12/28/2020 basketball Edit

The Monday Morning Step-Back: Rutgers looking to rebound after OSU loss

Craig Epstein

Staff Writer

After starting out 6-0 and picking up big wins over Maryland and Illinois, Rutgers was brought down to earth a bit following their 80-68 loss to Ohio State and found themselves making news both on and off the court.

“I knew this would be our most pressing task physically,” Head Coach Steve Pikiell said after the game. “I liked what they’re made of the more I watched them play.”

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Not only did the Scarlet Knights blow a 16-point second-half lead to the Buckeyes, but they were left with a scare when Jacob Young fell hard on the floor following a missed dunk and was unable to return to the game with an injury. While it appears as though Young will be healthy enough to go for tomorrow’s matchup against Purdue, it was a quick reminder of how Rutgers can ill afford to lose their key pieces for long stretches of time.

“He fell really hard, he was in a lot of pain,” Pikiell said in regards to Young. “We’re keeping our fingers crossed. We’re banged up, we’re down a few guys. Every guy is important but we’ve got to get him back.”

Although Geo Baker’s high ankle sprain ended up only keeping him out of games against Fairleigh Dickinson, Hofstra, and Syracuse, Rutgers so far is a team that relies on six players and does not have much wiggle room beyond that.

Due to freshman big man Cliff Omoruyi being out indefinitely with a knee injury (and some questionable foul calls against Myles Johnson), Mamadou Doucoure was tasked with stepping up and giving the Scarlet Knights 21 minutes. Despite Doucoure being a serviceable veteran, the look of the Scarlet Knights declined on both sides of the ball once Johnson fouled out with 8:44 left.

“Myles had been playing really well and to only have him on the court for 15 minutes without Cliff is not a good thing,” Pikiell continued. “Not having Cliff today hurt us but I thought that Mamadou Doucoure came in today and worked his butt off and gave us some really good minutes.”

If anything, this game was a quick reminder of just how fast things can change in the Big Ten. In one moment the Scarlet Knights were riding high and seemed to be cruising to a 7-0 start, and in the next they found themselves blowing a 16-point lead and fearing the worst with Young.