Rutgers Basketball HC Steve Pikiell talks with the media following the program's 63-46 loss to Maryland inside Jersey Mike's Arena on Sunday afternoon.
Opening Statements:
“Great crowd today. The students were here early today and I really appreciate that. We got off to a good start and we were focused. They were in a good place and though Cliff (Omoruyi) was challenged, he rose to the challenge. Seventeen total assists for the team today and ten guys recorded assists. That is a huge number. I obviously have a ton of respect for Michigan and their point guard. Reed is a problem and they have shooters all around their team. I thought we were locked in and that was a huge team win. All of my guys' minds were right and they had the right mentality to win a basketball game. I’m really proud of that.”
On Clifford Omoruyi’s historic night:
“Cliff’s development here has been incredible. He is an outstanding student and a great representative of Rutgers. 900 rebounds and hopefully he can get to 1000 in the next two games. He has gotten better and I challenged him hard these past few days. I’m really proud of him.”
On offensive output:
“I just thought that we were in attack mode. Obviously the ball was going in. We made some free throws at home here which hasn’t been one of our strong suits. We got rebounds, we were active. I think we got a ton of deflections in the first half which was a big part of it. I just thought they were locked in. They were locked in to the right things to win a basketball game.”
On game’s starting minutes....
“Our defense was locked in, we didn’t give up a lot of points. We were in that mode that I like us in. Swarming, activity, guys moving their feet. We made shots. We moved the ball. I think we had eleven guys with assists tonight. I don’t know the last time we had that many different players have assists. That was a good sign too. Guys were sharing the ball.”
On halftime talk...
“We put 41 points up in the first half so I’ll take that drought anytime. At halftime, we just stayed the course. We had a good game plan for this game– TJ Thompson did a great job. Stay the course, attack what we could, and stay in that attack mode, defensively and offensively. But they were reminded many times that this is a 40-minute league.”
On Mawot Mag’s health status...
“He is taking it game by game until he feels better. He’s going to keep rehab, he hasn’t practiced at all leading up to this game.”
On Jeremiah Williams’ performance...
“Jeremiah brings energy, he’s a good passer. He got into foul trouble too but played through that. He was just very efficient today with his minutes. 19 points, 9-12 from the floor. Just really efficient, taking good shots. I liked that he was smiling, his personality, the whole thing.”
On Jersey Mike’s Arena crowd...
“These fans that are in the stands, are awesome. I talk to a lot of them, and they’re the ones that stick with us in this tough league. Our students are awesome, they come out and bring energy, it helps our team a tremendous amount but the season ticket holders, like the one guy who grabbed me earlier, he was a season ticket holder for 42 years. I like when the fans understand our players are great people. Andre and Clifford have been here for the longest, but Noah, who's only been here for a year has also made an impact on these people, and they’re happy for them when they win. It’s very important to have a crowd with you no matter what.
On academic success of Aundre and Clifford Omoruyi...
“I think (Aundre Hyatt) has a 3.93 in Grad school grade point average. He’s one of the best students we’ve ever had; and what Cliff has done academically has been off the charts. They’re not just basketball players, they represent the school the right way and do an unbelievable job on and off the court. I think the fans recognize that, and that’s important.”
On game strategy...
“We drove it too. Aundre got in the lane and we had a lot of guys attacking the rim, which I thought was very important. They play a lot of different defenses too and I thought we adjusted well to all of them. They were locked in, which is great and that’s what they need to do moving forward.”
On set rotation...
“We had really good practices by those 8 players. I thought they had the best practices the last couple days and they were really locked in to the game plan. I’m confident about the adjustments we’ve made and I’ve started 11 guys this year.”
On Emmanuel Ogbole’s health status...
He’s fine. I went with Oskar and played him, but Emmanuel is fine. Shortened the rotation a little bit but these guys earned that and they were playing well and definitely earned their minutes.
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