GAME 24 Northwestern: The Beautiful Ugly

[bac2therac]

There is nothing more prettier than a win and its quite beautiful when that win comes when you are dead in the water down 14 points with 8 minutes left. This game seemed hopeless throughout. I think as fans we knew at some point RU would have a run and chip into the lead and get the RAC involved and then put ourselves in a shot to win the game. However it was getting late. As much as the RAC was trying to will this comeback, it was not looking good. It seemed like every time that RU got a couple baskets and a couple of stops to get to 11 or 12, Northwestern would simply make a 3 and crush our hearts. The Wildcats repelled every Rutgers run in the first half and after RU showed signs of life before halftime, NW simply came out and extended the lead to 16 again. and with 7:47 left built the lead back to 62-48. How could this happen. It wasn't supposed to be this way. Rutgers was 16-7/7-4, they were the projected 8 seed in the NCAA tourney, Northwestern was supposed to be the sisters of the poor of the Big 10. They lost to Merrimack. They were 6-15/1-10. Rutgers you mean that Rutgers 16-0 at the RAC getting stomped on by Northwestern 29-11. What was this? Damn those fumes I was smelling in 212 was not marijuana, it was those last remaining puffs of Same Old Rutgers seaping up from the bowels of the RAC

Basketball is a funny game. I cannot tell you how many games I watched this weekend but there were several examples of schools falling down double digits some at home, some on the road and then coming roaring back to win. Temple down 17 beats SMU at home,. Colorado down 16 beats Stanford, Texas Tech down 16 wins at Texas Tech, Auburn down 15 beats LSU, Arizona State down 13 beats USC. Sometimes you have to be on the verge of losing everything and make no mistake, Rutgers would have lost ALOT with a loss tonight to make you have the hunger to taste a victory. This team will make you pull all your hair out at times but this team also a knack for just never giving up just when its at its darkest point. We have seen it now at Iowa, vs Nebraska, vs Michigan, at Maryland. RU down for the count somehow someway finding a will to tie up those games. They lost 3 of those 4 games and the one they got was led by Geo Baker. I talked about adversity in the post game. Your hardest times often lead to the greatest moments in your life. If staring down a crushing home loss to a 6-15 was not a do or die moment for Rutgers I do not know what is. There is some sort of grit, as Pike put it about this team. Its as tough as an RU team that I have seen in my 30 years of following

And there he was again, Geo. 10-17 fg, 3-7 from 3, 25 points,6 boards, 5 assists, 0 turnovers in a game high 35 minutes. Again the leader and the catalyst. Everyone chipped in for that comeback but Geo led them. Geo once again risking failure to reap reward. Geo such a well documented funk most likely due to that darn thumb injury. Geo wasnt even in the game at the end of the Maryland loss. That has to speak to probably how much that thumb was hurting him. Because we know what Steve Pikiell thinks of Geo. We know the about the patented step back 3 from Geo which he hit to tie the game and then again on back to back buckets late in the overtime to seal the deal, none more bigger than the one with 11 seconds left. Everyone knew what was going to happen, run the clock and let Geo take over. That is how Pike views Geo. Geo is the guy you want with the ball in his hands late. We have seen it over and over and over and Geo is now writing his name in the annals of the RAC as one of the biggest end game playmakers it has ever seen. No doubt about you have to feel good for Geo after the rough stretch because we know he is good, we know he is better than those stats he has been putting up. Whether it was injury or not, Geo overcame all that tonight and also hearing he overcame back pain tonight as well. Remember Geo came here when Rutgers a nothing doormat laughingstock. To come this far in 3 years has to be so rewarding for him. A hard worker and one of the most likely Scarlet Knights in RU history.

Listen we can go on and on about how bad RU played for 30 minutes. I was having thoughts about this team peaking a little too soon and now running into a wall. We have to remember, Rutgers is in rare air here. These kids are young and are now facing the distraction of being placed solidly in the NCAA bracket. Its alot of pressure. It has to be hard for them to block it out and be relaxed. I think RU was incredibly tight on offense and the more chippies they missed, the more tentative and gun shy they became on the offensive end. Not a good thing for a team that struggles in the half court And look the defense gave way too many open looks, the doubling leaving a guy open on the wing for a 3 has been debated ad nauseum on the board the last couple of weeks. Its generally failing of late and the proof is in the 3 point percentages that got put up by Michigan and Northwestern. Sure Northwestern shooting 11 for 23 is an aberration but you realize maybe 18 of those shots were open. The RU defense is incredible. Its what got RU back into this game, and they tightened up that D, we saw less doubling and more straight up D and Northwestern simply got shut down, RU held the Cats to just one fg over the last 7:47 and no 3 pointers in the last 10 minutes. It seemed like the same movie from some other RU comebacks on the road, Just incredible defensive presence as we moved further toward the end of the game. The rebounding stats were off the charts....30-19 and 19-11 on the offensive boards. Those were keys to this comeback...and those offensive 2nd chances in the last 5 minutes saved us.

Want to put a special shoutout to Yeboah in this game.....seemed tentative to shoot from the outside, was this designed by Pike? He got to the line alot for him...8-8 I really think Pike wanted him driving in today and he was brilliant at getting to the line and perfect making there. So really him getting that wing 3 which he could hit that pushed the lead to 4 was such a nice thing especially since he had a bad turnover and a double dribble late in the 2nd half. Myles heated up on defense late in getting stops, 10 boards but really at 2-8ft is a liability on offense late. Ron Jr and Caleb both contributed in key spots and I thought that Caleb coming in sort of sparked the comeback and the final rotation of Geo, Myles, Ron, Caleb, and Yeboah was our best. Mathis seemed to get beat on D and then minutes really cut to just 15, did he play at all in the 2nd half? He lost minutes to Mulcahy and that is saying something. Jacob was a non factor today. Have to give some credit to Pike that maybe realizing that a little more deliberate offense while RU was trying to chip away might have been better than having Montez/JY who both have a tendancy to force. Mulcahy at times looked overwhelmed but there must have been a method to Pike's madness..perhaps saving Caleb's legs.

And what about the RAC, credit Northwestern, they turned us into church mouses for most of the game. In fact we witnessed one of the most inexplicably wrong and inappropriate and ill timed use of scoreboard music when some idiot running it decided to play COUNTRY ROADS...it was the most embarrassing moment since the Lets Make a Deal Guy from the Jordan years. Yes whoever did this is an idiot and they need to know it because one this song has no place at the RAC and you certainly dont play it when the crowd is despondent with RU down 17. So be better.

But you know the RAC is almost at its best when the team is down and making a comeback. When RU gets to leads, the RAC sort of fades in and out. When RU cut the lead to single digits and then to 7, the RAC was activated and they heard us roar. The RAC assisted in several Northwestern miscues and communication breakdowns late including a poor look at end of regulation and another poor decision on the last shot of the game with RU up 4. Its such an asset and provided that extra lift that RU didnt get to get them over the hump vs Illinois or Iowa or Maryland.

So want to touch on one thing brought up. No Rutgers wouldnt be out of the dance if they had lost to Northwestern. Yes the resume would have taken a big blemish and the NET might have tumble to near 40. However RU still probably would have fallen to maybe the 9 seed line,. maybe the top ten seed. The one thing you have to remember is you cannot take away quality wins, they are there and they mean alot. A loss though would have certainly been a mental thing for the team to overcome going to Ohio State. Losing wouldnt give much confidence that RU could beat Illinois and Maryland would it. I think the fans would have really taken this one hard so we avoided all that. Just be happy we got the win. I think its going to make this team better for it. I think we have a decent shot at beating Ohio State. We do not play pretty ball, but there are no style points in college hoops, ugly? now ugly can be beautiful when you keep winning.

 

[RU MAN]

I'd rather win ugly than lose pretty. Great post Bac. I like your comment regarding Caleb in there. I thought him running the point and letting Geo become more of his natural 2 guard really helped there. I think it was also a boost of confidence from Pike to Caleb after his performance meltdown against Maryland.

I would however, like to see Yeboah take more threes, even though I completely understand why Pike may have wanted him to drive to the basket to get to the line. I thought Yeboah had at least 3-5 open looks outside the 3 point line and just inside the line that he didn't take. Like you, I don't know if that was Pike or the other coaches in his ear, but I believe he needs to take those shots. He's our best outside shooter and we really missed him tonight except for the key three at the end.

 

[FastMJ]

Great post. Please edit the “more prettier” and “more bigger” grammatical miscues.

 

[NewJerseyHawk]

In the bigger picture, this is a 8-5 B1G program. But more importantly, it may have landed it's identity as a program, while going through a full rebuild on the fly. Maybe for some RU fans, they're hoping an 8-5 B1G record to become 8-12, because it doesn't fit the way some view basketball....OR because it lacks the high 4* or 5* players on other rosters we are battling with.

It has teams who really are talented but learning and workmanlike where the coaching staffs maximize the talent they have, but struggle to score most nights (Rutgers, Penn State, Purdue, Illinois, Michigan State).....

It has teams with overall more talent that are just better on paper and usually get away with it (Maryland, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio State).....

It has teams that are built to play as well as they can as a unit on offense that will be killer, if they make shots or have experience (Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Northwestern and Nebraska).

I am not married to what the grouping is above, because Wisconsin probably belongs in the category of workmanlike but is really a program, based on being a system......, but my only concern was trying to figure out where RU would ultimately land during this rebuild. What programs would we ultimately look like most nights??

There is no single right way to build a program and also have the ability to sustain some level of success. You can simply just out recruit everyone every single year, with the best and most highly ranked kids ASAP.....or you ultimately have to find kids who are also talented AND aren't afraid of the dirty work, the defense, rebounding and mix in some scoring.

In this conference, you obviously have to recruit well to survive, but you also have to recruit heart, toughness and defense as well. I do believe on paper that Indiana, Minnesota, Northwestern have players on their rosters that are just better individually talent wise than what RU, Purdue, Penn State have right now.

But in crunch time, when things get wobbly, most times, those teams don't get stops on defense, don't scrap enough or dig down enough to find ways to win. Maybe the recruits are too young, so talented that they haven't had adversity hit and believe that scoring and offense, is the way to overcome it.

I think RU is not completely rebuilt, it has still a long way to go, but it is more Purdue like vs Indiana.....it is more Michigan State like than Michigan.....it is more gritty than flashy.

I think being gritty and determined on defense, makes this team better than it should be on paper...and reading some coaches comments from Kerry Keatts at NC State, Archie Miller at Indiana and they're mentioning (how do they bring the toughness out of their players or Keatts specifically saying, how can we recruit tougher players for our roster??

Make no mistake, NCState, Indiana will probably find enough wins to get into the NCAAs, because they just have better players....just as long as everything goes perfectly.....the minute Indiana hits adversity, something goes wrong...same with NCState, same with a handful of teams in college basketball that are better on paper than Purdue, Penn State and now Rutgers.....yes Rutgers is a tough out...a tough team to put away....a team built to play 40 (or 45 minutes for OT).

Maybe RU becomes more like Iowa NWestern, Wisconsin etc and shoots lights out where when it's your day to hit shots, you can win.

Right now the biggest compliment for both basketball and football at Rutgees is to become relevant. And you can only become relevant if you look and feel like a program in your league that has sustained success.

In basketball, to me, its Purdue under Matt Painter.....defense, rebounding, some shooting, very difficult to beat at home and where defense travels on the road.

In football, its Iowa under Kirk Ferentz Wisconsin and Michigan State....play sound and.tough defense, play good special teams, run the football, win at the line of scrimmage....ultimately what Schiano has to build into to become relevant.

The note for the rest of this year and next and probably beyond, is Rutgers will be relevant and sustainable. If we learned anything about not just Northwestern but all year, Rutgers has a path to remain sustainable. And that's a good thing to remain winning and relevant vs a 1 year wonder.

 

[Randal7]

Great post.

I agree that the "country roads" sing along was bizarre. Really bizarre. It was like the ghost of damn West virginia was in the building

 

[rufeelinit]

Cmon Hawk. Do you really think there are RU fans who want 8-5 to go to 8-12 because of the way we play and who we recruit? I was getting sick watching that game last night given the potential ramifications of losing that game. While it would not have killed our tourney chances a quad three loss with what we have left would have been a significant hit.

I almost turned it off at a couple of points in the second half because we were just not making progress toward reducing the deficit. Glad I stuck with it but honestly at no point until overtime was I confident that we were going to prevail. It is amazing that we did not lead once during regulation.

After looking at the box score this morning, you need to give NW some credit. Only four turnovers and a healthy advantage on assists, which to me means their offense was moving the ball to get good shots. Ironically their struggle from FT despite a limited # of opportunities was critical down the stretch. Yes the shooting stats turned on them late in the game, and in OT, but it took longer than it should have.

Geo was great in the second half and that is not a term I throw around loosely. I thought he needed a blow at one point but he iron manned it. He also played good defense on Buie as well. Akwasi despite 4 turnovers, made some big plays as well and 8-8 from the FT.

I did not understand the minutes distribution in the backcourt and not sure what the deal was with Montez getting 15 last night when PM and JY each got 18. I understand riding your hot hand down the stretch but I am really talking about the first 30 minutes of the game.

I would have thought last night was a game for Myles to dominate inside. He did a nice job rebounding down the stretch but teams have figured out how to take him away on the offensive end. He needs to assert himself more and when he does get position they need to get him the ball more quickly. He also needs to stop bringing the ball down to his waist level before going up for shots which makes him easier to defend. It is also getting to the point where you question if you can give him the ball in a close game because I would foul him every time and make him beat me from the line.

I thought we were really tentative on the offensive end until Geo essentially took over. It looked like no one else wanted to shoot. It was clear that Pike must have said to try to drive it to the basket instead of taking an early 3, but we gave up a lot of open looks seeking to either drive or make an extra pass and the results were not great for most of the game. We are going to see more zone and while we attacked such defenses well earlier in the year, with a player at the foul line, we seem to be having less success.

So yes an ugly win is better than a well played loss but once you get over the excitement of the comeback, an evaluation of the entire effort does continue to cause some concern about how we move forward and reach the goal of a tournament bid. I think OSU does present another good opportunity for a win, but we will need to play better as a team to pull it off.

 

[richthedentist]

Agree with your question about Montez not playing vs Mulcahy I would much rather have seen Montez because Mulcahy has really become a liability on defense as when he came in the first half he was torched for 8 points in about 2 minutes and was not much better in the second half and has been discussed is no threat on the offensive end

 

[brad1218]

In the bigger picture, this is a 8-5 B1G program. But more importantly, it may have landed it's identity as a program, while going through a full rebuild on the fly. Maybe for some RU fans, they're hoping an 8-5 B1G record to become 8-12, because it doesn't fit the way some view basketball....OR because it lacks the high 4* or 5* players on other rosters we are battling with.

It has teams who really are talented but learning and workmanlike where the coaching staffs maximize the talent they have, but struggle to score most nights (Rutgers, Penn State, Purdue, Illinois, Michigan State).....

It has teams with overall more talent that are just better on paper and usually get away with it (Maryland, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio State).....

It has teams that are built to play as well as they can as a unit on offense that will be killer, if they make shots or have experience (Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Northwestern and Nebraska).

I am not married to what the grouping is above, because Wisconsin probably belongs in the category of workmanlike but is really a program, based on being a system......, but my only concern was trying to figure out where RU would ultimately land during this rebuild. What programs would we ultimately look like most nights??

There is no single right way to build a program and also have the ability to sustain some level of success. You can simply just out recruit everyone every single year, with the best and most highly ranked kids ASAP.....or you ultimately have to find kids who are also talented AND aren't afraid of the dirty work, the defense, rebounding and mix in some scoring.

In this conference, you obviously have to recruit well to survive, but you also have to recruit heart, toughness and defense as well. I do believe on paper that Indiana, Minnesota, Northwestern have players on their rosters that are just better individually talent wise than what RU, Purdue, Penn State have right now.

But in crunch time, when things get wobbly, most times, those teams don't get stops on defense, don't scrap enough or dig down enough to find ways to win. Maybe the recruits are too young, so talented that they haven't had adversity hit and believe that scoring and offense, is the way to overcome it.

I think RU is not completely rebuilt, it has still a long way to go, but it is more Purdue like vs Indiana.....it is more Michigan State like than Michigan.....it is more gritty than flashy.

I think being gritty and determined on defense, makes this team better than it should be on paper...and reading some coaches comments from Kerry Keatts at NC State, Archie Miller at Indiana and they're mentioning (how do they bring the toughness out of their players or Keatts specifically saying, how can we recruit tougher players for our roster??

Make no mistake, NCState, Indiana will probably find enough wins to get into the NCAAs, because they just have better players....just as long as everything goes perfectly.....the minute Indiana hits adversity, something goes wrong...same with NCState, same with a handful of teams in college basketball that are better on paper than Purdue, Penn State and now Rutgers.....yes Rutgers is a tough out...a tough team to put away....a team built to play 40 (or 45 minutes for OT).

Maybe RU becomes more like Iowa NWestern, Wisconsin etc and shoots lights out where when it's your day to hit shots, you can win.

Right now the biggest compliment for both basketball and football at Rutgees is to become relevant. And you can only become relevant if you look and feel like a program in your league that has sustained success.

In basketball, to me, its Purdue under Matt Painter.....defense, rebounding, some shooting, very difficult to beat at home and where defense travels on the road.

In football, its Iowa under Kirk Ferentz Wisconsin and Michigan State....play sound and.tough defense, play good special teams, run the football, win at the line of scrimmage....ultimately what Schiano has to build into to become relevant.

The note for the rest of this year and next and probably beyond, is Rutgers will be relevant and sustainable. If we learned anything about not just Northwestern but all year, Rutgers has a path to remain sustainable. And that's a good thing to remain winning and relevant vs a 1 year wonder.

Just an awful post.

 

[DirtyRU]

I would have thought last night was a game for Myles to dominate inside. He did a nice job rebounding down the stretch but teams have figured out how to take him away on the offensive end. He needs to assert himself more and when he does get position they need to get him the ball more quickly. He also needs to stop bringing the ball down to his waist level before going up for shots which makes him easier to defend. It is also getting to the point where you question if you can give him the ball in a close game because I would foul him every time and make him beat me from the line.

[/QUOTE]

Spot on re: Myles.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

The only reason this board is not in complete meltdown mode right now is Geo Baker.

The rational part of me says we have played 24 games and you are what you are over those 24 games. The emotional part of me says this whole thing is falling part. Our defense went from elite to slightly above average and our offense is average (at best).

Young and Mathis again did not have the "lock down" effect that had a few weeks ago. I am trying to gauge how much of poor defensive results where because of our play and how much was because of Northwestern's shooting and overall play (4 turnovers I think).

One thing to credit RU in "hustle" area. We missed 38 shots and rebounded 19 of them. 50% OREB is a great number.

 

[Mr_Twister]

Agree with Hawk. Most of us hope that basketball reaches Purdue’s usual level of play and that football reaches the Iowa, Michigan State, Wisconsin level of play. Realistic setting of the bar.

 

[ScarletNut]

Montez was a bit out of control on offense and was a step late on defense so I understand his lack of minutes. As for Myles, teams have figured him out. As soon as he touches the ball down low, he is double teamed. Pike and Myles have to learn to find a way for Myles to immediately find the open man or Myles has to quickly drop step to the basket before the double team pops in. The pass out out is the better option IMO.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Montez was a bit out of control on offense and was a step late on defense so I understand his lack of minutes. As for Myles, teams have figured him out. As soon as he touches the ball down low, he is double teamed. Pike and Myles have to learn to find a way for Myles to immediately find the open man or Myles has to quickly drop step to the basket before the double team pops in. The pass out out is the better option IMO.

I think he and the staff has. Also hammers the point that the other 4 bodies on the court have to be willing and capable shooters.

 

[ScarletNut]

I think he and the staff has. Also hammers the point that the other 4 bodies on the court have to be willing and capable shooters.

I agree. I saw a lot of reluctance to shoot from Yeboah and Harper when they had open looks.

 

[pawildcat]

Congrats to Rutgers on a great win. Northwestern, despite its very unattractive 1-11 conference record, is not as bad as people think. We'd probably be middle-of-the-road or better in a lot of conferences outside of the B1G. The Cats had a couple of crap losses, but blew out Boston College in the ACC challenge and also handled a decent Providence team rather easily.

And, typical of our snake-bit BB program, we lost freshman point guard Boo Buie for a significant stretch of this season. He was averaging over 20 ppg in the three games before he went down. What'd he have Sunday, 19? NU was up 14 on Maryland at halftime and lost a game to Purdue where we had them eight points with three minutes left (Collins tried to stall and probably gets the blame for that one). Really, the Michigan State game is the only one where we've really been blown out in the B1G this year. So unfortunately this is not a new experience for the Cats. It's young team that doesn't know how to close. Beran, Kopp, and Buie are genuine talents. Nance, much hyped, has been a disappointment so far. All are freshman and sophs, so I expect good things in the future if Collins has a decent recruiting class this year.

Glad to see Rutgers very competitive this year after all your trials. You have an intimidating home environment and that, combined with your aggressive team, means you'll get to the foul line a lot. Good luck the rest of the way.

 

[RW90]

I agree. I saw a lot of reluctance to shoot from Yeboah and Harper when they had open looks.

Outside of Geo and Yeboah at times, no one else looks confident in their shot. We really need a breakout game from other players to regain their confidence and expand this offense.

 

[REDRICH65]

I must have thought 5 times through the first 30 minutes about turning the game off ( I was recording it though) but something kept telling me to keep watching — JUST BELIEVE in these kids ! My faith did not desert me, once again.

 

[RUChoppin]

Northwestern had a ton of success taking deep threes and using screens to pick off defenders on secondary cuts to the basket. How many threes did they hit at least 2-3 feet behind the arc? 5, 6? And they kept getting clean looks for cutters in the paint because they kept 4 high on offense, our man-to-man defenders were getting screened off at the top of the key, and there was no help for Myles low to pick up the cutters. Great offensive game play against our defense, and I'd imagine we'll see more of those sort of screened cuts now that there's tape that it works against us.

Their zone was also very disciplined and limited the ability to get post touches - and when we did get some post touches, we missed a bunch of chippies. Couple that with ice cold shooting from the arc, and the game was getting quickly out of hand.

Great adjustments and individual performances in the final stretch allowed us to crawl back in. Was one of those games the team had to heart it out - and that will serve them well. Success through adversity breeds confidence and composure.

 

[LeapinLou]

Outside of Geo and Yeboah at times, no one else looks confident in their shot. We really need a breakout game from other players to regain their confidence and expand this offense.

For whatever reason, guys were very shy about pulling the trigger from 3. But if they take those shots and they don't go down, we complain that they aren't trying to drive to the hoop. Ultimately, you need to play in rhythm and take what the defense gives you.

 

[RUScrew85]

OK so I'm rewatching this game (the first 30 minutes as punishment) after shutting it off at about 10 in the 2nd.

HOLY SHIT on the drive by Geo at 2:50!!!

 

[rutobs]

There is nothing more prettier than a win and its quite beautiful when that win comes when you are dead in the water down 14 points with 8 minutes left. This game seemed hopeless throughout. I think as fans we knew at some point RU would have a run and chip into the lead and get the RAC involved and then put ourselves in a shot to win the game. However it was getting late. As much as the RAC was trying to will this comeback, it was not looking good. It seemed like every time that RU got a couple baskets and a couple of stops to get to 11 or 12, Northwestern would simply make a 3 and crush our hearts. The Wildcats repelled every Rutgers run in the first half and after RU showed signs of life before halftime, NW simply came out and extended the lead to 16 again. and with 7:47 left built the lead back to 62-48. How could this happen. It wasn't supposed to be this way. Rutgers was 16-7/7-4, they were the projected 8 seed in the NCAA tourney, Northwestern was supposed to be the sisters of the poor of the Big 10. They lost to Merrimack. They were 6-15/1-10. Rutgers you mean that Rutgers 16-0 at the RAC getting stomped on by Northwestern 29-11. What was this? Damn those fumes I was smelling in 212 was not marijuana, it was those last remaining puffs of Same Old Rutgers seaping up from the bowels of the RAC

Basketball is a funny game. I cannot tell you how many games I watched this weekend but there were several examples of schools falling down double digits some at home, some on the road and then coming roaring back to win. Temple down 17 beats SMU at home,. Colorado down 16 beats Stanford, Texas Tech down 16 wins at Texas Tech, Auburn down 15 beats LSU, Arizona State down 13 beats USC. Sometimes you have to be on the verge of losing everything and make no mistake, Rutgers would have lost ALOT with a loss tonight to make you have the hunger to taste a victory. This team will make you pull all your hair out at times but this team also a knack for just never giving up just when its at its darkest point. We have seen it now at Iowa, vs Nebraska, vs Michigan, at Maryland. RU down for the count somehow someway finding a will to tie up those games. They lost 3 of those 4 games and the one they got was led by Geo Baker. I talked about adversity in the post game. Your hardest times often lead to the greatest moments in your life. If staring down a crushing home loss to a 6-15 was not a do or die moment for Rutgers I do not know what is. There is some sort of grit, as Pike put it about this team. Its as tough as an RU team that I have seen in my 30 years of following

And there he was again, Geo. 10-17 fg, 3-7 from 3, 25 points,6 boards, 5 assists, 0 turnovers in a game high 35 minutes. Again the leader and the catalyst. Everyone chipped in for that comeback but Geo led them. Geo once again risking failure to reap reward. Geo such a well documented funk most likely due to that darn thumb injury. Geo wasnt even in the game at the end of the Maryland loss. That has to speak to probably how much that thumb was hurting him. Because we know what Steve Pikiell thinks of Geo. We know the about the patented step back 3 from Geo which he hit to tie the game and then again on back to back buckets late in the overtime to seal the deal, none more bigger than the one with 11 seconds left. Everyone knew what was going to happen, run the clock and let Geo take over. That is how Pike views Geo. Geo is the guy you want with the ball in his hands late. We have seen it over and over and over and Geo is now writing his name in the annals of the RAC as one of the biggest end game playmakers it has ever seen. No doubt about you have to feel good for Geo after the rough stretch because we know he is good, we know he is better than those stats he has been putting up. Whether it was injury or not, Geo overcame all that tonight and also hearing he overcame back pain tonight as well. Remember Geo came here when Rutgers a nothing doormat laughingstock. To come this far in 3 years has to be so rewarding for him. A hard worker and one of the most likely Scarlet Knights in RU history.

Listen we can go on and on about how bad RU played for 30 minutes. I was having thoughts about this team peaking a little too soon and now running into a wall. We have to remember, Rutgers is in rare air here. These kids are young and are now facing the distraction of being placed solidly in the NCAA bracket. Its alot of pressure. It has to be hard for them to block it out and be relaxed. I think RU was incredibly tight on offense and the more chippies they missed, the more tentative and gun shy they became on the offensive end. Not a good thing for a team that struggles in the half court And look the defense gave way too many open looks, the doubling leaving a guy open on the wing for a 3 has been debated ad nauseum on the board the last couple of weeks. Its generally failing of late and the proof is in the 3 point percentages that got put up by Michigan and Northwestern. Sure Northwestern shooting 11 for 23 is an aberration but you realize maybe 18 of those shots were open. The RU defense is incredible. Its what got RU back into this game, and they tightened up that D, we saw less doubling and more straight up D and Northwestern simply got shut down, RU held the Cats to just one fg over the last 7:47 and no 3 pointers in the last 10 minutes. It seemed like the same movie from some other RU comebacks on the road, Just incredible defensive presence as we moved further toward the end of the game. The rebounding stats were off the charts....30-19 and 19-11 on the offensive boards. Those were keys to this comeback...and those offensive 2nd chances in the last 5 minutes saved us.

Want to put a special shoutout to Yeboah in this game.....seemed tentative to shoot from the outside, was this designed by Pike? He got to the line alot for him...8-8 I really think Pike wanted him driving in today and he was brilliant at getting to the line and perfect making there. So really him getting that wing 3 which he could hit that pushed the lead to 4 was such a nice thing especially since he had a bad turnover and a double dribble late in the 2nd half. Myles heated up on defense late in getting stops, 10 boards but really at 2-8ft is a liability on offense late. Ron Jr and Caleb both contributed in key spots and I thought that Caleb coming in sort of sparked the comeback and the final rotation of Geo, Myles, Ron, Caleb, and Yeboah was our best. Mathis seemed to get beat on D and then minutes really cut to just 15, did he play at all in the 2nd half? He lost minutes to Mulcahy and that is saying something. Jacob was a non factor today. Have to give some credit to Pike that maybe realizing that a little more deliberate offense while RU was trying to chip away might have been better than having Montez/JY who both have a tendancy to force. Mulcahy at times looked overwhelmed but there must have been a method to Pike's madness..perhaps saving Caleb's legs.

And what about the RAC, credit Northwestern, they turned us into church mouses for most of the game. In fact we witnessed one of the most inexplicably wrong and inappropriate and ill timed use of scoreboard music when some idiot running it decided to play COUNTRY ROADS...it was the most embarrassing moment since the Lets Make a Deal Guy from the Jordan years. Yes whoever did this is an idiot and they need to know it because one this song has no place at the RAC and you certainly dont play it when the crowd is despondent with RU down 17. So be better.

But you know the RAC is almost at its best when the team is down and making a comeback. When RU gets to leads, the RAC sort of fades in and out. When RU cut the lead to single digits and then to 7, the RAC was activated and they heard us roar. The RAC assisted in several Northwestern miscues and communication breakdowns late including a poor look at end of regulation and another poor decision on the last shot of the game with RU up 4. Its such an asset and provided that extra lift that RU didnt get to get them over the hump vs Illinois or Iowa or Maryland.

So want to touch on one thing brought up. No Rutgers wouldnt be out of the dance if they had lost to Northwestern. Yes the resume would have taken a big blemish and the NET might have tumble to near 40. However RU still probably would have fallen to maybe the 9 seed line,. maybe the top ten seed. The one thing you have to remember is you cannot take away quality wins, they are there and they mean alot. A loss though would have certainly been a mental thing for the team to overcome going to Ohio State. Losing wouldnt give much confidence that RU could beat Illinois and Maryland would it. I think the fans would have really taken this one hard so we avoided all that. Just be happy we got the win. I think its going to make this team better for it. I think we have a decent shot at beating Ohio State. We do not play pretty ball, but there are no style points in college hoops, ugly? now ugly can be beautiful when you keep winning.

Great recap!

 

[Groz]

There is nothing more prettier than a win and its quite beautiful when that win comes when you are dead in the water down 14 points with 8 minutes left. This game seemed hopeless throughout. I think as fans we knew at some point RU would have a run and chip into the lead and get the RAC involved and then put ourselves in a shot to win the game. However it was getting late. As much as the RAC was trying to will this comeback, it was not looking good. It seemed like every time that RU got a couple baskets and a couple of stops to get to 11 or 12, Northwestern would simply make a 3 and crush our hearts. The Wildcats repelled every Rutgers run in the first half and after RU showed signs of life before halftime, NW simply came out and extended the lead to 16 again. and with 7:47 left built the lead back to 62-48. How could this happen. It wasn't supposed to be this way. Rutgers was 16-7/7-4, they were the projected 8 seed in the NCAA tourney, Northwestern was supposed to be the sisters of the poor of the Big 10. They lost to Merrimack. They were 6-15/1-10. Rutgers you mean that Rutgers 16-0 at the RAC getting stomped on by Northwestern 29-11. What was this? Damn those fumes I was smelling in 212 was not marijuana, it was those last remaining puffs of Same Old Rutgers seaping up from the bowels of the RAC

Basketball is a funny game. I cannot tell you how many games I watched this weekend but there were several examples of schools falling down double digits some at home, some on the road and then coming roaring back to win. Temple down 17 beats SMU at home,. Colorado down 16 beats Stanford, Texas Tech down 16 wins at Texas Tech, Auburn down 15 beats LSU, Arizona State down 13 beats USC. Sometimes you have to be on the verge of losing everything and make no mistake, Rutgers would have lost ALOT with a loss tonight to make you have the hunger to taste a victory. This team will make you pull all your hair out at times but this team also a knack for just never giving up just when its at its darkest point. We have seen it now at Iowa, vs Nebraska, vs Michigan, at Maryland. RU down for the count somehow someway finding a will to tie up those games. They lost 3 of those 4 games and the one they got was led by Geo Baker. I talked about adversity in the post game. Your hardest times often lead to the greatest moments in your life. If staring down a crushing home loss to a 6-15 was not a do or die moment for Rutgers I do not know what is. There is some sort of grit, as Pike put it about this team. Its as tough as an RU team that I have seen in my 30 years of following

And there he was again, Geo. 10-17 fg, 3-7 from 3, 25 points,6 boards, 5 assists, 0 turnovers in a game high 35 minutes. Again the leader and the catalyst. Everyone chipped in for that comeback but Geo led them. Geo once again risking failure to reap reward. Geo such a well documented funk most likely due to that darn thumb injury. Geo wasnt even in the game at the end of the Maryland loss. That has to speak to probably how much that thumb was hurting him. Because we know what Steve Pikiell thinks of Geo. We know the about the patented step back 3 from Geo which he hit to tie the game and then again on back to back buckets late in the overtime to seal the deal, none more bigger than the one with 11 seconds left. Everyone knew what was going to happen, run the clock and let Geo take over. That is how Pike views Geo. Geo is the guy you want with the ball in his hands late. We have seen it over and over and over and Geo is now writing his name in the annals of the RAC as one of the biggest end game playmakers it has ever seen. No doubt about you have to feel good for Geo after the rough stretch because we know he is good, we know he is better than those stats he has been putting up. Whether it was injury or not, Geo overcame all that tonight and also hearing he overcame back pain tonight as well. Remember Geo came here when Rutgers a nothing doormat laughingstock. To come this far in 3 years has to be so rewarding for him. A hard worker and one of the most likely Scarlet Knights in RU history.

Listen we can go on and on about how bad RU played for 30 minutes. I was having thoughts about this team peaking a little too soon and now running into a wall. We have to remember, Rutgers is in rare air here. These kids are young and are now facing the distraction of being placed solidly in the NCAA bracket. Its alot of pressure. It has to be hard for them to block it out and be relaxed. I think RU was incredibly tight on offense and the more chippies they missed, the more tentative and gun shy they became on the offensive end. Not a good thing for a team that struggles in the half court And look the defense gave way too many open looks, the doubling leaving a guy open on the wing for a 3 has been debated ad nauseum on the board the last couple of weeks. Its generally failing of late and the proof is in the 3 point percentages that got put up by Michigan and Northwestern. Sure Northwestern shooting 11 for 23 is an aberration but you realize maybe 18 of those shots were open. The RU defense is incredible. Its what got RU back into this game, and they tightened up that D, we saw less doubling and more straight up D and Northwestern simply got shut down, RU held the Cats to just one fg over the last 7:47 and no 3 pointers in the last 10 minutes. It seemed like the same movie from some other RU comebacks on the road, Just incredible defensive presence as we moved further toward the end of the game. The rebounding stats were off the charts....30-19 and 19-11 on the offensive boards. Those were keys to this comeback...and those offensive 2nd chances in the last 5 minutes saved us.

Want to put a special shoutout to Yeboah in this game.....seemed tentative to shoot from the outside, was this designed by Pike? He got to the line alot for him...8-8 I really think Pike wanted him driving in today and he was brilliant at getting to the line and perfect making there. So really him getting that wing 3 which he could hit that pushed the lead to 4 was such a nice thing especially since he had a bad turnover and a double dribble late in the 2nd half. Myles heated up on defense late in getting stops, 10 boards but really at 2-8ft is a liability on offense late. Ron Jr and Caleb both contributed in key spots and I thought that Caleb coming in sort of sparked the comeback and the final rotation of Geo, Myles, Ron, Caleb, and Yeboah was our best. Mathis seemed to get beat on D and then minutes really cut to just 15, did he play at all in the 2nd half? He lost minutes to Mulcahy and that is saying something. Jacob was a non factor today. Have to give some credit to Pike that maybe realizing that a little more deliberate offense while RU was trying to chip away might have been better than having Montez/JY who both have a tendancy to force. Mulcahy at times looked overwhelmed but there must have been a method to Pike's madness..perhaps saving Caleb's legs.

And what about the RAC, credit Northwestern, they turned us into church mouses for most of the game. In fact we witnessed one of the most inexplicably wrong and inappropriate and ill timed use of scoreboard music when some idiot running it decided to play COUNTRY ROADS...it was the most embarrassing moment since the Lets Make a Deal Guy from the Jordan years. Yes whoever did this is an idiot and they need to know it because one this song has no place at the RAC and you certainly dont play it when the crowd is despondent with RU down 17. So be better.

But you know the RAC is almost at its best when the team is down and making a comeback. When RU gets to leads, the RAC sort of fades in and out. When RU cut the lead to single digits and then to 7, the RAC was activated and they heard us roar. The RAC assisted in several Northwestern miscues and communication breakdowns late including a poor look at end of regulation and another poor decision on the last shot of the game with RU up 4. Its such an asset and provided that extra lift that RU didnt get to get them over the hump vs Illinois or Iowa or Maryland.

So want to touch on one thing brought up. No Rutgers wouldnt be out of the dance if they had lost to Northwestern. Yes the resume would have taken a big blemish and the NET might have tumble to near 40. However RU still probably would have fallen to maybe the 9 seed line,. maybe the top ten seed. The one thing you have to remember is you cannot take away quality wins, they are there and they mean alot. A loss though would have certainly been a mental thing for the team to overcome going to Ohio State. Losing wouldnt give much confidence that RU could beat Illinois and Maryland would it. I think the fans would have really taken this one hard so we avoided all that. Just be happy we got the win. I think its going to make this team better for it. I think we have a decent shot at beating Ohio State. We do not play pretty ball, but there are no style points in college hoops, ugly? now ugly can be beautiful when you keep winning.

Another excellent recap Bac. You have really been hitting the pulse of the team and the season. It sure has been exciting watching games in person this year.......The RAC has been electric........

Best of Luck,
Groz

 

[RUScrew85]

Great post. Please edit the “more prettier” and “more bigger” grammatical miscues.

Nah. Leave em. Adds color. ; )

 

[bethlehemfan]

Congrats to Rutgers on a great win. Northwestern, despite its very unattractive 1-11 conference record, is not as bad as people think. We'd probably be middle-of-the-road or better in a lot of conferences outside of the B1G. The Cats had a couple of crap losses, but blew out Boston College in the ACC challenge and also handled a decent Providence team rather easily.

And, typical of our snake-bit BB program, we lost freshman point guard Boo Buie for a significant stretch of this season. He was averaging over 20 ppg in the three games before he went down. What'd he have Sunday, 19? NU was up 14 on Maryland at halftime and lost a game to Purdue where we had them eight points with three minutes left (Collins tried to stall and probably gets the blame for that one). Really, the Michigan State game is the only one where we've really been blown out in the B1G this year. So unfortunately this is not a new experience for the Cats. It's young team that doesn't know how to close. Beran, Kopp, and Buie are genuine talents. Nance, much hyped, has been a disappointment so far. All are freshman and sophs, so I expect good things in the future if Collins has a decent recruiting class this year.

Glad to see Rutgers very competitive this year after all your trials. You have an intimidating home environment and that, combined with your aggressive team, means you'll get to the foul line a lot. Good luck the rest of the way.

I agree with this NW will be formidable if not yet later this year then next for sure. There is talent there and you have a good coach

 

[rufeelinit]

OK so I'm rewatching this game (the first 30 minutes as punishment) after shutting it off at about 10 in the 2nd.

HOLY SHIT on the drive by Geo at 2:50!!!

One of the rare and one’s we have seen lately. We have guys who will periodically go to the rim and get fouled but rarely do we finish for the old fashioned 3 pt play.

 

[rubaseball78]

In the bigger picture, this is a 8-5 B1G program. But more importantly, it may have landed it's identity as a program, while going through a full rebuild on the fly. Maybe for some RU fans, they're hoping an 8-5 B1G record to become 8-12, because it doesn't fit the way some view basketball....OR because it lacks the high 4* or 5* players on other rosters we are battling with.

It has teams who really are talented but learning and workmanlike where the coaching staffs maximize the talent they have, but struggle to score most nights (Rutgers, Penn State, Purdue, Illinois, Michigan State).....

It has teams with overall more talent that are just better on paper and usually get away with it (Maryland, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio State).....

It has teams that are built to play as well as they can as a unit on offense that will be killer, if they make shots or have experience (Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Northwestern and Nebraska).

I am not married to what the grouping is above, because Wisconsin probably belongs in the category of workmanlike but is really a program, based on being a system......, but my only concern was trying to figure out where RU would ultimately land during this rebuild. What programs would we ultimately look like most nights??

There is no single right way to build a program and also have the ability to sustain some level of success. You can simply just out recruit everyone every single year, with the best and most highly ranked kids ASAP.....or you ultimately have to find kids who are also talented AND aren't afraid of the dirty work, the defense, rebounding and mix in some scoring.

In this conference, you obviously have to recruit well to survive, but you also have to recruit heart, toughness and defense as well. I do believe on paper that Indiana, Minnesota, Northwestern have players on their rosters that are just better individually talent wise than what RU, Purdue, Penn State have right now.

But in crunch time, when things get wobbly, most times, those teams don't get stops on defense, don't scrap enough or dig down enough to find ways to win. Maybe the recruits are too young, so talented that they haven't had adversity hit and believe that scoring and offense, is the way to overcome it.

I think RU is not completely rebuilt, it has still a long way to go, but it is more Purdue like vs Indiana.....it is more Michigan State like than Michigan.....it is more gritty than flashy.

I think being gritty and determined on defense, makes this team better than it should be on paper...and reading some coaches comments from Kerry Keatts at NC State, Archie Miller at Indiana and they're mentioning (how do they bring the toughness out of their players or Keatts specifically saying, how can we recruit tougher players for our roster??

Make no mistake, NCState, Indiana will probably find enough wins to get into the NCAAs, because they just have better players....just as long as everything goes perfectly.....the minute Indiana hits adversity, something goes wrong...same with NCState, same with a handful of teams in college basketball that are better on paper than Purdue, Penn State and now Rutgers.....yes Rutgers is a tough out...a tough team to put away....a team built to play 40 (or 45 minutes for OT).

Maybe RU becomes more like Iowa NWestern, Wisconsin etc and shoots lights out where when it's your day to hit shots, you can win.

Right now the biggest compliment for both basketball and football at Rutgees is to become relevant. And you can only become relevant if you look and feel like a program in your league that has sustained success.

In basketball, to me, its Purdue under Matt Painter.....defense, rebounding, some shooting, very difficult to beat at home and where defense travels on the road.

In football, its Iowa under Kirk Ferentz Wisconsin and Michigan State....play sound and.tough defense, play good special teams, run the football, win at the line of scrimmage....ultimately what Schiano has to build into to become relevant.

The note for the rest of this year and next and probably beyond, is Rutgers will be relevant and sustainable. If we learned anything about not just Northwestern but all year, Rutgers has a path to remain sustainable. And that's a good thing to remain winning and relevant vs a 1 year wonder.

Disagree Minnesota and Northwestern have more talent than RU. Minny does have the best player of the three teams.

 

[BigRnj]

Great post. Please edit the “more prettier” and “more bigger” grammatical miscues.

Nah. Leave em. Adds color. ; )

It would sound more smarter if he changed it :Wink:

 

[RU MAN]

In the bigger picture, this is a 8-5 B1G program. But more importantly, it may have landed it's identity as a program, while going through a full rebuild on the fly. Maybe for some RU fans, they're hoping an 8-5 B1G record to become 8-12, because it doesn't fit the way some view basketball....OR because it lacks the high 4* or 5* players on other rosters we are battling with.

It has teams who really are talented but learning and workmanlike where the coaching staffs maximize the talent they have, but struggle to score most nights (Rutgers, Penn State, Purdue, Illinois, Michigan State).....

It has teams with overall more talent that are just better on paper and usually get away with it (Maryland, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio State).....

It has teams that are built to play as well as they can as a unit on offense that will be killer, if they make shots or have experience (Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Northwestern and Nebraska).

I am not married to what the grouping is above, because Wisconsin probably belongs in the category of workmanlike but is really a program, based on being a system......, but my only concern was trying to figure out where RU would ultimately land during this rebuild. What programs would we ultimately look like most nights??

There is no single right way to build a program and also have the ability to sustain some level of success. You can simply just out recruit everyone every single year, with the best and most highly ranked kids ASAP.....or you ultimately have to find kids who are also talented AND aren't afraid of the dirty work, the defense, rebounding and mix in some scoring.

In this conference, you obviously have to recruit well to survive, but you also have to recruit heart, toughness and defense as well. I do believe on paper that Indiana, Minnesota, Northwestern have players on their rosters that are just better individually talent wise than what RU, Purdue, Penn State have right now.

But in crunch time, when things get wobbly, most times, those teams don't get stops on defense, don't scrap enough or dig down enough to find ways to win. Maybe the recruits are too young, so talented that they haven't had adversity hit and believe that scoring and offense, is the way to overcome it.

I think RU is not completely rebuilt, it has still a long way to go, but it is more Purdue like vs Indiana.....it is more Michigan State like than Michigan.....it is more gritty than flashy.

I think being gritty and determined on defense, makes this team better than it should be on paper...and reading some coaches comments from Kerry Keatts at NC State, Archie Miller at Indiana and they're mentioning (how do they bring the toughness out of their players or Keatts specifically saying, how can we recruit tougher players for our roster??

Make no mistake, NCState, Indiana will probably find enough wins to get into the NCAAs, because they just have better players....just as long as everything goes perfectly.....the minute Indiana hits adversity, something goes wrong...same with NCState, same with a handful of teams in college basketball that are better on paper than Purdue, Penn State and now Rutgers.....yes Rutgers is a tough out...a tough team to put away....a team built to play 40 (or 45 minutes for OT).

Maybe RU becomes more like Iowa NWestern, Wisconsin etc and shoots lights out where when it's your day to hit shots, you can win.

Right now the biggest compliment for both basketball and football at Rutgees is to become relevant. And you can only become relevant if you look and feel like a program in your league that has sustained success.

In basketball, to me, its Purdue under Matt Painter.....defense, rebounding, some shooting, very difficult to beat at home and where defense travels on the road.

In football, its Iowa under Kirk Ferentz Wisconsin and Michigan State....play sound and.tough defense, play good special teams, run the football, win at the line of scrimmage....ultimately what Schiano has to build into to become relevant.

The note for the rest of this year and next and probably beyond, is Rutgers will be relevant and sustainable. If we learned anything about not just Northwestern but all year, Rutgers has a path to remain sustainable. And that's a good thing to remain winning and relevant vs a 1 year wonder.

In the words of Steve Martin, "I'm a rambling man--oh yes, oh yes, oh yes----OH NOOOOOO!"

 

[Degaz-RU]

Northwestern had a ton of success taking deep threes and using screens to pick off defenders on secondary cuts to the basket. How many threes did they hit at least 2-3 feet behind the arc? 5, 6? And they kept getting clean looks for cutters in the paint because they kept 4 high on offense, our man-to-man defenders were getting screened off at the top of the key, and there was no help for Myles low to pick up the cutters. Great offensive game play against our defense, and I'd imagine we'll see more of those sort of screened cuts now that there's tape that it works against us.

Yeah, their offense ran circles around our defense in the first half, between the threes and the backdoor/front door cutters. But Pike adjusted at halftime, as I don't remember a single "cut" to the hoop by NW in the 2nd half or OT.

On a related note, our guys need to channel the "last 5 minutes of the game" defense we've played in all of our recent games, and bring some of that intensity to the first half. It's really uncanny how our defense has stifled our opponents in the last 5 minutes of the last six or seven games.

 

[Scarlet_Scourge]

Talk about a rollercoaster ride of emotions!

 

[patk89]

We started 0-10 from 3. So, of course, guys were becoming hesitant to take one. If not for the free throw line, we were out of this with the way Northwestern was hitting their 3's. I wanted us to pound it inside get their guys in foul trouble. But they made that difficult.

 

[richthedentist]

Yeah, their offense ran circles around our defense in the first half, between the threes and the backdoor/front door cutters. But Pike adjusted at halftime, as I don't remember a single "cut" to the hoop by NW in the 2nd half or OT.

On a related note, our guys need to channel the "last 5 minutes of the game" defense we've played in all of our recent games, and bring some of that intensity to the first half. It's really uncanny how our defense has stifled our opponents in the last 5 minutes of the last six or seven games.

the problem was we were doubling the ball just like against Michigan; They only had about 3 back back door cuts the very first play of the game the pick and roll and the second where Mulcahy lost his man and then Yeboah when he left his man late in the second half; We stopped them late in the game when we STOPPED doubling the ball and leaving them wide open for 3 pointers; My question is why wasn't this adjustment made earlier in the game; They had no one who could beat us one on one so there was no reason for the continued doubles

 

[zebnatto]

For whatever reason, guys were very shy about pulling the trigger from 3. But if they take those shots and they don't go down, we complain that they aren't trying to drive to the hoop. Ultimately, you need to play in rhythm and take what the defense gives you.

And often last night, shooting in rhythm meant catch and shoot the 3.

 

[bac2therac]

the problem was we were doubling the ball just like against Michigan; They only had about 3 back back door cuts the very first play of the game the pick and roll and the second where Mulcahy lost his man and then Yeboah when he left his man late in the second half; We stopped them late in the game when we STOPPED doubling the ball and leaving them wide open for 3 pointers; My question is why wasn't this adjustment made earlier in the game; They had no one who could beat us one on one so there was no reason for the continued doubles

it appears that this is Pike's gamble and he is going to stick to it no matter how many games in a row in puts RU in a deep hole, of course its gets adjusted in the last 10 minutes and the teams are shut down. It does not appear he is going to budge from his gameplan.

 

[djrc89]

I was surprised that the defense was not sharp at the outset. After losing 2 in a row with a lot riding on the outcome we weren’t sharp initially. My friend argued with me and called it a trap game. I didn’t think that made any sense. I thought that we might be tight but that we’d smother them with defense. Not sure why it took till there were 8 minutes left but I’m glad for the w.

 

[jordkap]

Disagree Minnesota and Northwestern have more talent than RU. Minny does have the best player of the three teams.

Minnesota has 1 more talented player. Oturu. The rest of their team is a hot mess

 

[bac2therac]

I was surprised that the defense was not sharp at the outset. After losing 2 in a row with a lot riding on the outcome we weren’t sharp initially. My friend argued with me and called it a trap game. I didn’t think that made any sense. I thought that we might be tight but that we’d smother them with defense. Not sure why it took till there were 8 minutes left but I’m glad for the w.

Northwestern is well coached and didnt turn the ball over. A talented and more athletic but less disciplined team would be easier to defend if that makes sense

 

[Scarlet83]

Minnesota has 1 more talented player. Oturu. The rest of their team is a hot mess

Carr in Minnesota is also very talented.