Rutgers C Myles Johnson has breakout game, double-double in win over NJIT

Through the first five games for the Rutgers men’s basketball team, Myles Johnson didn’t play his best. He knew it.

But on Tuesday night, Johnson had himself a breakout game in the Scarlet Knights’ 85-58 win over NJIT at the Rutgers Athletic Center. The 6-foot-10 center registered his fifth-career double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds.

“I’ve been telling myself I have to get it going,” Johnson said. “Today just happened to be the day.”

The 17 points is a new career-best for the Long Beach, Ca. native and he did it on 8-of-11 shooting. His 11 boards tied the best total in a game since being at Rutgers as well. Johnson also had two blocks and an assist.

“It was a good game today. It was just one of those days where the basket was wide open,” Johnson said. “The post-ups were good and post defense. The other team was letting me catch the ball where I felt comfortable. It was a good day.”

Johnson nearly had a double-double in the first half as he scored 11 points and grabbed six boards. One of the big reasons why he was able to have success was the size advantage, but also because he wasn’t in fouling all night long. He was on the floor for a season-high 25 minues.

“It was Myles’ night tonight,” Rutgers head coach Steve Pikiell said. “Every night (it’s) somebody different chipping in and I love that. Myles has been in foul trouble and to keep him involved tonight was a great thing. Just very thankful for the good win that we had today.”

Johnson credited assistant coach Steve Hayn, who started doing specific drills to help bigs get themselves into position to not foul.

“Yeah, it’s been frustrating, but I was trying to play as smart as possible. I stayed out of foul trouble which allowed me to be on the court longer and do what I do,” Johnson said.

“We actually have these drills that coach Hayn implemented. Say a guard is coming down and you just have to jump and wall up and that prevents a dump blocking foul. And then on offense, I have to be smart on my screens with my feet and my position. The drills get you to mentally think about it.”

Rutgers got the ball early and often to Johnson and teammate Geo Baker was happy for his success.

“He played like a man today,” Baker told TKR. “It’s something that we need from him. We have to do a better job getting him the ball and he has to do a better job of wanting the ball. We’re going to continue to work on that, but today, he had things going for him. He got his double-double. He’s been wanting that and I’m happy for him.”

The Scarlet Knights have a bevy of guards who can do all kinds of different things from shooting from the outside or driving, but add in Johnson, and the team is hard to guard.

“That was the emphasis today, to get him the ball more,” Ron Harper Jr. said. “You saw him on the block, those post moves. When he’s having a day like that, everyone focuses on him and turns their backs, and he’s a great passer, he’s able to find people on the perimeter. When his game is clicking, that opens up a lot for everybody.”

With almost a week off between this game and the last, Johnson believed the extra time off played dividends.

“I definitely believe the extra time really helped because we got a day to get our bodies back and an extra day to watch some film and ask questions on plays,” he said. “The extra days helped.”

To start off the year, Rutgers won two very close games against Bryant and Drexel that went down to the wire with a blowout victory in between over Niagara. Then came a loss to St. Bonaventure in Toronto.

But after that, the Scarlet Knights handled a very good Stephen F. Austin team by 12 points, which just beat Duke on the road.

The Scarlet Knights entered the season with high expectations, and they are finally feeling and looking like a team that can do some damage.

“We kind of took that loss as a statement like we’re not on top of the world and we can be beaten,” Johnson said. “We took it to heart. We have the mindset that whoever we play, they’re the best team in the nation.”

Follow Chris Nalwasky on Twitter @ChrisWasky.