History made at the RAC! First time in history beating #1 and in such dramatic fashion on a Ron Harper Jr three from the front leg of the R that everyone pretty much knew was going in once it left his fingertips. The best thing and sometimes worst thing is that college basketball has a tendency to make analysts look foolish me included. The college basketball gods can be cruel. It can deliver your team a crushing blow to a program like Purdue riding high after their first appearance at #1 ever. Sometimes you are on the receiving end such as when Rutgers suffered a brutal last second loss to low major Lafayette a few weeks ago at the RAC. Yet those same gods allow you to be on the giving end of some glorious highs and when the highs are high they are quite high. With no fans last season, the last time we saw Rutgers at the RAC was when RU knocked off Maryland in a scintillating performance that secured a would be but ill fated NCAA bid and the scene was quite similar with throngs of fans celebrating on the court. So this season expectations were pretty high for some exciting basketball. Unfortunately some listless performances early took some wind out of our optimism and there was a cold slap in the face after a string of losses to suspect competition. Last weeks win over Clemson showed that there was still fight in Rutgers and the RAC fanbase but that performance in losing by 35 at Illinois was truly demoralizing. How was this program who was struggling so badly to score or even compete on some nights be able to even keep it close against a Purdue team scoring 85, 90 points a game and having weapons at every position especially from 3.
Ron Harper Jr, now that was an audition for the NBA. Of anyone on the team this season, Ron has brought it the most save for a game here or there and he really struggled being doubled at Illinois and was a total non factor. Tonight he was lit from the get go, hitting on his first 5 shots, including 4 treys.
Ron Harper took this team on its back at times tonight for this win but make no mistake this was a thread the needle type win where everyone was on board and played a factor in some ways. The bench scored just a few points but they provided key minutes at times to rest the starters who had the legs late. In addition we didnt see the bench even jack up shots today, Jones just 1 and that was a good thing, Palm 2, Agee 1. It didnt matter that Nathan and Reiber couldnt defend the Edey, they could give fouls. Jalen Miller just 9 and no stats but important energy minutes on D. With RU some limited offensively, RU was going to need a career type game from Ron and he was delivering. However 9 and half minutes into the 2nd half, Ron hadn't scored yet in a stretch of a terrible offensive funk for RU where a 7 point lead turned into an 8 point deficit. This was real danger time for RU, this could have easily gone the other way. I was worried about RU getting blown out by 20. Purdue was gaining confidence and RU really just struggling to find any kind of offensive spark. Credit Painter, they were locking Harper down and forcing others to step up. Ron overcame that. It started with Ron rebounding a Jones free throw miss putting it back for 2. Purdue would get it back up to 10 but RU chipped away with a Ron jumper and a pair of free throws by Caleb
The turning point of the game was a bunch of questionable calls, one non call on Eday that sent Cliff out of the game in pain. It could have been nails in the coffin for Rutgers, it turned out to invigorate the RAC which became loud. Suddenly we were back in the 2020 season and Rutgers was pounding nails and Pikiell was performaing his concerto on the sidelines pushing all the right buttons. The team we thought we knew, suddenly was back and they were not going away. Chopping and chipping. Playmakers make plays. Caleb McConnelll has had a torturous 2021 campaign putting up some wretched numbers. He has hinted in some recent games of returning to some of his earlier successful play. Well tonight, Caleb deserves all the credit in the world for sticking to it and delivering in crunch time. Not only was his defense outstanding at times in anticipating where the ball was going but Caleb hit a couple of jumpers and knocked down all his free throws providing additional offense that RU had to have. Lead was chipped to just 2. Then Mag from Harper for a sweet dunk to cut it to 1. Players making plays. What a game for Mag. I didnt see who was on Ivey when he turned it over late...was it Caleb? I think it might have been Ron/Mag? Whoever did another example of players making plays. RU after blowing an opportunity to take the lead got the ball right back.
That last play Ron was going to take it. There was going to be no isolation, no dribble until 6 seconds left, no long range step back. No Ron was going to take this and take it early. He was going to risk reward for failure and bodied his way into the paint making a tough NBA move that gave RU a 67-66 lead but there would still be one more play to make. Purdue rightfully went to Traevon who bodied his way for what looked like the winning score. Yet time for one more play and this was once again in Ron's hands. Just 3.4 left, remember I think Umass had a similar maybe slight more time when their guy dribbled up for a good look to win that game. Ron didnt get quite as good a look but he stepped through it even off his wrong leg. Honestly it looked good once he shot it....the rest was history. Bedlam at the RAC. One of the best court stormings and feelings you will ever see in college sports. Thats why we follow, thats why we root, even when we are down on the team or the fans or the coach. We live for moments like these.
Ron 30 points/10 boards, 10-15 shooting in 37 minutes, phenomenal night and he deserves it because not sure he has ever hit the game winner. Perhaps more talent but somewhat always in the shadows behind Geo in leading this program, Ron no doubt has left his mark on the program. Take me home tonight, just like Ronnie sang.....Ron just hit one of the biggest shots in Rutgers history. We also saw the emergence of Mag has perhaps an X factor. Lots of energy, tough to defend, can beat you inside or outside. Just starting to peel the onion with him but a game like tonight has to give him so much confidence. 29 minutes, 12 points on 4-6 shooting. Got to like alot of things about Cliff tonight. I thought he outplayed the more thought of Eday. I LOVED that Pike went to him early and kept going back to him. It established Cliff and no doubt when Cliff who still played 30 minutes was forced to leave, Purdue had pretty good success inside. 11 points, 3 steals. Cliff more athletic than Eday. Yup I would rather have him. Big step to me for Cliff in matching up with another league big man where Cliff could use his athleticism as a strength
As for coaching, you know what Pikiell coached a damn good game which is hard to due when you are pitted against another great coach in Painter who has a talent advantage on paper. There were some coaching battles in this game. As mentioned before I like going to Cliff, Painter went to Eday, we went back to Cliff, they went to Eday yet again. Pike set the tone, Cliff had the confidence. I thought Purdue was taken aback a bit that we came out so aggressive unlike our highlight film. Pike must have really been working hard with Mag over the last few days. Mag had 4 shots in the first 5 minutes, 3 which he made. Again X factor and Pike starting Mag certainly knew what he was doing tonight.
Ron Harper took this team on its back at times tonight for this win but make no mistake this was a thread the needle type win where everyone was on board and played a factor in some ways. The bench scored just a few points but they provided key minutes at times to rest the starters who had the legs late. In addition we didnt see the bench even jack up shots today, Jones just 1 and that was a good thing, Palm 2, Agee 1. It didnt matter that Nathan and Reiber couldnt defend the Edey, they could give fouls. Jalen Miller just 9 and no stats but important energy minutes on D. With RU some limited offensively, RU was going to need a career type game from Ron and he was delivering. However 9 and half minutes into the 2nd half, Ron hadn't scored yet in a stretch of a terrible offensive funk for RU where a 7 point lead turned into an 8 point deficit. This was real danger time for RU, this could have easily gone the other way. I was worried about RU getting blown out by 20. Purdue was gaining confidence and RU really just struggling to find any kind of offensive spark. Credit Painter, they were locking Harper down and forcing others to step up. Ron overcame that. It started with Ron rebounding a Jones free throw miss putting it back for 2. Purdue would get it back up to 10 but RU chipped away with a Ron jumper and a pair of free throws by Caleb
While I wasnt a fan of some of the combos of lineups where perhaps Pike had a dearth of offensive players on the court at once, the strategy of getting bits and pieces and minutes while resting others turned out to play dividends. While the offense did sputter with these lineups, I still thought these guys never played us out of the game. I think there had to be some very productive practice time after the Illinois loss where Pike seemed to really instill to the younger players about playing their role. Had to be even more difficult with several players also battling the flu
Back to Pikiell, felt he really got the team simply getting back to play D. Purdue's vulnerablity is their ball handling and to pressure them a bit. I did like that RU was defending the perimeter pretty good early and Purdue never got into their rhythm. Yes there were times later in the 2nd half where RU looked like they were scrambling a bit to find their man and Purdue got some open looks, but unlike in previous game, Purdue just never got hot, the gods smiled on us. Overall I thought RU outplayed Purdue and deserved the win but make no mistake, Purdue left alot of empty trips around the basket that on most nights they make. It was good to watch another team blow golden opportunities.
Again Pike has not forgotten how to coach, but he has hamstrung himself somewhat with recruiting. This team will not win games unless they put in yeoman workman like efforts. Talent cannot carry this team, we know shooting will not. Being on the same page and playing with purpose can be a great equalizer and we have seen it in the last two games at the RAC
Now onto the RAC, Is there a better home court advantage in all of college hoops. I would say no. From the incredible 2019-2020 run to tonight's raucous assist for the win, the RAC continues to be a nightmare for league rivals. You can see how the team is just visibly charged when the crowd is fully engaged. Tough to ask the RAC to do that for the sisters of the poor especially when the play from the team was funky. Make no mistake when the big dogs come, the RAC arrives and this crowd while perhaps not consistently loud throughout was very loud in key moments down the stretch. To me the scene on the court after Ron hit the game winner probably now moves up to 2nd on the list of all time games/crowd at the RAC supplanting the 91 UNLV win for that spot and coming behind the mayhem from the 1989 A10 championship game win over Penn State. People can say all they want about the haters or complainers, but the fans showed, they were loud and proud and that is all that matters.
Where this puts us I have no clue right now. Could it be a potentially season saving game....well cannot answer that. RU is 5-4, they have a hideous Q4 loss at home, they also have 2 other questionable type losses. This win over Purdue is enormous. Purdue will be a top 10 school this year and likely win the Big 10. Its a feather in their cap win, no one can take a win like this away from Rutgers, its worth two wins on a NCAA resume. Seton Hall will be a challenge. They are rolling along with confidence right now. Lets just get through that one to reassess where Rutgers sits going into the final 3 non conference games. Obviously win or loss the key for Rutgers is to show and compete. A reversion back to Illinois would not bode well. Yet all of a sudden a win is on the table at the Pru if RU can replicate this effort and maybe Geo can provide added minutes.
For a couple of days, lets just savor this win, enjoy it, bask in the attention and the highlights for 24 hours because you are only as good or as bad as your previous game and that might be a good motto for Rutgers fans to keep as we head into 2022
Ron Harper Jr, now that was an audition for the NBA. Of anyone on the team this season, Ron has brought it the most save for a game here or there and he really struggled being doubled at Illinois and was a total non factor. Tonight he was lit from the get go, hitting on his first 5 shots, including 4 treys.
Ron Harper took this team on its back at times tonight for this win but make no mistake this was a thread the needle type win where everyone was on board and played a factor in some ways. The bench scored just a few points but they provided key minutes at times to rest the starters who had the legs late. In addition we didnt see the bench even jack up shots today, Jones just 1 and that was a good thing, Palm 2, Agee 1. It didnt matter that Nathan and Reiber couldnt defend the Edey, they could give fouls. Jalen Miller just 9 and no stats but important energy minutes on D. With RU some limited offensively, RU was going to need a career type game from Ron and he was delivering. However 9 and half minutes into the 2nd half, Ron hadn't scored yet in a stretch of a terrible offensive funk for RU where a 7 point lead turned into an 8 point deficit. This was real danger time for RU, this could have easily gone the other way. I was worried about RU getting blown out by 20. Purdue was gaining confidence and RU really just struggling to find any kind of offensive spark. Credit Painter, they were locking Harper down and forcing others to step up. Ron overcame that. It started with Ron rebounding a Jones free throw miss putting it back for 2. Purdue would get it back up to 10 but RU chipped away with a Ron jumper and a pair of free throws by Caleb
The turning point of the game was a bunch of questionable calls, one non call on Eday that sent Cliff out of the game in pain. It could have been nails in the coffin for Rutgers, it turned out to invigorate the RAC which became loud. Suddenly we were back in the 2020 season and Rutgers was pounding nails and Pikiell was performaing his concerto on the sidelines pushing all the right buttons. The team we thought we knew, suddenly was back and they were not going away. Chopping and chipping. Playmakers make plays. Caleb McConnelll has had a torturous 2021 campaign putting up some wretched numbers. He has hinted in some recent games of returning to some of his earlier successful play. Well tonight, Caleb deserves all the credit in the world for sticking to it and delivering in crunch time. Not only was his defense outstanding at times in anticipating where the ball was going but Caleb hit a couple of jumpers and knocked down all his free throws providing additional offense that RU had to have. Lead was chipped to just 2. Then Mag from Harper for a sweet dunk to cut it to 1. Players making plays. What a game for Mag. I didnt see who was on Ivey when he turned it over late...was it Caleb? I think it might have been Ron/Mag? Whoever did another example of players making plays. RU after blowing an opportunity to take the lead got the ball right back.
That last play Ron was going to take it. There was going to be no isolation, no dribble until 6 seconds left, no long range step back. No Ron was going to take this and take it early. He was going to risk reward for failure and bodied his way into the paint making a tough NBA move that gave RU a 67-66 lead but there would still be one more play to make. Purdue rightfully went to Traevon who bodied his way for what looked like the winning score. Yet time for one more play and this was once again in Ron's hands. Just 3.4 left, remember I think Umass had a similar maybe slight more time when their guy dribbled up for a good look to win that game. Ron didnt get quite as good a look but he stepped through it even off his wrong leg. Honestly it looked good once he shot it....the rest was history. Bedlam at the RAC. One of the best court stormings and feelings you will ever see in college sports. Thats why we follow, thats why we root, even when we are down on the team or the fans or the coach. We live for moments like these.
Ron 30 points/10 boards, 10-15 shooting in 37 minutes, phenomenal night and he deserves it because not sure he has ever hit the game winner. Perhaps more talent but somewhat always in the shadows behind Geo in leading this program, Ron no doubt has left his mark on the program. Take me home tonight, just like Ronnie sang.....Ron just hit one of the biggest shots in Rutgers history. We also saw the emergence of Mag has perhaps an X factor. Lots of energy, tough to defend, can beat you inside or outside. Just starting to peel the onion with him but a game like tonight has to give him so much confidence. 29 minutes, 12 points on 4-6 shooting. Got to like alot of things about Cliff tonight. I thought he outplayed the more thought of Eday. I LOVED that Pike went to him early and kept going back to him. It established Cliff and no doubt when Cliff who still played 30 minutes was forced to leave, Purdue had pretty good success inside. 11 points, 3 steals. Cliff more athletic than Eday. Yup I would rather have him. Big step to me for Cliff in matching up with another league big man where Cliff could use his athleticism as a strength
As for coaching, you know what Pikiell coached a damn good game which is hard to due when you are pitted against another great coach in Painter who has a talent advantage on paper. There were some coaching battles in this game. As mentioned before I like going to Cliff, Painter went to Eday, we went back to Cliff, they went to Eday yet again. Pike set the tone, Cliff had the confidence. I thought Purdue was taken aback a bit that we came out so aggressive unlike our highlight film. Pike must have really been working hard with Mag over the last few days. Mag had 4 shots in the first 5 minutes, 3 which he made. Again X factor and Pike starting Mag certainly knew what he was doing tonight.
Ron Harper took this team on its back at times tonight for this win but make no mistake this was a thread the needle type win where everyone was on board and played a factor in some ways. The bench scored just a few points but they provided key minutes at times to rest the starters who had the legs late. In addition we didnt see the bench even jack up shots today, Jones just 1 and that was a good thing, Palm 2, Agee 1. It didnt matter that Nathan and Reiber couldnt defend the Edey, they could give fouls. Jalen Miller just 9 and no stats but important energy minutes on D. With RU some limited offensively, RU was going to need a career type game from Ron and he was delivering. However 9 and half minutes into the 2nd half, Ron hadn't scored yet in a stretch of a terrible offensive funk for RU where a 7 point lead turned into an 8 point deficit. This was real danger time for RU, this could have easily gone the other way. I was worried about RU getting blown out by 20. Purdue was gaining confidence and RU really just struggling to find any kind of offensive spark. Credit Painter, they were locking Harper down and forcing others to step up. Ron overcame that. It started with Ron rebounding a Jones free throw miss putting it back for 2. Purdue would get it back up to 10 but RU chipped away with a Ron jumper and a pair of free throws by Caleb
While I wasnt a fan of some of the combos of lineups where perhaps Pike had a dearth of offensive players on the court at once, the strategy of getting bits and pieces and minutes while resting others turned out to play dividends. While the offense did sputter with these lineups, I still thought these guys never played us out of the game. I think there had to be some very productive practice time after the Illinois loss where Pike seemed to really instill to the younger players about playing their role. Had to be even more difficult with several players also battling the flu
Back to Pikiell, felt he really got the team simply getting back to play D. Purdue's vulnerablity is their ball handling and to pressure them a bit. I did like that RU was defending the perimeter pretty good early and Purdue never got into their rhythm. Yes there were times later in the 2nd half where RU looked like they were scrambling a bit to find their man and Purdue got some open looks, but unlike in previous game, Purdue just never got hot, the gods smiled on us. Overall I thought RU outplayed Purdue and deserved the win but make no mistake, Purdue left alot of empty trips around the basket that on most nights they make. It was good to watch another team blow golden opportunities.
Again Pike has not forgotten how to coach, but he has hamstrung himself somewhat with recruiting. This team will not win games unless they put in yeoman workman like efforts. Talent cannot carry this team, we know shooting will not. Being on the same page and playing with purpose can be a great equalizer and we have seen it in the last two games at the RAC
Now onto the RAC, Is there a better home court advantage in all of college hoops. I would say no. From the incredible 2019-2020 run to tonight's raucous assist for the win, the RAC continues to be a nightmare for league rivals. You can see how the team is just visibly charged when the crowd is fully engaged. Tough to ask the RAC to do that for the sisters of the poor especially when the play from the team was funky. Make no mistake when the big dogs come, the RAC arrives and this crowd while perhaps not consistently loud throughout was very loud in key moments down the stretch. To me the scene on the court after Ron hit the game winner probably now moves up to 2nd on the list of all time games/crowd at the RAC supplanting the 91 UNLV win for that spot and coming behind the mayhem from the 1989 A10 championship game win over Penn State. People can say all they want about the haters or complainers, but the fans showed, they were loud and proud and that is all that matters.
Where this puts us I have no clue right now. Could it be a potentially season saving game....well cannot answer that. RU is 5-4, they have a hideous Q4 loss at home, they also have 2 other questionable type losses. This win over Purdue is enormous. Purdue will be a top 10 school this year and likely win the Big 10. Its a feather in their cap win, no one can take a win like this away from Rutgers, its worth two wins on a NCAA resume. Seton Hall will be a challenge. They are rolling along with confidence right now. Lets just get through that one to reassess where Rutgers sits going into the final 3 non conference games. Obviously win or loss the key for Rutgers is to show and compete. A reversion back to Illinois would not bode well. Yet all of a sudden a win is on the table at the Pru if RU can replicate this effort and maybe Geo can provide added minutes.
For a couple of days, lets just savor this win, enjoy it, bask in the attention and the highlights for 24 hours because you are only as good or as bad as your previous game and that might be a good motto for Rutgers fans to keep as we head into 2022