the culture. That was what we all set out to do when we first got here. I feel like we've done it. We've achieved that, but there's still more that we can do as well."

Johnson and Baker are right. There's more work left to work left to do. There's still two games left plus the Big Ten Tournament from March 10-14 to solidify their standings and seedings. There's also time left to ensure Baker fulfills his promise to mother, Irene, to come see her son and the team play in Indiana for the Big Ten and NCAA Tournaments after she couldn't make it to Senior Night.

"We focus on one game at a time. Obviously everyone's feeling really good right now, but there's more to be done. We can win out, and that's our plan," Baker said. "We have more work to be done. We still have two games left. But yeah, that’s what I told her, and for the Big Ten Tournament. I’m gonna stick to that promise."

Since coming back from a month's long pause due to COVID-19, C. Vivian Stringer's team has won six games in a row and have looked dominant other than this past game when Rutgers had to climb back. It did, however, outscore the Spartans 24-7 in the fourth quarter, looking like a force to be reckoned with.

The women have three regular season games left, Sunday away against Penn State, Tuesday at home against PSU in a makeup, and on March 5 at home against No. 15 Ohio State, which just lost to the Nittany Lions. Rutgers is ranked 11th in the NET, which will be used this year as an aid to formulate the NCAA Tournament bracket. Earlier this week, ESPN's Charlie Creme had Rutgers as a 7-seed as did Collegesportsmadness.com. RealtimeRPI.com has Rutgers lower as an 11-seed.

Nonetheless, wins will help, and the Scarlet Knights will have the ability to play Ohio State at the RAC in front of a some family members. That should be a boost for the player's spirits like it was for the men's team.

The Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament will take place from March 9-13.

"They miss the fans and their families so bad," Stringer said. "I mean, we got three seniors on our team, and it would be great to have them.”

This winter has already shaped up to be an historic one as both Rutgers men's and women's basketball teams were ranked in the same year since 1978-79 before women's hoops was an NCAA-sponsored sport, and it has a chance to go down as one of the best ever on the hardwood in Piscataway.