After a strong first half, Rutgers collapsed in the second half to lost 71-60 to the No. 10 Michigan State Spartans.
Let’s start off with some of the major negative takeaways from today’s game. As good as Rutgers is when it comes to rebounding, Michigan State is better. The Spartans are ranked the number four rebounding team in the country and they showed it tonight out rebounding Rutgers, 45-31.
Along with some poor rebounding, the Scarlet Knights struggled from beyond the arc yet again. Rutgers shot 5-of-25 (25%) from three point land.
Welcome back Peter Kiss! Overall he looked really good while in transition. He slashed through the pint to finish with a tough layup midway thru the first and also hit a slightly contested three. Kiss finished with 9 points, which is the most points he has scored in a single game since Dec. 15th against Seton Hall.
Good Geo Baker came to play today in the first half and bad Baker reappeared in the second half. In the first half Baker shot 5-of-9 for 13 points, but in the second half he struggled to get open shooting just 1-of-3 in the second half.
While Baker shot well tonight, the other Rutgers point guard Caleb McConnell did not. He was a complete ghost on offense shooting 0-of-6 from the field. There were a couple opportunities for him to score today, including two completely off wide open three point attempts. Overall you could tell it just wasn’t his night.
I said this earlier in conference player, but I’m going to reiterate it once again. Myles Johnson needs to be the starting center from now on. Don’t get me wrong I do like how Shaq Doorson has played this year, but Johnson is averaging better numbers in just about every category, while played almost two less minutes per game. Not to mention over the past four games, Johnson has shot a solid 13-of-16 from the field.
Next up: Rutgers heads back home for a Sunday afternoon (2/24) matchup against Minnesota at the RAC. Tip off will take place at 6:30pm EST.
Let’s start off with some of the major negative takeaways from today’s game. As good as Rutgers is when it comes to rebounding, Michigan State is better. The Spartans are ranked the number four rebounding team in the country and they showed it tonight out rebounding Rutgers, 45-31.
Along with some poor rebounding, the Scarlet Knights struggled from beyond the arc yet again. Rutgers shot 5-of-25 (25%) from three point land.
Welcome back Peter Kiss! Overall he looked really good while in transition. He slashed through the pint to finish with a tough layup midway thru the first and also hit a slightly contested three. Kiss finished with 9 points, which is the most points he has scored in a single game since Dec. 15th against Seton Hall.
Good Geo Baker came to play today in the first half and bad Baker reappeared in the second half. In the first half Baker shot 5-of-9 for 13 points, but in the second half he struggled to get open shooting just 1-of-3 in the second half.
While Baker shot well tonight, the other Rutgers point guard Caleb McConnell did not. He was a complete ghost on offense shooting 0-of-6 from the field. There were a couple opportunities for him to score today, including two completely off wide open three point attempts. Overall you could tell it just wasn’t his night.
I said this earlier in conference player, but I’m going to reiterate it once again. Myles Johnson needs to be the starting center from now on. Don’t get me wrong I do like how Shaq Doorson has played this year, but Johnson is averaging better numbers in just about every category, while played almost two less minutes per game. Not to mention over the past four games, Johnson has shot a solid 13-of-16 from the field.
Next up: Rutgers heads back home for a Sunday afternoon (2/24) matchup against Minnesota at the RAC. Tip off will take place at 6:30pm EST.
