1/10/2022 basketball Edit

News and notes for Rutgers men's basketball, road tests await

Chris Nalwasky • TheKnightReport

Beat Writer

The Rutgers men’s basketball team has put the pedal to the medal and is now 4-0 since coming back from its COVID pause. The Scarlet Knights, who are 9-5 overall, also currently sit at 3-1 in Big Ten play.

Rutgers has two key road matchups on the horizon this week against Penn State on Tuesday and Maryland on Saturday. Head coach Steve Pikiell’s squad is coming off a 93-65 thumping of Nebraska this past weekend.

Rutgers trailed 14-10 early, but went on a 15-2 run to take a 25-16 lead and it never looked back.

“It was crucial to get off to a good start,” Pikiell said. “They’re a good offensive team. When they score, they make threes. We talked a lot about how our defense had to be up for the task. We did a really good job with Cliff (Omoruyi) and Dean (Reiber) on (Derrick) Walker. He’s been playing great basketball and leading the league in field goal percentage. I thought they followed the scouting report on a couple of days prep and did a really good job. (Assistant coach) TJ Thompson did a great job with the scout preparing them. So really pleased to get a great team win today.”

With that said, TKR takes a look back at the last contest with the Cornhuskers, and looks ahead as well.

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Sharing the game

As TKR wrote about last week, Rutgers has done a great job passing the ball around and finding great shots instead of good shots. Rutgers has over 20 assists in the last four games and has shot a blistering 52.35% from the floor in that span including 44.6% on 3-pointers. Rutgers is leading in the Big Ten in shooting from deep in conference-only action at 48.6%.

Paul Mulcahy is averaging 4.9 assists on the season and a Big Ten-high 6.8 assists in league play. Ron Harper Jr. is tops in 3-point percentage at 63.6%. He’s sixth-overall from the field at 52.0% and second in free-throw percentage at 94.7%. Harper Jr. went 10-of-10 from the foul line against Nebraska.

The 93 points are the most Rutgers has scored in regulation against another Big Ten squad, and the 28-point margin was the second most ever against a Big Ten team. Rutgers posted 23 assists and shot 58.3% against Nebraska as well which are also highs.

“Our assists are off the stretch. We've never had a stretch like this. I love it,” Pikiell said. “They really pass it and the ball moves. And every guy plays a part in that. It starts with Paul and it goes to Geo (BakeR) and Caleb (McConnell). Ron's a good passer, Cliff out of the post. When we share the game and we play in space, good things happen.

“My team is playing good basketball right now. I have a ton of respect for Nebraska, that’s a good team. We rebounded well today and shared the game. We continue to really pass the basketball. The team did a great job. Everyone that checked into the game gave us good minutes. It was a big game for us today.”

The bench

While Harper Jr., Mulcahy, Baker, and McConnell have played well since Rutgers’ return to the court, a handful of other players have provided solid minutes, too. Saturday, Rutgers’ bench outscored Nebraska’s bench, 32-22. Aundre Hyatt scored a career-high-tying 13 points. It was the fourth-time he’s scored in double figures in his collegiate career and second time at Rutgers. Hyatt is averaging close to 10 points in the last three games.

“He's rebounding first of all at a high level and that's where it starts. His defense is getting better. But give him a tip of the hat. He's taking more time to watch film and he's in the gym,” Pikiell said. “He's had better practices, so he's taken it upon himself to be more prepared and it shows on the court. A lot of good things for him today and we will need him to play like that.”

Dean Reiber recorded a new career-high 10 points in 17 minutes, the most he’s played since becoming a Scarlet Knight last year. Reiber also made his first two 3-pointers in college.

“Dean's coming. He's really coming along,” Pikiell said. “I thought right before the break, our COVID break, he was making leaps and bounds. You saw him today, he can make threes and put it down and finish around the basket. He’s getting more comfortable. He was terrific. And we need him and he's been really good. He had a great night.”

Jalen Miller also played tight defense throughout the game and scored four points with three rebounds. Jaden Jones added five points as well.

New scholarship

Second-year freshman guard Aiden Terry was awarded a scholarship for the season just a few days ago. The walk-on from Kentucky and the rest of his teammates found out on a video message from his dad and brother. Baker’s scholarship doesn’t count this season due to the new rule provided by the NCAA due to the pandemic, and so Rutgers had an extra slot. Center Luke Nathan and former guard Joey Downes received scholarships mid-season the last two years, respectively, as well.

In two minutes in the win over Nebraska, Terry grabbed three rebounds and had an assist late in the game.

“He’s been great. He's a great teammate. He works his tail off every day in practice. He's part of our scout team. He does an unbelievable job,” Pikiell said. “He's a terrific student. He comes from a great family. He’s all the things that we want here at Rutgers in the program. He's awesome and so it was nice to get him in the game today.”

Dick Vitale gets a gift, baby!

Rutgers sent over a gift of an old-school Rutgers basketball jersey signed by the team to Vitale, a longtime broadcaster. A handwritten message was also included. Vitale, who hails from New Jersey, used to coach in Bergen County and was also on staff under Dick Lloyd at Rutgers. The 82-year-old is battling cancer.

“He’s a former assistant here and he is one of the great people in basketball,” Pikiell said. “We wanted to do something nice for him. He's done such unbelievable things for raising money for cancer and his gala in Sarasota, Florida is unbelievable. What he's done to raise money for research and fighting cancer, it's just been unbelievable. We're proud that he coached here, that he worked here and wanted to send him our prayers and let him know that we're thinking about him here in New Jersey.”

On the road again

It’s no secret Rutgers has fared way better at Jersey Mike’s Arena over the years than on the road in Big Ten play. If Rutgers wants to be seriously back in the NCAA Tournament picture, it will need to add a pair of away games to the win column coming up.

Rutgers is 0-4 on the road this season with losses to DePaul, Seton Hall, UMass, and Illinois. The Scarlet Knights also won’t play a currently ranked team through the month of January.

“Yeah, it's tough on the road in this league. We're playing tough teams. We have to play good basketball, we have to be well prepared,” Pikiell said. “These guys know, but it's not easy to win on the road in this great league. So we have to play really good. We'll enjoy today and we'll worry about the road games soon enough.”

Other notes

Baker moved past Geoff Billett for third all-time at Rutgers in assists with 432 on a pass to Harper Jr. in the first half.

Speaking of which, Harper Jr. netted 29 points, which was one point shy of his previous career-high of 30. He tallied 20-plus points in a game for the 19th time in his career and sixth time this season. It was his seventh time in his career scoring at least 25 points versus a Big Ten opponent, the most out of anybody on the team, and the Don Bosco Prep product moved past Kevin Black and Bucky Hatchett for 21st on the all-time scoring list for the Scarlet Knights (1,246 points).

McConell is tops in the Big Ten with 31 steals (2.2 per game). That is a career-high and counting.

Mulcahy nearly recorded a triple-double against Nebraska with 10 points, eight assists, and seven rebounds. It is the fourth time he reached double digits and scoring this year and 10th time in his career. His eight dimes tied a career-high, and he is averaging 5.8 assists in the last nine games.