The Rutgers Scarlet Knights (18-12, 12-8) enjoyed the fruits of their labor with the coveted double bye. Iowa’s laughable margin meant a lot of Hawks got figurative byes, too. Iowa’s starters played between 18 and 24 minutes.
Rutgers had themselves an interesting season with bad losses to DePaul, Lafayette, and Massachusetts in their first seven, even though Geo Baker was out for a couple of them. They largely dug themselves out of that hole with wins against Purdue, Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan State, Ohio State, & Illinois. Only the Badgers’ game was on the road.
They do it how they’ve always done it under Steve Pikiell: defense, defense, defense. The Scarlet Knights limit opponent three-point attempts and protect the rim well (46.0%). They get after opponents with steals and blocks. Their offense is built around seniors Ron Harper and Geo Baker and do-it-all junior Paul Mulcahy. Caleb McConnell won defensive player of the year. Veteran bunch.
You know what happened the first time out. Hawks lost 48-46 in Piscataway.
Season averages: Team / Opponent
PPG: 67.7 / 65.2
RPG: 35.6 / 33.8
APG: 15.0 / 12.2
TOPG: 11.7 / 12.1
FG%: 44.2% / 41.2%
Coach:
Steve Pikiell, 6th season at Rutgers, 17 total
Overall: 18-12, 98-89 at Rutgers (.524), .542 overall
Big Ten: 12-8, 46-70 (.400)
B1G Tourney: 4-4
Team Leaders:
PPG: Ron Harper 15.6; Geo Baker, 12.0
RPG: Clifford Omoruyi, 7.9 (2.2 Off); Harper, 6.0 (1.3 Off)
APG: Paul Mulcahy, 5.2; Baker, 3.9
FG%: Omoruyi, 61.7%; Dein Reiber, 54.0%
3P%: Harper, 39.9%; Mulcahy, 35.3%
Last 5 games:
W - v Penn State, 59-58
W - @ Indiana, 66-63
L - v Wisconsin, 66-61
L - @ Michigan, 71-62
L - @ Purdue, 84-72
KenPom: ($)
AdjEfficiency: +10.96 (73)
AdjOffense: 106.3 (116)
AdjDefense: 95.3 (38)
AdjTempo: 65.3 (289)
Conference only
Offense: 102.1 (9)
Defense: 101.4 (4)
NET: 76
vs Quad 1: 6-5
Bart Torvik: 78
Since Feb 1: 27