Something something rabid. The Middlesex County Department of Health just sent out a health alert saying anyone who attended today's game may have or may have been exposed to rabies. A saliva test of the RU players confirmed it. Rutgers was showing signs of ferocious defense, raging 3 point shooting, relentless unsympathetic attacks, and by the end you could almost seem them "bubbling" at the mouth. Wild thing you make my heart sing. RU played as mad as a badger. For fans being rabid is defined as having or proceeding from an extreme fanatical support or belief in something, sure sounds like Rutgers fans were exposed to a bludgeoning. They took aggressive relentless bites at the Badgers. First at their bodies, then at their minds. Wisconsin was knocked on their heels. Wounded but still alive. Rutgers could smell it and so could the cage known as the RAC. In the 2nd half, with a bunch of crazed onlookers agitating them forward, Rutgers fed themselves. Did you see their incinsors and canines seem to grow longer and sharper as the game wore on. The Knights would unleash a ferocious, feral fury, Rutgers fileted away until they delivered their final puncture. Castrating the Badgers and leaving their insides strewn about the RAC floor. A Quad 1 at home by 22 points, are you kidding me. Its got to be rabies!
Today we saw the full realization of what happens when you combine elite defense with offense hitting on all cylinders. This was a top 25 perhaps even Top 10 performance against a ranked (at least for now) opponent. It was an NCAA tournment level performance. Yes that is how good it was. Rutgers came into this losers of 6 of 8 at the RAC dating back to last year. There may have been no more miserable game for any Rutgers fans in the past few years than the wretched listless performance by Rutgers vs Penn State. Yet the two games could not be more different. Then again Rutgers is no longer than same team. I have been cautious with heaping expectations with Jeremiah and how much he can change the team. RU certainly looked better at Michigan and at Maryland in victories. The D was elite but the offense while improved still only scored 56 at Maryland. No more Bac. Today proved alot. J Will's first half where he dished out 6 assists was revolutionary for this teams offense. Jeremiah is such an unknown for RU's opponents. Pike's secret weapon. The opponents have no idea what is going on in practice and what RU will run on the court. Its going to take a few more games for opponents to figure out what is going on. J Will is the ultimate threat. He can drive to the hoop, He can distribute to others. He can act as a decoy. He can hit decoys. Yet perhaps his biggest threat is his energy and enthusiasm he brings to this team. His teammates love him. He has brought back smiles on the court. He is leading by example. The hustle on the court is contagious. I have not seen a game this year where the players were literally throwing themselves on the court hustling for that ball. This turnaround certainly is a team turnaround do not get me wrong. Jeremiah the Bullfrog would hop onto the court for his RAC game and he would leave it as the newly crowned Prince of Piscataway.
Jumping on their opponent early has been a rarity for Rutgers. You see what this team could do with a quick start. You will not see a better opening 4 minutes than today. The traditional Cliff dunk ally hoop delivered for the first time by Jeremiah. Derek with a steal and outlet to Mag for a lay up and one. A third UW turnover would lead to a J Will jumper and then a J Mike smooth shot will lead to a 9-0 lead. RU would force a 4th turnover and Mag blew a layup that could have made it even worse. 3 minutes in the Badgers did not even know what bit them. RU had expended alot of energy in that stretch most notably J Will and Pike quickly went to the bench resting Mag/Cliff/J Will for Hyatt/Egbole/Gavin. While Wisconsin did whittle the lead to 11-9, that would be the closest they would get. RU kept biting and biting. Cliff and Williams came back and RU picked right off where they left off creating bunches of turnovers and extending the lead up to 9. What so impressive today was while we all now we can count on the RU defense for stops, today was notable for responses
I have seen Wisconsin on tv this season. They have beaten some good teams. Their offense when in synch is deadly. They can make you look silly. A good way to frustrate them is to simply keep making shots and RU responded almost everytime. A Noah sighting (more on him later) draining a big 3 that put RU up 21-12. AJ Storr was starting to heat up Cliff and Jeremiah were money under the hoop. As Essegian drained a 3 to creep Wisky to within 5, there was Noah again with another dagger. and Hyatt playing his role hit a big one to push the lead back to 9. The half would end with Jeremiah dishing to Cliff who hit as the buzzer would sound and RU went into the lockerroom 37-28. You can talk that its a 40 minute game yet each of those shots in the first half just seemed to take on huge importance for their timeliness to let Wisconsin know that they were not going to get back into this game. The gameplan of attacking and making Wisconsin pay for their mistakes was clear. By half Wisconsin had turned it over I believe 11 times. The improvement in poise and valuing of possessions playing with the lead should not be lost. J Will is a huge part of that but his teammates to for believing in him.
Even with Wisconsin on the ropes, I still felt Gard would be able to make some sort of adjustment and making me a run at RU in the 2nd half. That truly never happened. It took Wisconsin nearly 6 minutes to hit their first fg and during that time RU increased the lead to 15 led by yet another timely 3 by Hyatt. The next sequence was a serious of chomps by Noah Ferandes that hit the Badgers in the privates. Back to back 3s put RU up 51-34. Noah was rabid and the RAC was roaring. BITE BITE BITE. Yes there was a 7-0 Badger spurt that got the lead down to 10 but guess who...Noah with the game of his life hit on his 5th trey in 5 tries and then immediately followed up with a transition layup follwing a Cliff block. RU was back up 17 and Gard was forced to call yet another timeout. The Badgers would be officially neutered on a Derek Simpson 3 with the shot clock running down. Ironically his only made fg of the game but that was the coup de grace. The many Badger fans quiet throughout slinked their way to the exits with over 6 minutes left. The Badgers were bludgeoned and the Fat Lady was making her way up the stairs from the bowels of the RAC. RU would keep playing at a high level right to the end. Draining corner 3s exanding their lead to 22.
Individually I know J Will did get mvp and yes he was huge for this game but I mean I have to start with Noah here because he was 6-6 fg, 5-5 3, 17 points, 18 minutes. This is a guy who went from starter to playing less than 15 minutes in his last 5-6 games. Including just 4 minutes at Michigan. That has to be so difficult for any player at any level. Noah kept his head up and Pike called his name and he delivered. Each and everyone of his shots played a large role in this game. He was delivering daggers. He had only scored 5 points in his last 4 games and was averaging just 3 over the past 9. I mean no one absolutely no one saw this one coming except for Noah and Pike who called on him. Just a tremendous individual show up but a player who hasnt lived to up what he was supposed to bring.
Jeremiah was all over the stat line. He ended up with 7 assists and 6 of them were in the first half. Finished with 17 points, dont mind the 6-15 fg shooting, 6-6 ft and 5 boards in 27 minutes. Again as said he is bringing a dynamic to the program that cannot be measured but you se it show up in every little thing that his teammates are now doing better than they were two weeks ago.
Cliff was a beast tonight. He hissed and fed in the paint. An amazing 8 blocks, another double double with 13 points and 12 ribbies in 31 minutes. Cliff took upon himself to get better before J Will started playing but I do not think any other player is benefitting more right now that Big Cliff and it changes how he can be used on offense and we arent seeing that double team anymore which would negate him as an offensive option. Can we get Cliff next year...can you imagine..wow
Mag yet again with another Mag performance. He is giving that elite D plus the 12-14 points a game. Looked like he just a 3 game blip where perhaps he wasnt 100% and now he is clearly reestablished himsefl. 5-11 fg, maybe a shot or two more than I want him to take given our new function offense but I will not quibble. Added 6 boards, 2 assists and 2 steals in 26 minutes.
Davis got the start ended up with 21 minutes, just 1-3 fg, 2 points. 4 boards, an assist and a block. He is getting better and tougher and while it didnt show up in the stat line. These are the games that will pay off down the line. Obviously a hot shooting Noah will take some minutes in a game like this. Dont have to use him for offense and besides one ill advised possession he has reigned himself in
Derek Simpson cannot shoot hitting just 1-6 fg but the one he made locked this game up. His shooting may or may not come in the future yet he is contributing in a slew of ways. Namely his defense and his committment to rebounding. 3 boards, 5 assists and 3 steals. Pike just may be indentify a new role for Derek to take on and so far Derek is responding
Hyatt man he is consistent even if his role has been somewhat dimisished. 23 minutes tonight, 4-9fg, 3 treys, 11 points. Again another guy going through an adjustment of having to unjustly take on the role of the main scorer and now transitioning to a reduced but no lesser role. Pike is putting him in the important moments in the game.
Griffiths just 1-5 fg, got a nice dunk/lay in off a turnover then missed badly on his 3 yet I still see Gavin is getting better. He is starting to get in the mix and be a little dirty on those boards. I love his passing. Gavin is going to have a breakout Big 10 game this year. Its just a question of when.
Ogbole was called on early for Cliff. Logged 8 minutes with 3 boards and an assist. Thats all you can ask for. He will not be playing crunch time. He will be giving minutes to spell Cliff who will still be playing 30-34 minutes a game. He is a help for this team
Overall the stats of 10-17 fg for 3 is stunning. I figured that would be a game where this team shoots well as they did vs SHU but I am not sure I would have picked todays game. Everything looks better when shots go down and you arent playing on your heels on defense. Free throws were excelllent at 8-9 as opposed to UW 13-22 and RU won the battle of the boards 43-40 while taking 9 more shots than Wisky and making 11 more! 18 assists wow! 9 blocks yes! RU had just 7 turnovers to Wisky 12 and poured in 15 points off turnovers all I think in the first half where they made them pay.
The RAC was as good as it needed to be. Wins have been rare in the previous 8 league games. Loud when warranted and appreciative of the great effort and turn around by the players. I think the early start alllowed the players to feed off their energy and keep the defensive intensity going. I have a suspicion a closer game awaits vs Northwestern where the RAC will be called upon in the late stages so its A plus RAC level for Northwestern,
To go from a 61-45 loss to Penn State an improved but middle of the road Big 10 school not headed to the NCAA tourney to a 78-56 win over a ranked team headed to the NCAA is quite the turnaround in 11 days. Coach Pikiell has gone from his worst performance as coach this yer to his best. Its always frustrating for the fans to go through the ups and downs from game to game but geez I do not know how the coaches get through it. Pike has been able to unleash his secret weapon in Jeremiah and it had to frustrate both of them that he wasnt allowed ion the court. I get Wisconsin was reeling a bit suffering their 4th straight loss. Take nothing away from Rutgers win today. The win over Michigan was just nice to get. The win over Maryland was a great win to have for how they did it. The win over Wisconsin is extraordinary. From paupers to princes. One game okay, Michigan sucks, two games well Maryland isnt very good offensively, 3 games yeah I have seen enough J Will completely changes this team. I was wrong for not jumping on board right away. Where this leaves RU is going to be great message board fodder this week. I would hestitate to jump too far into what March could look like. The margin of error for Rutgers right now is extremely small. One game at a day time. Northwestern is very very important. Its the last quality win RU can notch at the RAC. Talk about post season cannot really start until RU wins this game. Not going to be easy. Northwestern is extremely well coached. They have tons of options most notably Buie. I have seen them play at a really high level. However they are not unbeatable and they are not the same team on the road. Rutgers is brimming with confidence. Last year when the Wildcats stung RU holding them to 45 points, RU was under heavy pressure to win. Rutgers needs to win to have an opportunity to have another opportunity. Then again that has been working out for them the past 3.
