Game 17 Indiana: Hooiser Daddy

[bac2therac]

Just another night at the RAC eh. All Rutgers fans can get used to this. 12 straight win at the RAC in what has turned into a house of horrors for Big 10 opponents. This is big time basketball folks. We have been waiting for this. The last time we had game after game after game of energy and thrills in the RAC was back during the Waters run of knocking off ranked opponents back in the early 2000s. I am really beginning to notice the rapport taking place between the players and the fans including a burgeoning student section. Everyone is feeding off of each other. Tonight RU stretched those few early buckets into a roaring crowd extending the lead to 12-0. I counted two times late in the 1st half where the noise from the crowd on Indiana possessions caused turnovers. Fans should have got assists for that. Then late in the game, the crowd noise on defense obviously was throwing Indiana off and Myles and Geo created their works of art on the other end that brought the house down. When all is said and done it was a beautiful Rutgers win with some big time assistance from the fans. The players and staff expect to win at the RAC and I really think our fans now have the confidence to expect a win everytime they walk into the RAC

But how great is it to beat the once storied Indiana program that has fallen from grace somewhat and have never been able to replace Bobby Knight. RU now has beaten them 3 out of the last 4 games with the one misstep a game on the road after the dismissal of Thiam. Let us just say that Steve Pikiell has basically made a fool of Archie Miller in the coaching aspect of the game. The much hyped Indiana players really are rather ordinary and talk about a team lacking identity. They do not do anything particularly well...well for a long period of time. Give them some credit for punching back at RU after that 12-0 lead and going on their own run of 22-9 that gave them the lead. But that was it. Difference was Steve Pikiell settled his team down before halftime and then as usual, Pike won halftime. RU came out taking it to Indiana once again. Pike does so well with some set plays out of halftime and he got a bunch of different guys involved in the offense. I think RU stalled in the first half because they stop attacking and settled in the halfcourt and just lost focus. 7 turnovers in a 8 minute stretch where RU just scored 2 points, RU was looking awful but it had more to do with them and then anything Indiana was doing. Ron and Paul hit back to back threes and it seemed like RU finally snapped out of their funk and then were well positioned after halftime. RU quickly built a 17 point lead on a run spanning two halves that at one point was 18-2 over 7 minutes before getting to 24-6 over 10 minutes. That was Pike pushing the right buttons and having the right guys in the game. What was a pleasure to watch was that RU was just dominant on offense altering shots and poking the ball away. RU went back to the bread and butter of it defense and that generated confidence on offense

But its true, Rutgers has lulls and struggles to play with a lead. Its understandable but obviously you cannot miss 3 one and ones in a row. In retrospect the game wasnt as close as the scoreboard was saying at 7. Again Indiana didnt really do anything special later in the game to get it down to 47-40. RU scored just 2 points in 8 points...wow.....If you consider RU had two seperate stretches totaling 16 minutes where they scored just 4 points its clear tonight was not RU's best game. RU got passive with the lead, its something they need to clean up. I thought perhaps some of the lineups were not the best to have in. The striking thing is RU still won comfortable despite all this. What made the win sweet in the end was the two guys who ended up closing the game out for RU. Myles Johnson on a monster jam with an assist from Geo to put RU up 51-41, woke up the crowd who got an assist on D, setting up Geo Baker's thunderous one handed dunk that rocked the rac and effectively sealed the game.... How fitting! Geo unexpectedly coming back, obviously going to be rusty with his shot but he scrapped and hustled on D poking at the balls and diving on the floor. What a warrior tonight. He didnt try to do too much but he delivered like a true leader does to win the game. RU got two league wins without Geo but he is a key ingredient going forward and its great to have him back. Myles Johnson had a bad showing at Illinois and was inexplicably quiet in the first half. Myles got going in the 2nd half with one dunk with Paul and then his one from Geo that finally got the crowd into. The two biggest leaders on the team answering their call in the 2nd half when RU needed those baskets.

Again though just another team effort. Because whether it was Montez early with his assists and buckets or Yeboah early and then in the 2nd half nailing his outside shots, putting up game high numbers of 14/7, or Justin once again providing his spark or Caleb just having the knack to stealthy knock down a needed shot or Paul with drained that 3 from the corner and again showing that lovely pass to Myles or Carter playing solid D picking up a couple blocks. Harper not his best game but smart enough to know it wasnt going to be his best night. They are not always pretty all the time but their success adds up. If a couple guys are struggling, there are others to pick up the slack. Back to defense....its just been an incredible stretch of outstanding defense the last 5 conference games. This isnt a fluke. This is the Rutgers calling card. They are going to be physical and they are going to be beating you with their defense. Indiana to me was just overmatched and stunningly lacked physical toughness for a Big 10 team

So how great was the WE WANT CLIFF chant...that one came out of nowhere but was probably the best chant for a player that I have seen at the RAC in decades. Had to be a great moment for the kid and what a great atmosphere to host him at. Hopefully he pulls the trigger knowing he can fill a major role next season.

So onto Minnesota, I have my uncles funeral late Sunday afternoon so I not be able to attend this game but will be taking nominations on a guest recap fill in for me. Minny is riding high right now but not sure they are equipped to handle the Rutgers defense. One game at a time, getting to 5-2 would really set us up will for the next few games after that. Its a game we should win because we are better as we were tonight against the once vaunted Hoosiers...Hoosier Daddy indeed.

 

[S_Janowski]

Nice recap. Couple thoughts...

- Student section has impressed in January and kids aren’t even back yet. Starting Sunday vs. Minny expect the RAC to kick it up another notch and sell outs the rest of the year. Coach after coach is giving props to our squad and Archie is at least the 2nd coach who’s said his team was not prepared for the atmosphere.

- Defense is lights out this year. Way better than I expected. Indiana had no identity tonight but hats off to Pikiell for having this team playing his style of basketball.

- Geo looked pretty out of shape in the 1st half and I was a little worried he was going to hurt the chemistry throughout the game. Boy was I wrong...he knocked off the rust real quick. Scrapping and diving over the floor forcing steals...His dunk was unreal...but his no look alley oop assist to Myles the play before has basically been forgotten about. That was a thing of beauty.

- It’s nice having 6-7 guys who can step up and drop 15 + points on any given night. We are a deep and talented team that plays hard D and rebounds. Sky is the limit for the rest of the year. Should be more fun ahead.

Get your tickets for upcoming games because they will be hard to get.

 

[RU MAN]

Just another night at the RAC eh. All Rutgers fans can get used to this. 12 straight win at the RAC in what has turned into a house of horrors for Big 10 opponents. This is big time basketball folks. We have been waiting for this. The last time we had game after game after game of energy and thrills in the RAC was back during the Waters run of knocking off ranked opponents back in the early 2000s. I am really beginning to notice the rapport taking place between the players and the fans including a burgeoning student section. Everyone is feeding off of each other. Tonight RU stretched those few early buckets into a roaring crowd extending the lead to 12-0. I counted two times late in the 1st half where the noise from the crowd on Indiana possessions caused turnovers. Fans should have got assists for that. Then late in the game, the crowd noise on defense obviously was throwing Indiana off and Myles and Geo created their works of art on the other end that brought the house down. When all is said and done it was a beautiful Rutgers win with some big time assistance from the fans. The players and staff expect to win at the RAC and I really think our fans now have the confidence to expect a win everytime they walk into the RAC

But how great is it to beat the once storied Indiana program that has fallen from grace somewhat and have never been able to replace Bobby Knight. RU now has beaten them 3 out of the last 4 games with the one misstep a game on the road after the dismissal of Thiam. Let us just say that Steve Pikiell has basically made a fool of Archie Miller in the coaching aspect of the game. The much hyped Indiana players really are rather ordinary and talk about a team lacking identity. They do not do anything particularly well...well for a long period of time. Give them some credit for punching back at RU after that 12-0 lead and going on their own run of 22-9 that gave them the lead. But that was it. Difference was Steve Pikiell settled his team down before halftime and then as usual, Pike won halftime. RU came out taking it to Indiana once again. Pike does so well with some set plays out of halftime and he got a bunch of different guys involved in the offense. I think RU stalled in the first half because they stop attacking and settled in the halfcourt and just lost focus. 7 turnovers in a 8 minute stretch where RU just scored 2 points, RU was looking awful but it had more to do with them and then anything Indiana was doing. Ron and Paul hit back to back threes and it seemed like RU finally snapped out of their funk and then were well positioned after halftime. RU quickly built a 17 point lead on a run spanning two halves that at one point was 18-2 over 7 minutes before getting to 24-6 over 10 minutes. That was Pike pushing the right buttons and having the right guys in the game. What was a pleasure to watch was that RU was just dominant on offense altering shots and poking the ball away. RU went back to the bread and butter of it defense and that generated confidence on offense

But its true, Rutgers has lulls and struggles to play with a lead. Its understandable but obviously you cannot miss 3 one and ones in a row. In retrospect the game wasnt as close as the scoreboard was saying at 7. Again Indiana didnt really do anything special later in the game to get it down to 47-40. RU scored just 2 points in 8 points...wow.....If you consider RU had two seperate stretches totaling 16 minutes where they scored just 4 points its clear tonight was not RU's best game. RU got passive with the lead, its something they need to clean up. I thought perhaps some of the lineups were not the best to have in. The striking thing is RU still won comfortable despite all this. What made the win sweet in the end was the two guys who ended up closing the game out for RU. Myles Johnson on a monster jam with an assist from Geo to put RU up 51-41, woke up the crowd who got an assist on D, setting up Geo Baker's thunderous one handed dunk that rocked the rac and effectively sealed the game...

View embedded media

. How fitting! Geo unexpectedly coming back, obviously going to be rusty with his shot but he scrapped and hustled on D poking at the balls and diving on the floor. What a warrior tonight. He didnt try to do too much but he delivered like a true leader does to win the game. RU got two league wins without Geo but he is a key ingredient going forward and its great to have him back. Myles Johnson had a bad showing at Illinois and was inexplicably quiet in the first half. Myles got going in the 2nd half with one dunk with Paul and then his one from Geo that finally got the crowd into. The two biggest leaders on the team answering their call in the 2nd half when RU needed those baskets.

Again though just another team effort. Because whether it was Montez early with his assists and buckets or Yeboah early and then in the 2nd half nailing his outside shots, putting up game high numbers of 14/7, or Justin once again providing his spark or Caleb just having the knack to stealthy knock down a needed shot or Paul with drained that 3 from the corner and again showing that lovely pass to Myles or Carter playing solid D picking up a couple blocks. Harper not his best game but smart enough to know it wasnt going to be his best night. They are not always pretty all the time but their success adds up. If a couple guys are struggling, there are others to pick up the slack. Back to defense....its just been an incredible stretch of outstanding defense the last 5 conference games. This isnt a fluke. This is the Rutgers calling card. They are going to be physical and they are going to be beating you with their defense. Indiana to me was just overmatched and stunningly lacked physical toughness for a Big 10 team

So how great was the WE WANT CLIFF chant...that one came out of nowhere but was probably the best chant for a player that I have seen at the RAC in decades. Had to be a great moment for the kid and what a great atmosphere to host him at. Hopefully he pulls the trigger knowing he can fill a major role next season.

So onto Minnesota, I have my great uncles funeral late Sunday afternoon so I not be able to attend this game but will be taking nominations on a guest recap fill in for me. Minny is riding high right now but not sure they are equipped to handle the Rutgers defense. One game at a time, getting to 5-2 would really set us up will for the next few games after that. Its a game we should win because we are better as we were tonight against the once vaunted Hoosiers...Hoosier Daddy indeed.

Great post BAC. The only negative I saw besides some of the lulls with a big lead, is we have to do better at the charity stripe. Even with the lulls on offense, we should have won this game by 14+ points. But with that said, I am THRILLED we are continuing to win in R house.

Now onto Minny and take it to them. Yes, they have Oturo, but we have home court advantage and depth that Minny can't match. I like our chances.

 

[bac2therac]

Nice recap. Couple thoughts...

- Student section has impressed in January and kids aren’t even back yet. Starting Sunday vs. Minny expect the RAC to kick it up another notch and sell outs the rest of the year. Coach after coach is giving props to our squad and Archie is at least the 2nd coach who’s said his team was not prepared for the atmosphere.

- Defense is lights out this year. Way better than I expected. Indiana had no identity tonight but hats off to Pikiell for having this team playing his style of basketball.

- Geo looked pretty out of shape in the 1st half and I was a little worried he was going to hurt the chemistry throughout the game. Boy was I wrong...he knocked off the rust real quick. Scrapping and diving over the floor forcing steals...His dunk was unreal...but his no look alley oop assist to Myles the play before has basically been forgotten about. That was a thing of beauty.

- It’s nice having 6-7 guys who can step up and drop 15 + points on any given night. We are a deep and talented team that plays hard D and rebounds. Sky is the limit for the rest of the year. Should be more fun ahead.

Get your tickets for upcoming games because they will be hard to get.

Yes yes....student section, this is the first time they are really going to games during break. In previous seasons we would get 5-6K and a mix in that section. They are loud and clearly on board and it will only get better by the time Michigan and Maryland come to town

dont know how Archie can be clueless to the atmosphere beforehand. It was a big plus tonight, many assists to the RAC fans.

back to back both plays he was involved in that won the game. Remember I said in the recap for Illinois that Illinois made the plays and deserved to win. Today it was Geo and Myles. Fitting it was them.

Yeboah was 14/7 but so quiet about it, I like having that stealth option on offense.

 

[bac2therac]

Great post BAC. The only negative I saw besides some of the lulls with a big lead, is we have to do better at the charity stripe. Even with the lulls on offense, we should have won this game by 14+ points. But with that said, I am THRILLED we are continuing to win in R house.

Now onto Minny and take it to them. Yes, they have Oturo, but we have home court advantage and depth that Minny can't match. I like our chances.

yeah aaaaaaaah cant believe I forget to add that in

yes we were 4-13 at one point, the game never should have got to 7, RU would have been up double digits throughout if they make a few of those.

doesnt cost you a game when you are up 15 but when you are up 4, it will...and its hard to see it not causing a loss at some point in the future. It is what it is but it cannot be 4 of 13 bad....they finished 9-18.

I just think our guards are better across the board. Minny will get sloppy and turn it over.

 

[RUinOhio]

bump always a great read

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Geo diving in the floor with a wrecked thumb tells you all you need to know.

Tough defense and a great crowd will take a team’s identity away

We were a C+ on offense (that may be kind) and we won going away.

Loved the minutes distribution and need to stay healthy.

 

[MadRU]

Interesting to see the pick and slip change on offense with the bigs. Maybe it was something the coaches saw with how Indiana covered the high screens or maybe trying to keep our bigs away from getting cheap fouls on moving screens. Never saw us do that so much before.

another shout out to the students. For years it was many of us diehards the came to all the games. The students have made this their team. And the “We Want Cliff” chant was awesome, got us all onto our feet cheering.

 

[rufeelinit]

Love that we won and that is all that really matters. It certainly helped that IU was more ineffective offensively than we were and that was saying something. While we played another strong game on the defensive end, IU had some open looks from 3 but just could not knock one down until late. The only advantage that gave them was the ability to compete on long rebounds and they got their share.

If you like defense (and I do) you like how we play. If you like offensive then you will think we win a lot of ugly games. We survived another game where we had two prolonged droughts on the offensive end.

I thought IU had some good pieces but like us they were young. #3 and #50 where the only somewhat consistent contributors on offense and I really thought #3 was a tough matchup for us.

Caleb played well but not sure why so much with him at point bringing the ball up particularly down the stretch with Geo back in the line up. Too much between the legs in traffic for me.

Geo scrapped and the floor dive for a loose ball in the first half had me first questioning whether we want him doing that right now but also showing that he came to compete. Until the dunk in the second half I was not sure we were going to win this one given the offensive struggles.

I was getting very concerned about MJ in the first half as it looked like he was heading for another subpar night. For some reason, he does not seem to be working as hard to establish position down low. I am sure IU was trying to take that away and succeeded to some degree to push him out further than he wants to be. Not sure he hit a jump hook tonight but did finish on a couple of lobs. He is very important to us and we will need more from him on certain nights.

For the most part, I liked the rotation and having interchangeable parts in our top 9 really allows us to keep the defensive intensity high throughout. I like the PM/MJ offense/defense sub at the end given the need for ball handling and FT's which were again a problem.

So onto Minnesota. They were free wheeling with PSU in the first half. I think it was 46-44 at half which was not too far from our 59-50 final. They tightened it up and got the W which was good for them but had to be disappointing for PSU. Otruro is good and his length and quickness will be a problem for us. Not sure how strong he is and I would like to see us deny him position inside with help from the other side as necessary. Carr looked really good as well. If we play our game and score a bit more I like our chances at home.

 

[KnightTerrors]

@bac2therac great recap as usual. Sorry for your loss!

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Geo scrapped and the floor dive for a loose ball in the first half had me first questioning whether we want him doing that right now but also showing that he came to compete. Until the dunk in the second half I was not sure we were going to win this one given the offensive struggles.

Nooooooo! If Geo, or anyone, can’t dive on the floor or take a charge they aren’t ready to play.

 

[RUChoppin]

Great game to watch, but it really felt like we had trouble maintaining energy while up 10-12 points. The offense started to feel a bit lackadaisical and passive, and the juice that we play with when up 6-8 points just wasn't there. If we could keep up that hunger while up 10-12 points, we can start pushing those leads to 20+ instead of lingering around 10 with dips into single digits.

Mulcahy had a bit of a rougher night, while Yeboah stepped up. Great to see how different guys can step in on different nights, and we don't have to rely on one or two guys being hot every single game.

FT shooting was rough.... Johnson is now shooting .368 for the year, which is crazy. His one shot barely drew the front iron. Don't know if that's in his head, or if he's just not getting enough shots up with good technique. If he has any hopes at playing in the league, he needs to do better than that from the line.

 

[bethlehemfan]

Interesting to see the pick and slip change on offense with the bigs. Maybe it was something the coaches saw with how Indiana covered the high screens or maybe trying to keep our bigs away from getting cheap fouls on moving screens. Never saw us do that so much before.

another shout out to the students. For years it was many of us diehards the came to all the games. The students have made this their team. And the “We Want Cliff” chant was awesome, got us all onto our feet cheering.

Their bigs were hedging hard/early up top. Certainly helps avoid that pesky moving screen foul. Seems you can move all you want (at least other teams do) or just sort of drift and no foul is callled but if you stand your ground and move your hip it’s an automatic foul.

 

[richthedentist]

yeah aaaaaaaah cant believe I forget to add that in

yes we were 4-13 at one point, the game never should have got to 7, RU would have been up double digits throughout if they make a few of those.

doesnt cost you a game when you are up 15 but when you are up 4, it will...and its hard to see it not causing a loss at some point in the future. It is what it is but it cannot be 4 of 13 bad....they finished 9-18.

I just think our guards are better across the board. Minny will get sloppy and turn it over.

They finished nine for 18 but we missed the front end of two one and ones so we won’t actually nine for 20 from the line

 

[RUChoppin]

Their bigs were hedging hard/early up top. Certainly helps avoid that pesky moving screen foul. Seems you can move all you want (at least other teams do) or just sort of drift and no foul is callled but if you stand your ground and move your hip it’s an automatic foul.

Hedging out on defense, as long as you're in defensive posture and not throwing your body into the guard or reaching in, has been fine overall this year, from what I've seen. Setting a screen for a defender while on offense has been where bigs have gotten in trouble..

 

[bethlehemfan]

Hedging out on defense, as long as you're in defensive posture and not throwing your body into the guard or reaching in, has been fine overall this year, from what I've seen. Setting a screen for a defender while on offense has been where bigs have gotten in trouble..

Yes agree - I was talking about our decision to slip early to the paint versus set the screen.

 

[angmo]

Great recap, as usual. Thanks. Love that we have nobody for other teams to key on. Seems like we have a new star stepping up each game. Much harder to game plan on offense. We seem impossible to game plan against our defense.

Sorry about your Great Uncle.

 

[RUChoppin]

Yes agree - I was talking about our decision to slip early to the paint versus set the screen.

Ah, gotcha - sorry, misunderstood. Yeah, the hedging by their bigs definitely helped us slip to the basket, because they'd leave their man - just need to have a guard who can get the ball inside when that happens.

It seems with the moving screen calls that they let movement go more when you make contact as you're coming out of your set posture (drifting away), and call it more when you make contact going into your set posture.

 

[fbc1866]

Here's to 13-0 at the RAC on Sunday.

 

[RUDead]

Another outstanding defensive effort. Love how everyone buys into the team defensive concept.

 

[ScarletNut]

I wish Myles would learn to use the drop step to the basket more often. Opposing big men are overplaying his move to the right, perfect setup for the drop step. The few times I've seen him do it, it was very effective. he certainly will need it if the NBA is in his plans.

 

[knights1212]

Very good recap as usual BAC. I am sorry for your loss and for your brother as well. Just imagine everyone was worried about our defense before the season and early in the season. These guys really D it up.

 

[G- RUnit]

Sorry for your loss. Excellent recap per usual.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Great game to watch, but it really felt like we had trouble maintaining energy while up 10-12 points. The offense started to feel a bit lackadaisical and passive, and the juice that we play with when up 6-8 points just wasn't there. If we could keep up that hunger while up 10-12 points, we can start pushing those leads to 20+ instead of lingering around 10 with dips into single digits.

Mulcahy had a bit of a rougher night, while Yeboah stepped up. Great to see how different guys can step in on different nights, and we don't have to rely on one or two guys being hot every single game.

FT shooting was rough.... Johnson is now shooting .368 for the year, which is crazy. His one shot barely drew the front iron. Don't know if that's in his head, or if he's just not getting enough shots up with good technique. If he has any hopes at playing in the league, he needs to do better than that from the line.

We'd all love 40 minutes of 110% energy. It is inevitable there will be some pockets where the energy wanes AND there may be a game or 2 where collectively as a team we just dont have it. We are playing at a real high level of effort and I hope we have legs by the end of the season. I really like the minutes distribution.

Seems like Myles misses long or short and not left or right most of the time. This gives me hope. Good shooters usually miss short and long. The great shooters, like myslef, never miss...occasionally they graze the rim once in the cylinder.

 

[Scangg]

We had two classic Rutgers scoring droughts and struggle from the line and the game still isn't close. This. Team. Is. Good.

Myles should seriously consider shooting granny style if he's going to barely draw iron on FTs and shoot in the 30s. That or try banking them in. Something. See a psychologist. No excuse to shoot THAT poorly from the line.

 

[Scangg]

I wish Myles would learn to use the drop step to the basket more often. Opposing big men are overplaying his move to the right, perfect setup for the drop step. The few times I've seen him do it, it was very effective. he certainly will need it if the NBA is in his plans.

Myles actually has a very very good drop step. He does an excellent job of making sure he puts his foot behind the defenders. Once he has that it's over. Text book. Rarely uses it though but he also rarely gets post touches. He got a few but seems indecisive. He just needs to embrace his inner monster. I'd much rather him pick up a foul overpowering someone with a power move than at half court reaching in or setting moving screens

 

[RUJMM78]

yeah aaaaaaaah cant believe I forget to add that in

yes we were 4-13 at one point, the game never should have got to 7, RU would have been up double digits throughout if they make a few of those.

doesnt cost you a game when you are up 15 but when you are up 4, it will...and its hard to see it not causing a loss at some point in the future. It is what it is but it cannot be 4 of 13 bad....they finished 9-18.

I just think our guards are better across the board. Minny will get sloppy and turn it over.

The poor foul shooting clearly was a factor in the Illinois 3 point loss.Pikiell kept taking Johnson out of the game in the last 2 minutes when Rutgers had the ball because he knew Indiana would foul Johnson.

 

[IBleedScarlet]

Just another night at the RAC eh. All Rutgers fans can get used to this. 12 straight win at the RAC in what has turned into a house of horrors for Big 10 opponents. This is big time basketball folks. We have been waiting for this. The last time we had game after game after game of energy and thrills in the RAC was back during the Waters run of knocking off ranked opponents back in the early 2000s. I am really beginning to notice the rapport taking place between the players and the fans including a burgeoning student section. Everyone is feeding off of each other. Tonight RU stretched those few early buckets into a roaring crowd extending the lead to 12-0. I counted two times late in the 1st half where the noise from the crowd on Indiana possessions caused turnovers. Fans should have got assists for that. Then late in the game, the crowd noise on defense obviously was throwing Indiana off and Myles and Geo created their works of art on the other end that brought the house down. When all is said and done it was a beautiful Rutgers win with some big time assistance from the fans. The players and staff expect to win at the RAC and I really think our fans now have the confidence to expect a win everytime they walk into the RAC

But how great is it to beat the once storied Indiana program that has fallen from grace somewhat and have never been able to replace Bobby Knight. RU now has beaten them 3 out of the last 4 games with the one misstep a game on the road after the dismissal of Thiam. Let us just say that Steve Pikiell has basically made a fool of Archie Miller in the coaching aspect of the game. The much hyped Indiana players really are rather ordinary and talk about a team lacking identity. They do not do anything particularly well...well for a long period of time. Give them some credit for punching back at RU after that 12-0 lead and going on their own run of 22-9 that gave them the lead. But that was it. Difference was Steve Pikiell settled his team down before halftime and then as usual, Pike won halftime. RU came out taking it to Indiana once again. Pike does so well with some set plays out of halftime and he got a bunch of different guys involved in the offense. I think RU stalled in the first half because they stop attacking and settled in the halfcourt and just lost focus. 7 turnovers in a 8 minute stretch where RU just scored 2 points, RU was looking awful but it had more to do with them and then anything Indiana was doing. Ron and Paul hit back to back threes and it seemed like RU finally snapped out of their funk and then were well positioned after halftime. RU quickly built a 17 point lead on a run spanning two halves that at one point was 18-2 over 7 minutes before getting to 24-6 over 10 minutes. That was Pike pushing the right buttons and having the right guys in the game. What was a pleasure to watch was that RU was just dominant on offense altering shots and poking the ball away. RU went back to the bread and butter of it defense and that generated confidence on offense

But its true, Rutgers has lulls and struggles to play with a lead. Its understandable but obviously you cannot miss 3 one and ones in a row. In retrospect the game wasnt as close as the scoreboard was saying at 7. Again Indiana didnt really do anything special later in the game to get it down to 47-40. RU scored just 2 points in 8 points...wow.....If you consider RU had two seperate stretches totaling 16 minutes where they scored just 4 points its clear tonight was not RU's best game. RU got passive with the lead, its something they need to clean up. I thought perhaps some of the lineups were not the best to have in. The striking thing is RU still won comfortable despite all this. What made the win sweet in the end was the two guys who ended up closing the game out for RU. Myles Johnson on a monster jam with an assist from Geo to put RU up 51-41, woke up the crowd who got an assist on D, setting up Geo Baker's thunderous one handed dunk that rocked the rac and effectively sealed the game...

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. How fitting! Geo unexpectedly coming back, obviously going to be rusty with his shot but he scrapped and hustled on D poking at the balls and diving on the floor. What a warrior tonight. He didnt try to do too much but he delivered like a true leader does to win the game. RU got two league wins without Geo but he is a key ingredient going forward and its great to have him back. Myles Johnson had a bad showing at Illinois and was inexplicably quiet in the first half. Myles got going in the 2nd half with one dunk with Paul and then his one from Geo that finally got the crowd into. The two biggest leaders on the team answering their call in the 2nd half when RU needed those baskets.

Again though just another team effort. Because whether it was Montez early with his assists and buckets or Yeboah early and then in the 2nd half nailing his outside shots, putting up game high numbers of 14/7, or Justin once again providing his spark or Caleb just having the knack to stealthy knock down a needed shot or Paul with drained that 3 from the corner and again showing that lovely pass to Myles or Carter playing solid D picking up a couple blocks. Harper not his best game but smart enough to know it wasnt going to be his best night. They are not always pretty all the time but their success adds up. If a couple guys are struggling, there are others to pick up the slack. Back to defense....its just been an incredible stretch of outstanding defense the last 5 conference games. This isnt a fluke. This is the Rutgers calling card. They are going to be physical and they are going to be beating you with their defense. Indiana to me was just overmatched and stunningly lacked physical toughness for a Big 10 team

So how great was the WE WANT CLIFF chant...that one came out of nowhere but was probably the best chant for a player that I have seen at the RAC in decades. Had to be a great moment for the kid and what a great atmosphere to host him at. Hopefully he pulls the trigger knowing he can fill a major role next season.

So onto Minnesota, I have my uncles funeral late Sunday afternoon so I not be able to attend this game but will be taking nominations on a guest recap fill in for me. Minny is riding high right now but not sure they are equipped to handle the Rutgers defense. One game at a time, getting to 5-2 would really set us up will for the next few games after that. Its a game we should win because we are better as we were tonight against the once vaunted Hoosiers...Hoosier Daddy indeed.

Condolences to you and your family on your loss...