Today was a good day to be a Rutgers fan. Wake Forest was the perfect opponent for RU to get back on track....poor defensive team, poor rebounding team, poor ball handling team topped off by shaky psyche after a struggle to beat a cupcake. And it did not matter not one bit that Tyree Appleby somehow played this game after his ankle injury earlier in the week. Rutgers landed enough body blows to go up double digits for most of the game that left the Deacons staggering and then delivered the final haymaker in the later stages of the game to win going away. As and A pluses across the board up and down the roster and for Pikiell and his staff. Could not have scripted it better for everyone to get right on track and bounce back after the Seton Hall debacle
Coach Pikiell came through again and there is no doubt that he can bounce back to from one of his lesser coaching games. The move to press right from the get go to try and disrupt a potentially potent Wake offense from getting too comfortable was genius. Pressuring the inbound, Rutgers got a bunch of steals and easy buckets that reminded of the Bob Wenzel press of the early 90s that seemed to always convert steals into dunks. Wake was clearly not prepared for what they were about to face and Coach Forbes was calling a timeout less than 90 seconds into the game. Rutgers set the tone. Rutgers was going to defend its house and it was going to be the aggressor. It was going to rectify the mistake from the Seton Hall game where it was Rutgers who ended up being harrassed on their own home court. Brought some energy into the RAC crowd which might have been sleepy coming into a noon game off a loss. 8 minutes into the game, RU had 5 steals and was up 10.
That success on defense was giving a spark on offense and RU ended up shooting around 58% in the first half. When Cam was hitting his first couple of shots, you knew he was back on track. Across the board the shots were falling..Paul, Caleb, Andre. Wake was able to chip into the lead by hitting 3s at indordinate rate...6-9 in the first half..some open, some not. But after clawing to within 4, RU turned the jets on with a 12-0 to go up 36-20 and Wake would never get within 10 points the rest of the game. It was a weird game. So many runs by both teams. RU shot so well and defended fairly well but Wake was still shooting 54% and 67% from 3. A 7-0 run to the end half over almost 4 minutes left RUs lead only at 10 but the feeling was that it should be more.
2nd half was more of the same but this time, I think RU was more determined and hungry than in the first half. They were going to be even more aggressive on both ends of the court. Right out of the gate, a Cliff dunk on beautiful ball movement as the shot clock expired. Then back to back 3s by Cam and all of a sudden the lead is up to 16. Wake would try and chip chip away but Appleby would get into foul trouble and actually get pulled. Even as they closed into 12 with about 10 minutes left the game would soon totally slip away. A decisive 6 minute stretch where RU held Wake scoreless, another punishing 11-0 run and RU would force 5 more turnovers as the lead ballooned to 23 at 75-52 and the fat ladies were well on their way to the opera.
This was almost like a perfect game where everyone performed their roles and everyone lived up to their expectations. Seton Hall game showed what happens when the cogs are not in sync. Today showed what happens when they are. Everyone got in the action and it was truly a team win and effort. Individually though Cam had his best and brightest game. Cam was perfect on the day, 15 points, 5-5 fg, 3-3 from 3, 2-2 ft in just 19 minutes (sat for much of the later part of 1st half with foul trouble), 3 assists, 2 steals. This game was just the tonic for him. He was aggressive without forcing his shot. Highlights were the steal on the press and quick layup making them pay and his back to back 3s all on assists by Paul to start the 2nd. I know i have had my doubts about Cam on this level. Wake is not the most physical of teams so I thought Cam could get on track today but it really does quell some fears that he isnt capable of knocking down shots. I thought Mag in just 22 minutes was the key to the defense and him at the top of that press is key. Not flashy numbers..offensively 8 pts on 3-5 but some nice shots were he cleaned up and hit. I really really like how he is coming along. The consistency with him is growing. Cliff while a bit hotheaded today did bounce back and had better postion and played much better D. Wake had nothing inside and it was because of Cliff. 6-9 fg 14 points, 9 boards. 6 turnovers is still an issue that has to be cleaned up but one thing at a time. Hyatt had a very good first half, until a funky last few minutes of that half and was just so so in the 2nd half. Im not big on him taking 10 shots a game. He is very streaky thats for sure. Caleb had a much better game today than vs SHU. He took 11 shots most on the team but I really think all but one were not forced. 13 points, 3 steals, 2 blocks, really tough D. I will take this kind of game from him everynight. Today was the Paul Mulcahy we all know, 7 assists, 3 steals, 10 points in 33 minutes Paul looked for his shots a bit more and gave us his patented Paul scoops under the defender in the 2nd half. Obviously Wake wasnt going to play the same D as SHU and it allowed for Paul to efficiently run that offense, passing and spacing much better.
As for the rest of the bench....Derek came in early and had success right away and that led to Pike being more confident in play him more minutes especially with Cam with some foul trouble in that first half. Derek played a whopping 26 minutes and had 7 points on 3-6 shooting with a beautiful 3 pointer, the kind that can make RU dangerous in the Big 10 if he can consisently hit that. Derek also had a steal and putback on an inbounds early in the first half. Woofolk got 13 minutes and looks like he is clearly overtaking Reibers for minutes on this team at the 5. Made an nice layup under the hoop that kicked off the decisive final RU run when Wake had closed it to 12. Reiber just a few minutes against Wake might be an ominous sign going forward. Jalen Miller couldnt get off the bench til late but was able to get a bucket and Oskar just came in at the end as well.
Overall the team worked hard for this win. When your offense is that rancid on your home court in the previous game, it can be easy to doubt what you have going. The Ohio State loss obviously played a role in the SHU game and they were not able to match that intensity lveld that the Pirates brought in a rivalry game. Perhaps if it had been any team but SHU, RU would have overcome the OSU disappointment. Key to me was defending the homecourt and setting the tone. You have to beat a bad defensive team by being aggressive. I thought when RU settled into the half court in the first half, they got into trouble. Wake was on fire in the first half, I thought our half court D could have been tighter...in the 2nd half it was. Rutgers did all the things they had to do to win while avoid all the mistakes that could make games like this ugly. RU finished out the game getting strong and still playing hard especially on defense. Great sign of this team willing to pulverize the opponent and those margins do count for the NET so a win like this by 24 points is important. I think the fans can bring their confidence level up a bit after today. Yes our offensive production was somewhat a result of a bad Wake defense. On the other hand we are simply not as challenged on offense and will usually not be facing as tough as D as what SHU threw it us.
Also important was finding a win over a power conference school with a pulse.....This truly was a must win. I do not think Wake is headed for post season but there is some talent there. They beat Wisconsin and do have a very good offensive player. If RU did not approach this game the way they did, it could have been alot dicier so good job all around including Pikiell. Now get through these next 2 potential landmines especially Bucknell. Kudos to the crowd today, didnt think we would get there but had over 7K in the building....looks like a regular thing now though I expect for Bucknell it might be our lowest attendance of the year due to time and being the eve of christmas eve.
Coach Pikiell came through again and there is no doubt that he can bounce back to from one of his lesser coaching games. The move to press right from the get go to try and disrupt a potentially potent Wake offense from getting too comfortable was genius. Pressuring the inbound, Rutgers got a bunch of steals and easy buckets that reminded of the Bob Wenzel press of the early 90s that seemed to always convert steals into dunks. Wake was clearly not prepared for what they were about to face and Coach Forbes was calling a timeout less than 90 seconds into the game. Rutgers set the tone. Rutgers was going to defend its house and it was going to be the aggressor. It was going to rectify the mistake from the Seton Hall game where it was Rutgers who ended up being harrassed on their own home court. Brought some energy into the RAC crowd which might have been sleepy coming into a noon game off a loss. 8 minutes into the game, RU had 5 steals and was up 10.
That success on defense was giving a spark on offense and RU ended up shooting around 58% in the first half. When Cam was hitting his first couple of shots, you knew he was back on track. Across the board the shots were falling..Paul, Caleb, Andre. Wake was able to chip into the lead by hitting 3s at indordinate rate...6-9 in the first half..some open, some not. But after clawing to within 4, RU turned the jets on with a 12-0 to go up 36-20 and Wake would never get within 10 points the rest of the game. It was a weird game. So many runs by both teams. RU shot so well and defended fairly well but Wake was still shooting 54% and 67% from 3. A 7-0 run to the end half over almost 4 minutes left RUs lead only at 10 but the feeling was that it should be more.
2nd half was more of the same but this time, I think RU was more determined and hungry than in the first half. They were going to be even more aggressive on both ends of the court. Right out of the gate, a Cliff dunk on beautiful ball movement as the shot clock expired. Then back to back 3s by Cam and all of a sudden the lead is up to 16. Wake would try and chip chip away but Appleby would get into foul trouble and actually get pulled. Even as they closed into 12 with about 10 minutes left the game would soon totally slip away. A decisive 6 minute stretch where RU held Wake scoreless, another punishing 11-0 run and RU would force 5 more turnovers as the lead ballooned to 23 at 75-52 and the fat ladies were well on their way to the opera.
This was almost like a perfect game where everyone performed their roles and everyone lived up to their expectations. Seton Hall game showed what happens when the cogs are not in sync. Today showed what happens when they are. Everyone got in the action and it was truly a team win and effort. Individually though Cam had his best and brightest game. Cam was perfect on the day, 15 points, 5-5 fg, 3-3 from 3, 2-2 ft in just 19 minutes (sat for much of the later part of 1st half with foul trouble), 3 assists, 2 steals. This game was just the tonic for him. He was aggressive without forcing his shot. Highlights were the steal on the press and quick layup making them pay and his back to back 3s all on assists by Paul to start the 2nd. I know i have had my doubts about Cam on this level. Wake is not the most physical of teams so I thought Cam could get on track today but it really does quell some fears that he isnt capable of knocking down shots. I thought Mag in just 22 minutes was the key to the defense and him at the top of that press is key. Not flashy numbers..offensively 8 pts on 3-5 but some nice shots were he cleaned up and hit. I really really like how he is coming along. The consistency with him is growing. Cliff while a bit hotheaded today did bounce back and had better postion and played much better D. Wake had nothing inside and it was because of Cliff. 6-9 fg 14 points, 9 boards. 6 turnovers is still an issue that has to be cleaned up but one thing at a time. Hyatt had a very good first half, until a funky last few minutes of that half and was just so so in the 2nd half. Im not big on him taking 10 shots a game. He is very streaky thats for sure. Caleb had a much better game today than vs SHU. He took 11 shots most on the team but I really think all but one were not forced. 13 points, 3 steals, 2 blocks, really tough D. I will take this kind of game from him everynight. Today was the Paul Mulcahy we all know, 7 assists, 3 steals, 10 points in 33 minutes Paul looked for his shots a bit more and gave us his patented Paul scoops under the defender in the 2nd half. Obviously Wake wasnt going to play the same D as SHU and it allowed for Paul to efficiently run that offense, passing and spacing much better.
As for the rest of the bench....Derek came in early and had success right away and that led to Pike being more confident in play him more minutes especially with Cam with some foul trouble in that first half. Derek played a whopping 26 minutes and had 7 points on 3-6 shooting with a beautiful 3 pointer, the kind that can make RU dangerous in the Big 10 if he can consisently hit that. Derek also had a steal and putback on an inbounds early in the first half. Woofolk got 13 minutes and looks like he is clearly overtaking Reibers for minutes on this team at the 5. Made an nice layup under the hoop that kicked off the decisive final RU run when Wake had closed it to 12. Reiber just a few minutes against Wake might be an ominous sign going forward. Jalen Miller couldnt get off the bench til late but was able to get a bucket and Oskar just came in at the end as well.
Overall the team worked hard for this win. When your offense is that rancid on your home court in the previous game, it can be easy to doubt what you have going. The Ohio State loss obviously played a role in the SHU game and they were not able to match that intensity lveld that the Pirates brought in a rivalry game. Perhaps if it had been any team but SHU, RU would have overcome the OSU disappointment. Key to me was defending the homecourt and setting the tone. You have to beat a bad defensive team by being aggressive. I thought when RU settled into the half court in the first half, they got into trouble. Wake was on fire in the first half, I thought our half court D could have been tighter...in the 2nd half it was. Rutgers did all the things they had to do to win while avoid all the mistakes that could make games like this ugly. RU finished out the game getting strong and still playing hard especially on defense. Great sign of this team willing to pulverize the opponent and those margins do count for the NET so a win like this by 24 points is important. I think the fans can bring their confidence level up a bit after today. Yes our offensive production was somewhat a result of a bad Wake defense. On the other hand we are simply not as challenged on offense and will usually not be facing as tough as D as what SHU threw it us.
Also important was finding a win over a power conference school with a pulse.....This truly was a must win. I do not think Wake is headed for post season but there is some talent there. They beat Wisconsin and do have a very good offensive player. If RU did not approach this game the way they did, it could have been alot dicier so good job all around including Pikiell. Now get through these next 2 potential landmines especially Bucknell. Kudos to the crowd today, didnt think we would get there but had over 7K in the building....looks like a regular thing now though I expect for Bucknell it might be our lowest attendance of the year due to time and being the eve of christmas eve.
