Coming off a tough overtime loss to Northwestern, Rutgers answered back in a big way as it crushed No. 13 Michigan State 84-63 in Jersey Mike’s Arena.
Here are three thoughts after the game….
Paul Mulcahy does it again
Following a career-high performance in which he scored 31 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists, Paul Mulcahy had another stellar game as he posted his first career double-double with 15 points and 12 assists.
“We were playing in rhythm and were taking good quality shots,” Mulcahy said after the game. It wasn’t a lot of isolation, we got really talented guys.”
While Mulcahy has shown to be a quality player since donning the scarlet and white, the last two games have been a revelation for the Bayonne native. If Mulcahy can bottle up and carry this momentum going forward, there is reason to believe he could find himself in the upper half of players in the Big Ten.
Mean Dean Reiber
While this has been an up and down season for Rutgers (13-9, 7-5 Big Ten), perhaps the biggest (and most welcoming) surprise is the emergence of Dean Reiber. Although he was only on the floor for 10 minutes, Reiber made the most of his time as he tallied 12 points and splashed a big 3-pointer to put Rutgers up 58-47 with 12:50 remaining.
“I wasn’t loving the first half as far as our defense was concerned,” head coach Steve Pikiell said. “I thought we played really good defense in the second half. We turned the ball over like we did in the past but rebounding is always what we try to emphasize, especially against this team.”
Not only has Reiber become a fan-favorite among the Rutgers faithful, but he has also seemingly grown into the backup big man the Scarlet Knights were in search of before the season.
“An old-fashioned butt-kicking”
Is how Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo described it and considering Rutgers had six players record double figures it is hard to disagree. Whether it was Ron Harper Jr. and Cliff Omoruyi scoring 17 points, Mulcahy’s 15, Geo Baker and Reiber tallying 12, or Caleb McConnell netting 11, this was one of the Scarlet Knights’ best offensive outputs in some time as they shot 62 percent from the field.
“We needed to match their physicality,” Pikiell added. “I was pleased that our guys got out and ran; 22 assists in a game like this is hard to do.”
This was as good a 40 minutes of basketball Rutgers has played all year and to do it against Michigan State (17-5, 8-3 Big Ten) is a positive sign for the Scarlet Knights. From a program that was in search of its first-ever win against the Spartans, Rutgers has now beaten them by a combined 51 points in its last two meetings.
Rutgers will look to continue its momentum when it takes on Ohio State at Jersey Mike’s Arena on Wednesday at 7 p.m. (ET) on BTN.
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