Jersey Mike’s Arena was on fire, the Rutgers men’s basketball team was not.
The Scarlet Knights dropped its second game in a row and six of eight on Sunday night against Northwestern. Next up is the Big Ten Tournament where it plays Michigan, a team that has had its number over the years including this one. In order for Rutgers to top the Wolverines and make a run in the Big Ten Tournament and beyond, it has to fix its offense.
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Rutgers scored just 53 points against Northwestern, and scored only 59 recently against Penn State, 45 against Michigan, 58 against Wisconsin, and 60 against Illinois when it went on a drought of over 10 minutes.
That game appeared to be the start of the struggles for the Scarlet Knights who are still searching for answers.
“We’re definitely struggling offensively,” senior Caleb McConnell said, answering questions by himself. “We are capable of playing better and that’s something we have to figure out, coaches and the players. I don’t know what’s going on. We can play all the defense in the world, but we can’t put the basket in these last few games. We’re missing free throws. It’s hard to keep up. Nobody is in rhythm and that’s all a major problem right now. We can play defense, but we can put the ball in the basket. Of course we’re missing Mawot (Mag) but it’s not like he was lighting it up either. I think we’re a top defense. We’re holding teams under 60 points. It’s just tough right now.”
Overall this season, Rutgers is 10th in the Big Ten in scoring at 68.7 points per game. In Big Ten-only action, Rutgers is 12th with 65.2 points. As noted, the numbers have taken a hit over the last month. Rutgers shot 36.4% from the floor against Northwestern, and converted only 2-of-17 3-pointers, missing its last 15 triples. It was also 11-for-21 from the free-throw line.
In Big Ten play, Rutgers is 12th in shooting at 42.5% overall and it is 11th at 33.5% from behind the arc with just 5.9 makes per game. It is also shooting 69% from the charity stripe.
“I don’t know if it’s a mental thing right now,” McConnell said. “It’s just a collective thing we have to figure out as a whole team. We’re not a terrible team. Right now we’re going through mental stuff we didn’t go through early in the year. We were on point with everything we did and ran. Right now it’s discombobulated. We have to figure it out and we will.”
Rutgers did what it had to do against Michigan the last time out. It held the Wolverines to 58 points on 40.7% shooting including 28% from deep. It just couldn’t put the ball in the basket, and now Michigan has Jett Howard’s services available who didn’t play in the first matchup last month in Piscataway. Howard averages 14 points per game for a Michigan team that nearly knocked off Indiana on the road in overtime on Sunday.
Michigan is fighting for its NCAA Tournament chances like Rutgers.
“The other day we scored (at Minnesota) and our defense wasn’t good,” Rutgers head coach Steve Pikiell said. “You got to have both this time of year. This league is a monster. Everyone is good. We just have to play better and we’re capable of that.”
One way to potentially jump start the offense is giving Derek Simpson more minutes if not starts. It’s unlikely, but the freshman guard has arguably been Rutgers’ top offensive weapon in recent games and brings an added dimension to the lineup that nobody else on the roster has.
Simpson has severely outplayed starting senior Paul Mulcahy at the point guard spot. Since scoring 17 points against Michigan State at Madison Square Garden in New York, and outside of netting 12 points at Illinois, Mulcahy is just 12-of-45 from the field. He’s also making only 34% of his 3-pointers, his lowest mark the last three years.
Simpson, meanwhile, who has improved defensively, has three double-digit scoring outings the last few weeks including 12 points against Northwestern, 16 versus Penn State, and 10 against Nebraska. His minutes have been inconsistent fluctuating between about 12 and 23 minutes from game to game.
“The young guy has done a really nice job for us. He’s practicing better too,” Pikiell said. “I think the physicalness took a toll on him, but he’s got his pop back. He got through the tough times and he’s confident. He’s an important part and he’s gotten more minutes since Mawot went down. He’s made plays and he gives us an element. He’s important.”
A month ago, Rutgers was rolling and was projected to have a very high seed for the NCAA Tournament. Now, especially because of the loss to the Golden Gophers last week, it is really on life support despite having five Quad 1 wins and a good NET ranking even if it is dropping.
“We’ve always had our backs against the wall since I’ve been here,” McConnell said. “We had to win games last year and we did. We have to figure it out. It’s just basketball. You can shoot 1,000 shots and players go through slumps. We just have to figure it out collectively. …I think the future is still in our hands. We can still make something happen.”
McConnell fought with everything he had in his final home game against Northwestern. McConnell did not practice on Saturday due to injuries, but gave the Scarlet Knights 37 hard minutes where he was diving all over the court and holding his man down defensively.
Time is running out for McConnell, and for he and the team’s sake, Rutgers has a few short days to fix the offense and try and pull out a win over Michigan.
“That’s just my will,” McConnell said. “There’s a countdown to how many games I have left in college basketball. I really wanted to play. I obviously wanted to play tonight. I missed practice yesterday because of my hip and back. I pushed through it. I’m glad I was able to get through it. My last game here didn’t go the way I wanted it to, and it’s unfortunate.”
TKR's Craig Epstein contributed to this article.
Follow Chris Nalwasky on Twitter @ChrisNalwasky.
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