If anyone had any doubt about this team's mettle and resiliency in handling adversity, they have been erased. The Ohio State game flat out sucked. RU was up 16 cruising along until foul trouble with Myles changed everything and then later when Young went out, our offense collapsed. I was not concerned about that loss but rather trying to get healthy and what lessons would we learn from going from 16 up to 12 down. With Cliff still out and Young expected to be in the lineup we could be relatively optimistic coming into tonight, however we all got a dagger in our spirits when we learned that Ron Harper Jr was out with an ankle injury. That turned a game we should win into a toss up, a game that RU would have dig deep into their reserve of intestinal fortitude to get this win anyway they could. Well guess what, not only did the core rotation bring it when it counted, the much missing in action, RU bench players of Doucoure, Reiber and Palmquist all played key roles in getting RU out to a good start and pretty good size lead. Mathis was easily the player of the game but each and every player played a role in pulling this victory over the finish line.
Note I said RU was up 16 at Ohio State because tonight RU was up 15 at 38-23 riding some hot outside shooting similar to that previous game while perhaps not playing the tightest of defensive and just like the OSU game this one got closer in a hurry. Purdue went on a 30-10 run in just under a 14 minutes stretch to take their biggest lead at 53-48. RU looked all out of sorts offensively. Tez was pressing too much, the bench no longer was contributing, Painter had made some adjustments and I really thought at that point was running circles around Pike. Things looked like they could get out of control. RU was not in foul trouble this time and that might have been just what RU needed to kick them in the ass. Not sure exactly what happened but RU just started to play like the RU we all love and know. Mulcahy hit a 3, then Geo got a steal and a bucket and all of sudden, we had a flame and off they went. See this Rutgers team is a thing of beauty when they play with purpose on the defense and offensive end. There was some incredible vision in getting the ball to the open shooters, Mulcahy hit another 3 and Tez took over.
This was likely Mathis's best game ever at Rutgers. When he plays within himself, he is an incredible player. He hit a couple of clutch baskets that basically won the game for RU. At 6:30 minutes left, a 3 that gave RU a 5 point cushion they maintained, then a jumper at 3 minutes when Purdue cut it to just 1, and then the dagger at 73-68 with a minute left that put RU up 7. Mathis also had his hands all over the final rebound on the last Purdue possession An incredible stat line....9-15...5-5 from 3, 5 boards, 25 points. Credit Mathis for bouncing back after he had a couple of bad plays in a row in this game and I will call myself out for calling him a me player. If Tez can just cut back on those plays and I think this year he really has, skies is the limit for him. I think he gets caught up in having to force plays when he gets touches. Tonight man he was marvelous.
Boy Jacob Young wins the Ironman award tonight. You can tell he was hurting and it definitely effected his shot. He put in a stunning 35 minutes and sealed the game with his 4 important free throws at the end, hitting all 6 in total to give him 13 points. Not a great shooting night and he did really make a few bad decisions during the time where RU just was out of rhythm on offense. Still he gutted it out and showed up when it counted late.
Geo Baker the soul of the team and without Harper we desperately needed the Geo of old. Geo logged 37 minutes, 7-15 shooting and 19 points, he is reasonable close to the Geo of last year. I have no doubt that his leadership was instrumental in that turnaround from down 5 to where RU went on a run of its own of 27-15 to take its biggest 2nd half lead of 75-68. Geo had 10 points in the last 10 minutes, including 4 big free throws. He did exactly what you want your senior leader to do.
Myles adjusted his game and stayed out of foul trouble. I think he played decent D on a very good player in Williams. Williams went for 21 on 10-12 shooting and no doubt I believe that instead of contesting some of these by being really physical Myles may have held back a bit opting not to get into foul trouble. He had 8 boards, a really nifty steal where he turned it over running the court and a nice looking free throw that really shows he is working on his form. Paul Mulcahy needs some attention because he was the stealth player tonight...His two 3s in the 2nd half were beyond huge and great job by him in stepping up with those wide open 3s. 11 points on 3-5 from 3 and no turnovers, this is the kind of performance that will be a nightmare for opposing coaches gameplan going forward. I loved his game tonight.
What can we say about our 3 bench players. Reiber 16 minutes...wtf????!!! If you told me he would get that much time I would have laughed in your face. Reiber two boards, a nice bucket and a free throw, played his role to perfection. You want him to eat minutes and give some fouls. By far he looked more comfortable than in previous games and really changed my thinking of him. Remember we will get Cliff back eventually so Reiber isnt likely to have many 16 minute games going forward but Pike now knows he has an option that can put in the solid minutes. Ditto for Palmquist who drained an open 3 in his 7 minutes. Its about stepping up when given the opportunity. Doucoure I felt was solid, better than vs OSU, 10 minutes, 3 boards and was able to give 3 fouls and able to do a solid job keeping Myles off the court. Yes not sure his teammates trust giving the ball to him but I feel Dourcoure did better tonight with less pressure to perform.
Lets giving a special shout to Coach Pikiell and his staff for getting these 3 going in practice and then trusting them to fulfill their roles on the court. He obviously has been hesitant to use them but we could not have a repeat of OSU so had to try something diffferent. Then without Ron well that is a whole different challenge. It means trying to run things that get shots for Montez and I feel that RU court vision was excellent at times. Teammates trusted one another and that goes back to coaching. I felt that Painter made some adjustments in the way Purdue was running its offense later in the first half and into the 2nd and I think for a time period he was running coaching circles around Pike. Pike usually wins halftime but this time he did not but what Pike won the war. Beyond everything he trusted his players and they stepped up and delivered. Instead of curling into a ball like they did vs OSU when adversity came, RU responded and went around that wall as Michael Jordan would say. The contrast between what happened at OSU and how RU responded tonight could not be so stark. Answering their first loss without their best player in the fashion they did is just another chapter written in the book of Pikiell's Knights. Just when you thought you knew everything about this team and they have impressed you so much you have seen everything, they do something extra ordinary yet again. As I have said in a couple of other recaps, this team has some pluck.
I am not thinking about Iowa too much right now. Its an enormous challenge given the way they shoot from the outside and tough Garza is. We need to get Ron and Cliff and Jacob healthy because its a game where we need to hit on all cylinders. Purdue is good but they are young. Iowa has the experience and playmakers all over the court. RU will need its best.
