Welcome to R nightmare, whoa-whoa-oh
Welcome to your beatdown
I hope we didn't scare you
That's just the way we are when we come down
We sweat and laugh and scream here
'Cause life is just a dream here
You know inside you feel right at home here
Poor Maryland, they were terrorized and abused in such a bruising way. Kevin Willard knows the trappings of the lion's den he was entering. Unfortunately for him, I do not think even he could have envisioned the Rutgers defense asphyxiating his team in such a manner resulting in rigor mortis taking over. Throw in 8000 lunatics howling and cackling and the knightmare became all too real for the Terrapins who were sent back to College Park in straightjackets not sure what they just had physically and mentally endured
Rutgers fans, it was scary good tonight. The defense that Rutgers played for those first 20 minutes was national championship quality level. Do not get caught up too much in that the score was just 24-17 and that the offense squandered a chance to be up maybe 16-20 points. I was pissed at half time that it was that close but by games end, I had come to really appreciate what we just saw. This team is not perfect. Its going to struggle finishing at times and its going to sruggle in the half court set. The defensive spells that Pikiell continues to conjure up keep and coming and coming and coming. Rutgers put a sleeper hold on Maryland the for a 8:45 stretch holding the Terps scoreless while running off 15 points of their own, much of them off turnovers. In addition the man on ball defense was a work of beauty bothering Maryland who could never get into any rhythm. I do not have the exact number but Rutgers forced more than a couple shot clock violations or last second heaves with the assists going to a frenzied RAC crowd. By the time Maryland scored a couple of more buckets, the RU run was still 19-4 over 15 minutes. Maryland had just 8 points with 2:30 minutes left. Yes they had some bench players drain a few 3s at the end to cut that gap to just 7 at halftime, but in retrospect Rutgers was in complete control of their vice grips.
Second half played at a much different pace but still delivered the same results. Rutgers was going to drop an anvil on Maryland and his name was Paul Mulcahy. Mulcahy who had been so instrumental in securing the win at Purdue was equally vital in a key stretch that placed the Terrapans into a death rattle. Paul would score 9 of RUs 13 points in a stretch where RU stretch where the lead ballooned to 14. He was just warming up Mag hit him in stride in transition but on the next series, Paul got a steal headed up court where he was fouled hard by Reese of Maryland. It was a flagrant one and if anyone had any doubt that was the play of the game. Paul sank both free throws, RU got the ball and Andre scooped up a Reiber miss, Suddenly RU is up 42-30 and then once again Paul delivers putting RU up 14. The lead would extend at its most to 18, a 17-3 run buoyed by Paul the leader who was tough as nail today bullying a bunch of wannabee thugs from Maryland. Paul gets all the kudos tonight. After all he didnt miss a shot...6-6 fg, 15 points, 2 steals in 32 minutes. Only 2 assists tonight but with Maryland denying the ball to Cliff, it was going to be about Paul doing what he does best and he does it well. You almost wish he shot more.
But while Paul might be the player of the game, for the move of the game and the role player of the game we look elsewhere. Maryland had crept to 34-30. The defensive tempo of the first half was replaced and Maryland was more confident in figuring out the RU defense. Shots were starting to fall and RU was sputtering somewhat not being able to get Cliff untracked at all and now it was starting to matter. One little move from Pike to rest Cliff by inserting Reiber who got the call over Woolfolk was why Pikiell is such a good coach. I felt Willard was starting to outcoach Pike. He made the adjustments at half to move the ball and RU wasnt responding offensively. Needed a shakeup and oh boy did Reiber answer his call. You know I am going to eat a large plate of crow because in the Reiber thread I said the writing was on the wall and Woolfolk was going to take all his minutes. Never be that definitive bac...Reiber's name was called and his presence was the catalyst in that run that for all intents and purposes put the game away. Maryland went right after Reiber and it worked, Reiber fouled and Terps got an and one. Reiber in what had to be a set play made a brilliant dunk assisted by Derek to strike right back. Perhaps Maryland a bit caught off guard with Reibs in, instead of Cliff, Reiber also got a clean open look for 3 that missed on the next possession. Reiber would in another miss cleaned up by Hyatt and then a board down the other way. By the time Dean left, RU was up 14. Dean, Paul, Pike and the crowd were all responsible for those defining moments of the game. Reiber after so many tough games of being lost looked solid against a physical team and kept his head up giving very important minutes. Just 3 minutes but damn. And Pike knows what he is doing. Wolf was struggling a bit tonight so some nights it might be Reibers turn. Options are there.
Individually....Cliff really struggled, just 4 points and had only 2 shots at half. His D was decent and once again came through on the boards with 13. Maryland was really working hard to deny Cliff the ball and he just didnt seem good enough tonight to work through it. Cam was only 3-10 on the night but 3-6 from 3 and while he took 4 quick early shots, he disappeared for the rest of the first half. Cam would come up with some important treys that contributed to keeping the Terps at bay. Team leading 5 assists tonight and team leading 3 steals, Important part of that great D, Caleb took 8 shots in the first half and I dont like that stat, only took 4 in the 2nd, finished 4-12, 10 points, 4 boards, 2 steals, 0 turnovers...it was the typical Caleb game, just so good on locking down the guards on Maryland. Mag, 6pts, 4 boards, had some rough dribble moments early but once again so good on defense and he is so good on cleaning things up around the basket and he is getting into the habit of getting a steal under our own hoop for a quick score. Good thing Hyatt drained that 3 on RU's last possession in the first half..key moment up 21-14 but there was like 25 seconds on the shot clock so if you are going to take it you better make it, he did, RU went up 10 briefly before the last 2nd 3 cut it to 7 at half. Hyatt, 8 pts, 3 boards, is really settling into playing his role. Less forced shots and less dribbling to the hoop. Derek did some good things, made some mistakes forcing some bad passes leading to turnovers. !8 minutes and that is pretty appropriate for him right now, hit one of those Geo looking shots which is great for his confidence. I like that Pike has worked on getting him to play within himself. Woolfolk did struggle in his limited minutes and made an error on that last 3 Maryland hit before halftime. Guess what, thats okay, it happens to freshmen.
Give credit to Maryland, they could have packed it in totally a few times but kept plugging away at those 3s, some of which went in. Still they were just 8-22 for the night, Half of those coming from Carey off the bench. The lead would never get under 12 and RU while not perfect did enough needed things to close out the game without any danger. By games end, RU had forced Maryland into 20 turnovers and it seemed like the D was still playing just as strong in those last 5 minutes. Hungry team for sure...feed them. It used to be cupcakes now its filet mignon. The leap forward this year. Rutgers split with Maryland last year but lost the last 2 at the RAC vs the Terps. There was little doubt that Rutgers was the better team. You could see it. Do not know what to make of Maryland. Had a few nice wins early on but do not look like they have enough night in and night out to be a top half of the league school. Bubble maybe? They will have to get it together.
Rutgers is indeed a nightmare for any school at this point. There really is no question anymore. We know exactly the kind of defensive effort that RU will bring each night. Way different than last year season. The commitment and hunger is something I have not seen in all my time following RU since 1988. I said I wanted to wait til both Maryland and Iowa games were done to assess the goals and speculate on the future. I felt because of their style and chance they could be physical that this would be the toughest of the two. I do see Iowa rallied to beat Indiana after being down 21. Great recovery but wait until they meet the RU defense. On the other end, to beat a bad defensive team like Iowa is, you have to take it too them. The blueprint is the Wake game. I would be surprised if its a lower scoring game like last year or even tonight. Big game...get that win and its dream big dreams for the Knights......and continued knightmares for the rest of the Big 10
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