In simple terms, its a great win. Two road wins in a row. Who would have thought that after the Penn State debacle at the RAC. This was just a great win because it just built off that performance at Michigan. Just like at Michigan, RU recovered from a shaky first half to take control in the 2nd half. RU outtoughed, outfought, outcoached, outplayed Maryland. The unfortunate T on Derek turned this into a final possession game and made RU have to rewin it again by making plays. You always want to win by making plays. RU won this game 2x. It made all kinds of plays offensively in crunch time and then let its bread and butter get it done on the last possession. I absolutely love that Coach Pikiell did not foul Maryland there and let our D play it out. Once again another game where everyone contributed at some point with some individual superlative performances. To do so on the road with adversity of foul trouble and some questionable calls make this win all the more sweeter. So the first half so ugly from both teams. Yet I felt RU was so deserving of that win in the 2nd half. RU turned it over 12 times in the first half but only 3 in the 2nd and it showed. Do not have the exact stat but RU shot close to 50% in the 2nd half vs a very very good Maryland defense. Do not discount what a leap forward this is. RU made Maryland pay on a couple of key turnovers. Obviously the insertion of Jeremiah is changing alot on how Rutgers is defended.
Look its tough trying to make cheap win taste better. We all now the deficiencies with the roster this year and absolute struggles with shooting the ball. However Pikiell coming back from his darkest moments less than a week ago, has been given an infusion of flavor with the addition of Jeremiah Williams. I am always skeptical of a hype of a player who hasnt seen the court but J Will has answered that completely. He has blown away any expectations I had of him. J Will was active early perhaps a bit too active collecting 3 fouls in the first half and then quickly his 4th right away. Yet Pike rolled the dice and put Jeremiah back in after the 12 minute timeout and it proved to be a winning move. In a game like this where it was hard for either team to get a sniff of momentum, I noted the big shots by Jeremiah and Derek back to back which gave RU at 42-37 lead. At 9:48, Jeremiah with a smooth step back 3 with time running out in shot clock and the Maryland defender right on him was a game changer. J Will would haul the rebound and hand off to Derek who scurried down the court for a reverse layin that put RU up 5. Later J Will would get his hands on a missed Gavin 3 which Emmanuel Ogbole was able to put back in for a lay in. Suddenly RU up 44-37. J Will wasnt done yet. His steal and fearless drive to the hoop had RU up 46-39. In less than a 5 minute stretch, J Will had 5 points, 2 boards and a steal. Yet he would save his best for last. With Rutgers in panic mode as the shot clock would down, Williams getting the ball from I believe Derek with just about 2 seconds somehow was able to squirt in the lane and get off a shot with just .2 seconds left on the shot clock. A playmaker. All year long we have asked who should be the guy to take the last shot. Two games in and Jeremiah has already solved this issue. Fearless today throughtout, even when he had 4 fouls he was aggressive and risked his body. Not sure that Rutgers win this game if he wasnt in the lineup. Just 20 minutes but oh how impactful. 5-9 fg, 2-2 treys, 15 points, 5 boards. Bravo Jeremiah we are just scratching the surface now. The fact that there isnt much film on him at RU means that Pikiell has a bit of an upperhand versus the opponents.
Now let us move on to the defense. I know Maryland is not the best of offensive teams but Rutgers ability to limit anyone but Julian Reese was outstanding. Any time you allow your opponents to just 31% shooting and 2-18 from 3 you are doing something right. There were two Maryland droughts where the Terps were held to just one fg in like 6-7 minutes. Biggest of which was during that 13-4 run over 7 minutes where the score went from 37 all to RU up 50-41. In fact I believe in the last 10:22, the Terps had just 2 made fg. That is elite defense and quite frankly we have seen this showing up the last 3 halves. Maryland was missing at the rim. Maryland was missing from 3. To their credit Maryland stayed in late by hitting their free throws. On the last possession, as I said, love that Pike played it straight up without fouling. Mawot Mag was a big part of that last play there trapping and then defending that 3 and we had guys near the rim to thwart any shot off the rebound and was it Wolf? got a hand in their late and J Mike secured the final rebound. Was reminiscient of some great D down the stretch last year vs Wisky/PSU in similar spots.
Mag was excellent tonight. His 3 game stretch of woeful play definitely unnerved some people but we have Mag back and he was magnificent tonight. Mag just like he did vs Michigan kept RU in the game with offense in the first half. This time with 9 of RRU's 22 first half points Mag had a nice slash to the hoop during the decisive RU run. Another fine stat line, in 28 minutes, 6-9 fg, 15 points and defense that cannot be measure. Yet it was his play in crunch time that magnanoumous tonight. Mag with the one and one of the his life.....the first of which appeared was going to pop out but bounce back in. The second was swish and RU up 56-53. Then the aformentioned Mag D on that last play. Players making plays. That is how you win. When you have guys stepping up like J Will and Mag, you know you are starting to get better.
Emmanuel Ogbole has been a pleasant surprise to me. Huge body and was able to get a nice putback and grabbed a couple of boards in spot minutes for Cliff. 8 minutes, Pike did roll with a smaller lineup most of the time without Cliff but I think at least O Bole is showing he can hold his own out there.
Derek Derek Derek its always the good with the bad. Just 2-9 fg, 3 boards for 6 points. As mentioned earlier, he was part of that decisive 5 point turning point following the J Will 3 with his bucket. Before that Derek was a black hole on offense going 0-7 with many way off the mark. He played 31 minutes but I think there was an obvious concerted move for others to get shots rather than him in the 2nd half. With just under 3 minutes it looked like Derek sealed the game with a jumper that put RU up 52-43 but was called for technical for excessive celebration...We see these tauntings happen alot and most of the time its not called. This time it was. The announcers thought it was the right call. I do not know the rules to be honest, if there is a certain threshold that has to be crossed. I would hope that Derek would be smart enough to just let his play do the talking rather than his mouth or taunts. That play was just one play. While it gave Maryland 2 points, RU was still up 7. RU made a few mistakes on defense and then sputttered on offense as Maryland turned up the heat. You have to react in the right way. In the end, Rutgers did. They overcame the T. They overcame a few bad plays and in the end responded with plays of their own. Derek was certainly a part of that great D in the end. Learning lesson is just never let the refs decide for you. Still the response by RU in digging deep is more the story than almost blowing it because of the T.
Cliff also had some foul trouble this game picking up 3 in the first. Do not discount some big time plays he made before fouling out. We needed every bit he gave in the paint on both ends. Just 4-10 fg in 22 minutes, 8 points, 3 blocks. Somehow Pike was able to cobble together some tough D without Cliff even in the lineup by going smaller with Mag/Hyatt and sprinkling in some Egbole. Hyatt is taking on a new role now. It cannot be easy. Out of the starting lineup but forced into more minutes tonight with Cliff/JWill foul trouble. It wasnt a bad game. Seems odd Hyatt now just taking 4 shots, one of them a really bad look, made 2 but had 4 boards and 2 blocks. If the new role is Hyatt is to contribute in other ways besides scoring, mission accomplished tonight IMO. JMike was solid not spectacular but solid. Tough D on some good Maryland guards with a couple of steals. Just 1-3 fg but hit a big 3 in the 2nd half and grabbed that last board of the game. To me another progession is Big 10 playing wars against solid competition. Noah was not good early where he had most of his 4 turnovers but did contribute with 5 boards and did have a steal which he converted into a transition bucket. Again learning to accept a reduced role but contributing when asked. Gavin had an 0-4 night with just one rebound but I think he played better than his stat line in 20 minutes. I loved his assist to Cliff a beauty of a delivery for a bucket. Gavin's first shot attempt was a 3 that was 95% down before somehow spinning out. I think he was active. I do not think his defense hurt the team in the 2nd half. Wolf just 7 minutes with 3 boards but Pike trusted him late on the last defensive play.
Coaching staff again have done wonders after Penn State. Pike had to scramble a bit in this game with the foul trouble but somehow cobble together a plan that had RU down only 2 despite their futility on offense. I loved Pike won halftime again. Better feel for subs now and Pike has certainly had a talk with a few players. Doesnt mean they will not be called on more in certain situations but Pike had to do something and of course havin Williams now helps everything.
So where we is RU at 6 days after the Penn State loss....two Big 10 road wins stacked together and this team probably headed bac2therac arguably the most confident that they have been all year long. Two big time games coming up vs 2 likely NCAA opponents. The first coming up Saturday vs #11 Wisconsin and then followed up by a very good Northwestern next Thursday. Certainly not an easy task as its an upgrade from Michigan and Maryland. Yet here is RU who probably needed to win 2 of its last 3 to keep NIT hopes now 4-7 in league and here comes the RAC known for its magic especially where RU is coming in as the underdog. I do not know what happened with Penn State but RU played Purdue down to the final minutes. Do not discount what confidence and the RAC can do. What I like is that this team appears to be as loose as they have been in a couple of years. Perhaps the burden of eyeing the NCAA tourney (yes its not in our sights) removed combined with the addition of J Will makes Rutgers the fresh threat in the Big 10 going forward.
Look its tough trying to make cheap win taste better. We all now the deficiencies with the roster this year and absolute struggles with shooting the ball. However Pikiell coming back from his darkest moments less than a week ago, has been given an infusion of flavor with the addition of Jeremiah Williams. I am always skeptical of a hype of a player who hasnt seen the court but J Will has answered that completely. He has blown away any expectations I had of him. J Will was active early perhaps a bit too active collecting 3 fouls in the first half and then quickly his 4th right away. Yet Pike rolled the dice and put Jeremiah back in after the 12 minute timeout and it proved to be a winning move. In a game like this where it was hard for either team to get a sniff of momentum, I noted the big shots by Jeremiah and Derek back to back which gave RU at 42-37 lead. At 9:48, Jeremiah with a smooth step back 3 with time running out in shot clock and the Maryland defender right on him was a game changer. J Will would haul the rebound and hand off to Derek who scurried down the court for a reverse layin that put RU up 5. Later J Will would get his hands on a missed Gavin 3 which Emmanuel Ogbole was able to put back in for a lay in. Suddenly RU up 44-37. J Will wasnt done yet. His steal and fearless drive to the hoop had RU up 46-39. In less than a 5 minute stretch, J Will had 5 points, 2 boards and a steal. Yet he would save his best for last. With Rutgers in panic mode as the shot clock would down, Williams getting the ball from I believe Derek with just about 2 seconds somehow was able to squirt in the lane and get off a shot with just .2 seconds left on the shot clock. A playmaker. All year long we have asked who should be the guy to take the last shot. Two games in and Jeremiah has already solved this issue. Fearless today throughtout, even when he had 4 fouls he was aggressive and risked his body. Not sure that Rutgers win this game if he wasnt in the lineup. Just 20 minutes but oh how impactful. 5-9 fg, 2-2 treys, 15 points, 5 boards. Bravo Jeremiah we are just scratching the surface now. The fact that there isnt much film on him at RU means that Pikiell has a bit of an upperhand versus the opponents.
Now let us move on to the defense. I know Maryland is not the best of offensive teams but Rutgers ability to limit anyone but Julian Reese was outstanding. Any time you allow your opponents to just 31% shooting and 2-18 from 3 you are doing something right. There were two Maryland droughts where the Terps were held to just one fg in like 6-7 minutes. Biggest of which was during that 13-4 run over 7 minutes where the score went from 37 all to RU up 50-41. In fact I believe in the last 10:22, the Terps had just 2 made fg. That is elite defense and quite frankly we have seen this showing up the last 3 halves. Maryland was missing at the rim. Maryland was missing from 3. To their credit Maryland stayed in late by hitting their free throws. On the last possession, as I said, love that Pike played it straight up without fouling. Mawot Mag was a big part of that last play there trapping and then defending that 3 and we had guys near the rim to thwart any shot off the rebound and was it Wolf? got a hand in their late and J Mike secured the final rebound. Was reminiscient of some great D down the stretch last year vs Wisky/PSU in similar spots.
Mag was excellent tonight. His 3 game stretch of woeful play definitely unnerved some people but we have Mag back and he was magnificent tonight. Mag just like he did vs Michigan kept RU in the game with offense in the first half. This time with 9 of RRU's 22 first half points Mag had a nice slash to the hoop during the decisive RU run. Another fine stat line, in 28 minutes, 6-9 fg, 15 points and defense that cannot be measure. Yet it was his play in crunch time that magnanoumous tonight. Mag with the one and one of the his life.....the first of which appeared was going to pop out but bounce back in. The second was swish and RU up 56-53. Then the aformentioned Mag D on that last play. Players making plays. That is how you win. When you have guys stepping up like J Will and Mag, you know you are starting to get better.
Emmanuel Ogbole has been a pleasant surprise to me. Huge body and was able to get a nice putback and grabbed a couple of boards in spot minutes for Cliff. 8 minutes, Pike did roll with a smaller lineup most of the time without Cliff but I think at least O Bole is showing he can hold his own out there.
Derek Derek Derek its always the good with the bad. Just 2-9 fg, 3 boards for 6 points. As mentioned earlier, he was part of that decisive 5 point turning point following the J Will 3 with his bucket. Before that Derek was a black hole on offense going 0-7 with many way off the mark. He played 31 minutes but I think there was an obvious concerted move for others to get shots rather than him in the 2nd half. With just under 3 minutes it looked like Derek sealed the game with a jumper that put RU up 52-43 but was called for technical for excessive celebration...We see these tauntings happen alot and most of the time its not called. This time it was. The announcers thought it was the right call. I do not know the rules to be honest, if there is a certain threshold that has to be crossed. I would hope that Derek would be smart enough to just let his play do the talking rather than his mouth or taunts. That play was just one play. While it gave Maryland 2 points, RU was still up 7. RU made a few mistakes on defense and then sputttered on offense as Maryland turned up the heat. You have to react in the right way. In the end, Rutgers did. They overcame the T. They overcame a few bad plays and in the end responded with plays of their own. Derek was certainly a part of that great D in the end. Learning lesson is just never let the refs decide for you. Still the response by RU in digging deep is more the story than almost blowing it because of the T.
Cliff also had some foul trouble this game picking up 3 in the first. Do not discount some big time plays he made before fouling out. We needed every bit he gave in the paint on both ends. Just 4-10 fg in 22 minutes, 8 points, 3 blocks. Somehow Pike was able to cobble together some tough D without Cliff even in the lineup by going smaller with Mag/Hyatt and sprinkling in some Egbole. Hyatt is taking on a new role now. It cannot be easy. Out of the starting lineup but forced into more minutes tonight with Cliff/JWill foul trouble. It wasnt a bad game. Seems odd Hyatt now just taking 4 shots, one of them a really bad look, made 2 but had 4 boards and 2 blocks. If the new role is Hyatt is to contribute in other ways besides scoring, mission accomplished tonight IMO. JMike was solid not spectacular but solid. Tough D on some good Maryland guards with a couple of steals. Just 1-3 fg but hit a big 3 in the 2nd half and grabbed that last board of the game. To me another progession is Big 10 playing wars against solid competition. Noah was not good early where he had most of his 4 turnovers but did contribute with 5 boards and did have a steal which he converted into a transition bucket. Again learning to accept a reduced role but contributing when asked. Gavin had an 0-4 night with just one rebound but I think he played better than his stat line in 20 minutes. I loved his assist to Cliff a beauty of a delivery for a bucket. Gavin's first shot attempt was a 3 that was 95% down before somehow spinning out. I think he was active. I do not think his defense hurt the team in the 2nd half. Wolf just 7 minutes with 3 boards but Pike trusted him late on the last defensive play.
Coaching staff again have done wonders after Penn State. Pike had to scramble a bit in this game with the foul trouble but somehow cobble together a plan that had RU down only 2 despite their futility on offense. I loved Pike won halftime again. Better feel for subs now and Pike has certainly had a talk with a few players. Doesnt mean they will not be called on more in certain situations but Pike had to do something and of course havin Williams now helps everything.
So where we is RU at 6 days after the Penn State loss....two Big 10 road wins stacked together and this team probably headed bac2therac arguably the most confident that they have been all year long. Two big time games coming up vs 2 likely NCAA opponents. The first coming up Saturday vs #11 Wisconsin and then followed up by a very good Northwestern next Thursday. Certainly not an easy task as its an upgrade from Michigan and Maryland. Yet here is RU who probably needed to win 2 of its last 3 to keep NIT hopes now 4-7 in league and here comes the RAC known for its magic especially where RU is coming in as the underdog. I do not know what happened with Penn State but RU played Purdue down to the final minutes. Do not discount what confidence and the RAC can do. What I like is that this team appears to be as loose as they have been in a couple of years. Perhaps the burden of eyeing the NCAA tourney (yes its not in our sights) removed combined with the addition of J Will makes Rutgers the fresh threat in the Big 10 going forward.
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