Rutgers needs more rebounding as it hopes to rebound against Ohio State
No. 15 Rutgers and Ohio State meet for a second time this season just over two weeks apart on Saturday at 12:00 p.m. (BTN), but this time it is at the RAC in Piscataway.
Last month, the Scarlet Knights (7-3, 3-3) led by as many as 16 points early in the second half before the Buckeyes stormed back to lead by as much as 14 for an 80-68 win.
Foul calls in terms of numbers were even, but the officials’ whistles weren’t kind to centers Myles Johnson and Mamadou Doucoure, and without the services of freshman Cliff Omoruyi and the readiness then of fellow rookie Dean Reiber, the fouls turned the tide.
Many of the penalties called were poor and senior guard Jacob Young fell hard to the court after a slam dunk attempt in the scond half as well which took Rutgers’ heads out of the game, too.
“The way the game is called and then Jacob Young gets injured, just had a lot of obstacles in that game and the last four minutes didn't play out the way we needed,” Rutgers head coach Steve Pikiell said. “But Ohio State's good. That's what these games come down to do sometimes, it's a play here or it's a defensive stop. We didn't get them when we needed to and they did. You learn from it.”
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One of the main differences in that contest was the rebounding. Ohio State dominated the glass, 45-25, including 12-4 on the offensive end. Rutgers also lost the rebounding battle to Michigan State this past Tuesday, 45-25.
E.J. Liddell had 21 points and six rebounds and Kyle Young had 17 points and 12 rebounds for a double-double as the Buckeyes went to work with Rutgers in foul trouble.
“They're going to be physical, they're hard nosed, and they were plus-20 on the glass too. Michigan State got us on the glass and they did too. Really good basketball team as you know, Chris (Holtmann) does an unbelievable job,” Pikiell said. “Liddell and they're inside guys had career nights, so we obviously got to do a really good job on the backboards. They're probably the most physical team in the league. We have to do a really good job of matching that. But again, another tough challenge in this league. They keep coming. That's what I love about the league too. You got to embrace that journey in this league and we're getting ready to play one of the best programs in the conference and they've already beaten us. We got to really get ready and then hopefully we'll have two good days of prep leading up to it.”
Rutgers will be without Omoruyi again, but Reiber has come on and has displayed a solid motor. Caleb McConnell has also returned and he brings some height.
Ohio State grabs 38.5 rebounds per game including 12.4 on the offensive end which is second in the conference. It is also the third best defensive team in terms of scoring. Pikiell is calling for everyone on the court to crash the backboards.
“We got to do a better job. We got to get more guys involved,” Pikiell said. “It can't just be Myles. Obviously having Cliff out, our second leading rebounder, hasn't helped us either. Caleb will stick his nose in there. Paul will too. We just got to make a concerted effort and do a better job and our guards got to dig some out too. It's a team thing and they're aware of it and hopefully it's not a continuing issue, but it has been in some games.”
Since its win over Rutgers, Ohio State lost on the road to Northwestern by one, at Minnesota by 17, and won at home against Nebraska by 36. But it hasn’t played a game since Jan. 3 as its game with Penn State this week was postponed.
“They put new stuff in. They are playing some new guys more minutes. Teams evolve as the year goes on. They changed some of their sets,” Pikiell said. “You can take a lot from that first game but, they evolved. We've added a couple pieces with Caleb and we got to get better in some areas, and hopefully we'll look different than when we played him 17 days ago.”
At the time of the interview, Rutgers hadn’t practiced yet, and it had only done some film work, but Pikiell said he hopes the team isn’t all too happy about its ugly, no-show performance against the Spartans and they are ready to come back strong.
“Hopefully disappointed, but in this league you get quick bounce backs,” Pikiell told TKR. “You can play really well and lose in a league like this. You have to play good basketball every time you take the court and every team poses different problems. But tip of the hat to Michigan State, they're really good. We have to play better when we're on the road. I hope our guys are disappointed but they also have to have short memories because we have Ohio State who has beaten us already.”
Follow Chris Nalwasky on Twitter @ChrisWasky.
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