Don't you know we can fly?
And if we stay together
We'll feel the rhythm of the evening taking us up high
Never mind the weather
We'll be dancing in the street until the morning light
'Cause there's music in the air and lots of lovin' everywhere
So give me the night (all right, tonight)
Give me the night (all right, tonight)
We've got tonight, who needs tomorrow. Just give me one more night...oooh one more night. Tonight tonight tonight. Whatever gets you through the night, Rutgers...Its alright, its alright. In a season where the air seems to have been let out of the balloon earlier and more quickly than Rutgers fans could have anticipated, one of these nights comes along that make you feel proud of Pikiell's knights in white satin. Tonight's the night, we are going to feel alright. The Indiana win last week was nice but this one just hits differently on the lovelines. On this cold and icy night, Rutgers fans were able to rekindle the romance with Pikeill, Cliff, the elite defense and reignite the flame of the RAC in hues of its old glory. Whatever gets you through the night Rutgers...somehow, someway, somewill, RU brought it home. If only for one night...we can hope for more but tonight was a night to walk away full of the warm and fuzzies . There is time to discuss the future. Take this one in your arms and rock it gently..rock it slowly...take it easy...don't you know. DJ Bac here on the knight shift bringing all the night owls home on TKR your #1 destination for Rutgers information and message board insanity.
Going into this game I did not like the matchup. Nebby easily dispatched of Rutgers at the RAC last year in one of the more disappointing Rutgers efforts of the season and Tominaga has been tough for RU to defend in the past. Pikiell seems to also struggling defending teams like Nebraska and Iowa. In addition this isnt your father's Nebraska. Nebraska has significantly moved their program forward where they contending for a NCAA bid especially after their win over #1 Purdue. Rutgers fell apart completely vs Michigan State after leading with 15 minutes to go allowing a 19-0 run. How would RU be able to score enough to keep pace with Nebraska. For Rutgers this game was important to hold serve at home with Illinois and Purdue looming, a loss here and 1-7 looking like a distinct possibilty.For Nebraska, it was a huge game to validate that they are legit and winning on the road at RU even as a 2.5 dog would quell some concerns that they cannot win on the road. This is the kind of game vs a struggling team that you need to beat as a NCAA team. Alot on the line and while the game was not an aestetic masterpiece, it was played on a high level where huge swings by both teams swung the momentum. Only fitting after the pendulum ground to a halt, the game was forced into overtime. Rutgers ended up showing their resiliency time and time again while displaying probably their best overall defensive effort of the season.
While RU answered Nebraska shot for shot early, but then came the inevitable RU drought. An ugly 7 minute stretch where RU's offense went cold hitting only one fg and Nebraska was money. In the end, a 20-4 Nebby run put them up 27-15 and it was here we go again/groundhog day all over again. Rutgers was not going to be able to win a shootout. This game had to be played slowing Nebraska down and keeping them under 70. They were playing at an 80s pace and the elite D was nowhere to be seen. But then as this team as maddeningly as it has been all year did what they did in defecits vs Illinois, Wake, Ohio State. They never gave up and learned some lessons from the Michigan State debacle. These little plays add up. The Derek dunk was vociferous. The Gavin 3 was a work of art. RU leaning on Mag and Hyatt on both ends of the court. Nebby turning it over 4 or 5 times. Derek shutting down Tominanga. Suddenly, you look up at the scoreboard and see its getting tight. Wait wut? Nebraska did not hit a single basket in the final 6:23. So after all all that, a 20-4 Husker run is countered by a 21-9 RU run and we are all tied up at 36
I said before half. This game will come down to who wins halftime. Hoiberg probably did win halftime but Pike won when it counted. Hoiberg was able to get back to running their offense more efficiently using Tominanga as the decoy after he hit some shots, he became a distributor. RU found themselves slipping behind again. A non call foul against Cliff was missed by the refs and Pike let the refs have it and was promptly T'd up. I am not so sure it paid dividend right way as Nebraska would eventually push their league to 12. However and I know that some may disagree with me but RU did receive a slightly more favorable whistle as the 2nd half wore on. So Nebraska who was up 27-15 in the first half with about 8 to go, had now outscored RU 27-15 the first 10 and half minutes of the 2nd half. RU was clearly on the ropes and it felt like the wind was out of the sails of the RAC crowd that the inevitable was going to happen. I noted in the game thread, its going to take elite defense the last 9 minutes to win this. And boy was it. Just like they did in the first half, RU chipped away and hung in...rebounding like freaks. I will get to the rebounding stats later but RU must have had a half dozen offensive rebounds in the pivotal minutes down the stretch. The run started with Derek finally hitting a 3 and then Mag became a nifty magician with back to back layups. Nebraska was choking and Cliff was chomping with back to back dunks. A third dunk was unfortunately waived off. Nebby went cold and was feeling the pressure. As good as shooters as they are, they folded like cheap suits when the RAC crowd came to life. As elite as the defense was down the stretch for Rutgers, they would not have pulled this one out without the RAC. Major major assist in getting them through these minutes including 2 last second possessions by the Huskers. RU kept chip chip chipping away and Cliff was there on the boards for a putback to get it to 69-68. Remember I said 70 is the magic number here. The game was racing to the finish and unbelievable Nebraska was still without a fg for 9 minutes plus. Well while everything was setting up for a RU comeback win, for some reason RU could not seal it. Cliff bricked two one and one free throws putting RU 8-19 on free throws up to that time. Austin came up huge with 2 offensive rebounds and then Hyatt in such a great move after a Pike timeout drove in and was fouled. Yikes he misses the first but makes the 2nd. Tied up at 69. RU withstood 2 last second shots and a bad turnover by Derek on a bad inbound. While RU should have been able to pull this one out in regulation, they still had all the momentum and the RAC behind them.
Both teams continued their slugfest into overtime exchanging foul shots and 3s and the 3 by Tominanga was the first Nebraska made fg in almost 11 minutes of play. An almost unreal stat. From there on it was players making plays. Cliff block then rebound of Derek miss for a putback and then Austin with his shot of the game nailed a wide open 3 that gave RU a needed cushion at 79-74. The game was not over though. Nebraska would not go away as coachs son Hoiberg cut the gap to 2. Austin would miss two more foul shots to go 0-6!!! Hyatt drained two ft to put RU back up 4 but once again Hoiberg for 3 and its just a one point lead and Noah nails his free throws and then defends Tominanga on his 3 attempt. Players making plays. Game over. You could see how bad Cliff wanted this one. An almost excorcism as they bounced that ball all the way to the rafters after the buzzer sounded.
An incredible team win where it seemed like everyone who played added something at some point to contribute. And while the stat line shooting wasnt all that great, players were on contributing in different ways that added up. First of all 2 seperated suffocating defensive stretches. The first one got RU back into the game. The 2nd was insane at 11 minutes spanning 2nd half into regulation. I think Nebby only 4 for their last 17 fg. RU only shot 38% but made up for it in other ways. Geez had a whopping 25 offensive rebounds to Nebby 11. 56 overall boards to Nebby 42. Do not have those 2nd half stats alone but much of the margin had to happen in that half where RU was just relentless gathering them. 5 guys in double figures. Sure Derek was 3-13 fg but he had 14 points and was 6-7 free throws and had 8 boards, and 8 assists. He looked like an experienced player because he played like an experienced player who had been through the wars before. He trusted his teammates more than any other game this year. There was an intangible of toughness and dare I say glimpses of leadership. Cliff at some point in this game figured out that he indeed has talent and has success his prior years. A monsterous 15 boards including 6 on the offensive end, 14 points, 4 blocks. Didn't it seem that Cliff was involved in like every play the last 6-7 minutes. Cliff won the paint battle because he decided he wanted to. Yes 2-7 free throws and missing those one and ones, the game may not have made overtime but does not matter. Cliff was a man again tonight. Mag isnt going to get as much credit as he deserves in this game but geez he is consistently putting up great stat lines while continuing to be a heart of the defense. A war captain like 38 minutes 7-14 fg, 16 points and 5 boards and points. Just unbelievable he is playing this many minutes! Hyatt 17 points, not a great shooting night at 5-15 but those timely 3s (4-11) and nailed two huge foul shots in the overtime and of course the game tying one in regulation albeit with a miss. Austin Williams...forget the 0-6 free throws because some of his moves to the hoop are desperately needed...5-11 fg, 6 boards and a monster 3 in overtime. He is a plus plus no matter how you look at it. A pleasant surprise for this years team. Noah only 19 minutes but liked Pike leaned on him late and in regulation. Yes his experience can help this team and that showed with his free throws that clinched the game plus the D on the last shot. Its got to be a struggle for him to adjust to reduced minutes but redefining his role will come. Gavin got 8 minutes, nailed both his 3 which were big at the time...did make some mistakes and a couple of ill advised shots but a step in the right direction though obviously Pike was not ready to trust him in crunch time and thats understandable. J Mike only 10 minutes but again understandable given the situation. He will get his time but Pike leaned heavily on upperclassmen tonight and that was the right move. Oskar a few minutes and Pike quickly abandoned that experiment for the night. Woolf put in a better 14 minutes than his last few so nice sign for him...4 boards but 3 of them offensive.
Certainly getting a win heading into a stretch of at Illinois and Purdue at the RAC helps the teams confidence yet like with Indiana, it is hard to say if this mean anything meaningful for long term prospect...ie post season. The path to victory is still such a thread the needle by Pikiell. How many of these types wins does he have. He must be the leader in the country of finding just unorthodox ways to win games. There are a slew of positives to take out of this one that perhaps were not there after Indiana. Momentum is a thing, unfortunately Illinois is the next game. There will be nights where it all works out. Its a good night. The RAC was a big part of it. Pike did his thing and the RAC did their thing and we all had a night to remember.
And if we stay together
We'll feel the rhythm of the evening taking us up high
Never mind the weather
We'll be dancing in the street until the morning light
'Cause there's music in the air and lots of lovin' everywhere
So give me the night (all right, tonight)
Give me the night (all right, tonight)
We've got tonight, who needs tomorrow. Just give me one more night...oooh one more night. Tonight tonight tonight. Whatever gets you through the night, Rutgers...Its alright, its alright. In a season where the air seems to have been let out of the balloon earlier and more quickly than Rutgers fans could have anticipated, one of these nights comes along that make you feel proud of Pikiell's knights in white satin. Tonight's the night, we are going to feel alright. The Indiana win last week was nice but this one just hits differently on the lovelines. On this cold and icy night, Rutgers fans were able to rekindle the romance with Pikeill, Cliff, the elite defense and reignite the flame of the RAC in hues of its old glory. Whatever gets you through the night Rutgers...somehow, someway, somewill, RU brought it home. If only for one night...we can hope for more but tonight was a night to walk away full of the warm and fuzzies . There is time to discuss the future. Take this one in your arms and rock it gently..rock it slowly...take it easy...don't you know. DJ Bac here on the knight shift bringing all the night owls home on TKR your #1 destination for Rutgers information and message board insanity.
Going into this game I did not like the matchup. Nebby easily dispatched of Rutgers at the RAC last year in one of the more disappointing Rutgers efforts of the season and Tominaga has been tough for RU to defend in the past. Pikiell seems to also struggling defending teams like Nebraska and Iowa. In addition this isnt your father's Nebraska. Nebraska has significantly moved their program forward where they contending for a NCAA bid especially after their win over #1 Purdue. Rutgers fell apart completely vs Michigan State after leading with 15 minutes to go allowing a 19-0 run. How would RU be able to score enough to keep pace with Nebraska. For Rutgers this game was important to hold serve at home with Illinois and Purdue looming, a loss here and 1-7 looking like a distinct possibilty.For Nebraska, it was a huge game to validate that they are legit and winning on the road at RU even as a 2.5 dog would quell some concerns that they cannot win on the road. This is the kind of game vs a struggling team that you need to beat as a NCAA team. Alot on the line and while the game was not an aestetic masterpiece, it was played on a high level where huge swings by both teams swung the momentum. Only fitting after the pendulum ground to a halt, the game was forced into overtime. Rutgers ended up showing their resiliency time and time again while displaying probably their best overall defensive effort of the season.
While RU answered Nebraska shot for shot early, but then came the inevitable RU drought. An ugly 7 minute stretch where RU's offense went cold hitting only one fg and Nebraska was money. In the end, a 20-4 Nebby run put them up 27-15 and it was here we go again/groundhog day all over again. Rutgers was not going to be able to win a shootout. This game had to be played slowing Nebraska down and keeping them under 70. They were playing at an 80s pace and the elite D was nowhere to be seen. But then as this team as maddeningly as it has been all year did what they did in defecits vs Illinois, Wake, Ohio State. They never gave up and learned some lessons from the Michigan State debacle. These little plays add up. The Derek dunk was vociferous. The Gavin 3 was a work of art. RU leaning on Mag and Hyatt on both ends of the court. Nebby turning it over 4 or 5 times. Derek shutting down Tominanga. Suddenly, you look up at the scoreboard and see its getting tight. Wait wut? Nebraska did not hit a single basket in the final 6:23. So after all all that, a 20-4 Husker run is countered by a 21-9 RU run and we are all tied up at 36
I said before half. This game will come down to who wins halftime. Hoiberg probably did win halftime but Pike won when it counted. Hoiberg was able to get back to running their offense more efficiently using Tominanga as the decoy after he hit some shots, he became a distributor. RU found themselves slipping behind again. A non call foul against Cliff was missed by the refs and Pike let the refs have it and was promptly T'd up. I am not so sure it paid dividend right way as Nebraska would eventually push their league to 12. However and I know that some may disagree with me but RU did receive a slightly more favorable whistle as the 2nd half wore on. So Nebraska who was up 27-15 in the first half with about 8 to go, had now outscored RU 27-15 the first 10 and half minutes of the 2nd half. RU was clearly on the ropes and it felt like the wind was out of the sails of the RAC crowd that the inevitable was going to happen. I noted in the game thread, its going to take elite defense the last 9 minutes to win this. And boy was it. Just like they did in the first half, RU chipped away and hung in...rebounding like freaks. I will get to the rebounding stats later but RU must have had a half dozen offensive rebounds in the pivotal minutes down the stretch. The run started with Derek finally hitting a 3 and then Mag became a nifty magician with back to back layups. Nebraska was choking and Cliff was chomping with back to back dunks. A third dunk was unfortunately waived off. Nebby went cold and was feeling the pressure. As good as shooters as they are, they folded like cheap suits when the RAC crowd came to life. As elite as the defense was down the stretch for Rutgers, they would not have pulled this one out without the RAC. Major major assist in getting them through these minutes including 2 last second possessions by the Huskers. RU kept chip chip chipping away and Cliff was there on the boards for a putback to get it to 69-68. Remember I said 70 is the magic number here. The game was racing to the finish and unbelievable Nebraska was still without a fg for 9 minutes plus. Well while everything was setting up for a RU comeback win, for some reason RU could not seal it. Cliff bricked two one and one free throws putting RU 8-19 on free throws up to that time. Austin came up huge with 2 offensive rebounds and then Hyatt in such a great move after a Pike timeout drove in and was fouled. Yikes he misses the first but makes the 2nd. Tied up at 69. RU withstood 2 last second shots and a bad turnover by Derek on a bad inbound. While RU should have been able to pull this one out in regulation, they still had all the momentum and the RAC behind them.
Both teams continued their slugfest into overtime exchanging foul shots and 3s and the 3 by Tominanga was the first Nebraska made fg in almost 11 minutes of play. An almost unreal stat. From there on it was players making plays. Cliff block then rebound of Derek miss for a putback and then Austin with his shot of the game nailed a wide open 3 that gave RU a needed cushion at 79-74. The game was not over though. Nebraska would not go away as coachs son Hoiberg cut the gap to 2. Austin would miss two more foul shots to go 0-6!!! Hyatt drained two ft to put RU back up 4 but once again Hoiberg for 3 and its just a one point lead and Noah nails his free throws and then defends Tominanga on his 3 attempt. Players making plays. Game over. You could see how bad Cliff wanted this one. An almost excorcism as they bounced that ball all the way to the rafters after the buzzer sounded.
An incredible team win where it seemed like everyone who played added something at some point to contribute. And while the stat line shooting wasnt all that great, players were on contributing in different ways that added up. First of all 2 seperated suffocating defensive stretches. The first one got RU back into the game. The 2nd was insane at 11 minutes spanning 2nd half into regulation. I think Nebby only 4 for their last 17 fg. RU only shot 38% but made up for it in other ways. Geez had a whopping 25 offensive rebounds to Nebby 11. 56 overall boards to Nebby 42. Do not have those 2nd half stats alone but much of the margin had to happen in that half where RU was just relentless gathering them. 5 guys in double figures. Sure Derek was 3-13 fg but he had 14 points and was 6-7 free throws and had 8 boards, and 8 assists. He looked like an experienced player because he played like an experienced player who had been through the wars before. He trusted his teammates more than any other game this year. There was an intangible of toughness and dare I say glimpses of leadership. Cliff at some point in this game figured out that he indeed has talent and has success his prior years. A monsterous 15 boards including 6 on the offensive end, 14 points, 4 blocks. Didn't it seem that Cliff was involved in like every play the last 6-7 minutes. Cliff won the paint battle because he decided he wanted to. Yes 2-7 free throws and missing those one and ones, the game may not have made overtime but does not matter. Cliff was a man again tonight. Mag isnt going to get as much credit as he deserves in this game but geez he is consistently putting up great stat lines while continuing to be a heart of the defense. A war captain like 38 minutes 7-14 fg, 16 points and 5 boards and points. Just unbelievable he is playing this many minutes! Hyatt 17 points, not a great shooting night at 5-15 but those timely 3s (4-11) and nailed two huge foul shots in the overtime and of course the game tying one in regulation albeit with a miss. Austin Williams...forget the 0-6 free throws because some of his moves to the hoop are desperately needed...5-11 fg, 6 boards and a monster 3 in overtime. He is a plus plus no matter how you look at it. A pleasant surprise for this years team. Noah only 19 minutes but liked Pike leaned on him late and in regulation. Yes his experience can help this team and that showed with his free throws that clinched the game plus the D on the last shot. Its got to be a struggle for him to adjust to reduced minutes but redefining his role will come. Gavin got 8 minutes, nailed both his 3 which were big at the time...did make some mistakes and a couple of ill advised shots but a step in the right direction though obviously Pike was not ready to trust him in crunch time and thats understandable. J Mike only 10 minutes but again understandable given the situation. He will get his time but Pike leaned heavily on upperclassmen tonight and that was the right move. Oskar a few minutes and Pike quickly abandoned that experiment for the night. Woolf put in a better 14 minutes than his last few so nice sign for him...4 boards but 3 of them offensive.
Certainly getting a win heading into a stretch of at Illinois and Purdue at the RAC helps the teams confidence yet like with Indiana, it is hard to say if this mean anything meaningful for long term prospect...ie post season. The path to victory is still such a thread the needle by Pikiell. How many of these types wins does he have. He must be the leader in the country of finding just unorthodox ways to win games. There are a slew of positives to take out of this one that perhaps were not there after Indiana. Momentum is a thing, unfortunately Illinois is the next game. There will be nights where it all works out. Its a good night. The RAC was a big part of it. Pike did his thing and the RAC did their thing and we all had a night to remember.
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