The poster 1984 summed it up Hyatt the best in the game thread in a typo....Hyatt is pretty steaky, adding sometimes raw, sometimes well done. Hyatt has probably been the most impossible and maddening player here at RU in the last couple of years. Its not because of lack of effort for he is always giving his all. Its because you can see the ability he has and at times the matchup advantage he can provide Rutgers. And Aundre does not need to be a first or 2nd option for RU, he simply needs to play his role as 6th man off the bench providing some offense and be a tough rebounder and defender. Before the last 2 games, it looked like Hyatt was settling into a nice pattern....taking 7 or 8 shots, making 3 or 4 including a 3, got some rebounds, provided quality defensive minutes. The last two games though vs Ohio State and Michigan State saw Hyatt the Horrible....averaging just 17.5 minutes and 0-11 combined. Had to effect his confidence. Even saw on BTN where Raphael Davis called out Hyatt saying if RU is to be successful come tourney time, Hyatt needs to step up. The early going for Hyatt was rough highlighted by an ill advised drive to the hoop and fouling on a 3. Bac could be found in the game thread saying Hyatt shouldnt play the rest of the game....what a maroon. Marinate on this, Hyatt was 0 for his last 13 fg attempts as he was inserted into the lineup when Caleb picked up his 3rd foul of the game early in the 2nd half. Less than 10 minutes of game time later Hyatt taking a bow flexing his muscles as he singlehandedly put 3 daggers into the Penn State players hearts turning them into corpses to be sent back to Happy Valley in a meat wagon.
Rutgers who had played so well defensively in the first half was leaving points on the table and suddenly Penn State had clawed within 3 as Pike was trying to get his starters some rest with a bizarre looking lineup. Ru was able to get a bit of seperation with a bucket by Caleb and 2 free throws from Cliff but what transpired for the next 90 seconds was Aundre Hyatt shining bright like a diamond. A heady drive right up the lane right by everyone for a dunk put RU up 9 and sent the RAC crazies into a frenzy. The momentum clearly shifted and when Hyatt drained a corner 3 on the next possession, the Nittany Lions were on the ropes. Then came the encore, Hyatt with a dead center 3 feeling it, drained and the RAC went bonkers and Shrewsbury called timeout. Suddenly what was looking like a close finish turned into a 13 point lead. There was 8 and half minutes left but the game was effectively over. Aundre Hyatt knew it. The RAC knew it. Coach Shrewsbury knew it. A punishing 16-4 run over 8 minutes of time. All was left was for RU to close it out by turning the vice grips of its unrelenting and unforgiving defense. Mission accomplished.
Perhaps some similarities in this game to Indiana where RU looked great on defense but sputtered a bit on offense in the 2nd half. In that game it was Derek Simpson who reeled off 10 straight points to turn a close game in a comfortable win. Tonight it was another bench player in Hyatt reeling off 8 straight. As maligned as the bench as been...some game providing nothing, the bench has been a key cog in two rousing victories at the RAC. The game itself seemed to follow the same exact Pikiell blueprint. Play elite level defense from the get go and hope the offense can do enough. Playing at home helps thats for sure. When shots fall and you get contributions from unsung guys it does not have to get down to 55-55 in the late stages. Hyatt finished 6-12 fg, 14 points, 2 3s, 4 boards, 2 assists, 1 block, 1 steal. His most impactful overall game as a Knight. We know what Paul, Caleb and Cliff can do. Cam has written his book with his big shots this year. We saw Mag write his chapter a few games ago. We had yet to see Hyatt step into the spotlight and play his role to the hilt. Take a bow Aundre and let your play marinate for a while.
And while Hyatt "won" the game, make no mistake this was another team effort. Again starting with elite level defense. RU was locked and loaded from the beginning. Pickett was kept to I think just 5 points in the first half. Lundy was the only one really with any offensive success. RU bothered the Penn State offense. Their passes were a bit late. The shots were often deep into the shot clock and missing badly. The shot delivery was sped up. A much more effective defense than at Michigan State. RU was committed to locking down Pickett and PSU just was not comfortable to deliver those 3s. They were 4-26 for the night which is just horrific and they usually hit on at least 10-24 attempts so you can see it was a night of futility for them. Many of them in the last 5 minutes or so were just heaves, a sign of a team that had been emasculated on the court. The PSU coach said it best. His team was soft. Rutgers looked like men. PSU were boys. Rutgers punched back and the Nittany Lions jumped into their coffin.
So great to get Cliff involved early and back on track. Dominated inside using his height advantage hitting on 5-6 fg in the first half. Inexplicably Cliff went about 19 minutes during the game without taking another shot and he was fouled on that one. Cliff ended up 6-7 fg, a team leading 16 points but his defensive effort was enormous....10 boards, 3 blocks. Cliff was back to being the Cliff we all know and love. Caleb got back to that too. Caleb's offensive and decision making in the last couple of games was a bit questionable. Tonight Caleb had a distinct matchup advantage which he used attacking the rim and hitting some sweet jumpers. This is when he is most effective. 3-7 fg, 4-4 ft, 10 points, 7 boards. Calebs strength is when he isnt forcing his shots, its when he is exploiting the other teams defense. Speaking of defense Caleb was really really good tonight. Mag...not a big offensive night, just 3 shots, one made 3 but some crafty moves to the hoop that got him to the foul line. A whopping 35 minutes and on the court the same time as Hyatt which hadnt been a successful combo this year. Mag ended up with 8 points, 7 boards, 2 steals in yet another sparkling defensive peformance. He is getting so good so quietly. Paul Mulcahy a warriors effort tonight in 38 minutes. This is the kind of senior leadership games you just love from Paul. 6 assists, 5 boards, 5-11 fg, 12 points. Some nice moves underneath the basket and also providing that needed boost to the offense in the first half. Woofolk wasnt bad at all in his 9 minutes hitting a layup. Derek was not effective in his 7 minutes and didnt get back in. Miller got the call for a few minutes likely because Pike wanted to emphasize defense. Last but not least Cam. Oh boy he is in a real slump and it happened so quick. Following up on his brutal 3-14 shooting performance at Michigan State, Cam threw up a goose egg in the first half and connected on just one 3 in the opening few minutes of the 2nd half. Cam finished just 1-7 fg in 20 minutes but more telling was that he didnt play after being yanked around the 14-15 minute mark. Turns out that was the right move. Although Pike had me pulling my hair out for a lineup that saw Miller and Wolf in with Hyatt, Mag and Paul. The move to limit Cam was the right move. Some of those shots were forced. I know you want to have him shoot his way out of the funk, but I did not like some of those shot decisions. I think he was frustrated on offense and it was effecting his defense. Thats a brass balls move for Pike to keep his leading scorer on the bench and ride the hot hand of Hyatt on offense and Mag/Caleb on defense. Cam will break out of it eventually. If you told me RU would beat Penn State by 20 and Cam would only have 3 I would order a straightjacket for you.
To be honest, I was scared of this game. All week the board built up gloom and doom about this game saying it was a bad matchup and on paper it seemed like it was. These teams who rely on 3s have given us fits in 2 of the last 3 games. Its the type of game that RU would drop in the past but that was yesterday..right Phil? I felt this really was a MUST win even this earlier because with Iowa coming up, you just dont want the possibility of a three game skid. Every team in this league will hit a rough patch at some point. You want to put off that rough patch as long as possible and build up some cushion. I do not have a feel on what will go down at Iowa. We had our worst game of the year defensively at home, now we hit the road. Coach Pike gets paid the big bucks to figure it out so I am sure there will be some kind of adjustment in the approach we take. All I ask is that we show up and compete. Minnesota bac at the rac next week and then a three game gauntlet of Michigan State, at Indiana, at Illinois. So this is why Rutgers desperately needed this one. For Penn State I will say they did not impress me as much as I thought they would. They looked better and tougher in games I have watched. I know the RU D has something to do with it but the Lions need to get their act together in a hurry because they did not look like a NCAA team tonight and they already are on the last 4 in/first 4 out lines in early bracketology. They need to start picking up quality wins somewhere.
As for the atmosphere. Students packed their section big time. I absolutely loathe we are giving up almost the entire 110 section to a shitty football program pardon my french but students seats are at a premium and bumping that many is a bridge too far for me. The RAC was just so so for the first 28 minutes but really did its job the last 12 minutes and when RU got up double digits. It became the fun experience we love so much about the RAC. There are some lesser names coming up like Minnesota and Nebraska so the fans will have to help make these games have big time atmospheres too. Good to quickly run into Mrs Screw and Scangg post game. Its always good to meet some of the biggest Rutgers fans on the planet.
