PISCATAWAY, N.J.– The undergrads at Rutgers were giddy enough to storm the court at the RAC Tuesday night after Rutgers pulled off a signature 78-67 victory over ninth ranked Maryland before a 10th straight sellout crowd here on Senior Night.
This doesn’t happen very often at this Big Ten school on the Banks.
But, then again, the Scarlet Knights haven’t been invited to NCAA tournament since 1991. Despite all the skeptics, who have been disappointed so many times in the past, pencil me in as a guy who believes Rutgers deserves a spot in the brackets.
The Knights are 19-11, 18-1 at home. They are 10-9 in the conference after snapping a three- game losing streak and have defeated four ranked teams at the RAC. They have been one of 11 teams from the conference to be ranked at one time or another.
Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell refuses to talk about the tournament or getting over the hump, insisting his focus is now on the regular season finale at Purdue. “We have won a lot of game in the best league in the country,’’ Pikiell said. “We have had the No. 1 schedule in the country, not just the league, the last seven, eight games.’’
If there is one knock on Rutgers it is that team’s record on the road. The Knights are 1-10 away from the RAC.
The Big Ten is the best conference in the country and it can be a grind. And Rutgers had been through a meat grinder in the last eight games. They had six days to prepare for this huge game and they made the most of it. How the selection committee will view this latest win is anybody’s guess.
“We feel like we are good enough,’’ junior point guard Geo Baker said. “I don’t know if we have done enough but we feel like we belong in the tournament. We have the talent with the right team and the right mindset. But we still have more games left.’’
“They absolutely belong in the tournament,’’ Maryland coach Mark Turgeon said. “I even think they could win a game or two. I think every team who gets in from this league could win a game. They are well coached, deep, talented and physical and they play great defense on every possession.’’
Rutgers is also balanced and can get double figure scoring from any one of the top eight players. Junior guard Jacob Young came off the bench to score 17 points on 78 for 10 shooting. Sophomore guard Montez Mathis had 15, junior point guard Geo Baker added 11 and three more players had nine. The Knights are not a particularly good shooting team, but they shot 56.7 percent in the second half and finished with 12 three- point goals.
“Give Rutgers a lot of credit,’’ Turgeon said. “They’re 18-1 for a reason. They are terrific in this building. They seem fresh, loose and are having fun. They had six days to prepare for this one and it looked like that. We’re not guarding We guarded in the last 10 minutes of the Minnesota game, but we have not guarded for the last three and a half games.’’
Maryland, which suffered a psychological scar during a home loss to Michigan State last Saturday, has until Sunday to figure it out. The Terps, which are 23-7 and 13-6 in the conference, still have a chance to tie or win the Big Ten regular season if they defeat Michigan in their final regular season game at College Park and Michigan State loses to Ohio State Saturday.
Rutgers was at its best against Maryland, a team it has never beaten since joining the Big Ten. They are balanced and can get double figure scoring from any one of the top eight players. Junior guard Jacob Young came off the bench to score 17 points on 78 for 10 shooting. Sophomore guard Montez Mathis had 15, Baker added 11 and three more players had nine. The Knights are not a particularly good shooting team, but they shot 56.7 percent in the second half and finished with 12 three- point goals.
“Give Rutgers a lot of credit,’’ Turgeon said. “They’re 18-1 for a reason. They are terrific in this building. They seem fresh, loose and are having fun. They had six days to prepare for this one and it looked like that. We’re not guarding We guarded in the last 10 minutes of the Minnesota game, but we have not guarded for the last three and a half games.
“We’ve had little practice time in the last 10 days. We don’t feel sorry for ourselves. We know who we are. We didn’t get to 23-5 by not being a good basketball team playing a Top 10 schedule in the country. It’s just that this last 72 hours has not gone well. I love my team. We’re going to bounce back, but we just didn’t have it tonight.’’
But it was Rutgers ferocious defensive effort that made the biggest impact. The Knights had no real answers for guard Anthony Cowan and forward Jalen Smith, but they held Maryland to just 38.5 percent and a brutal 6 for 32 on three- point attempts.
“I just love our team,’’ Pikiell said. “I just want them to play. There’s a lot of noise gong around outside. Social media, all that stuff really doesn’t matter. I just wanted them to play. We’re a good basketball team. When we stick to our core values and do what we do, we’re good. We had our best practice of the season Sunday. They were locked in and ready to play and they have been since we got back from the Penn State game. Really happy about our prep. They just played. They stopped worrying about all that stuff.
