Rapid Reaction - Wisconsin

[Degaz-RU]

1. The tone was set with FEROCIOUS defense in the first half, causing 11 turnovers.

2. Tri-MVPs Noah Fernandes (17 points on 6-6, 5-5), JWill (18 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds), and Cliff (13 points, 13 rebounds, 8 huge blocks). Wowzers.

3. Our defense was elite all game. We held Wisky to 56 points (19 below their season average), on 19-58 from the field (32.8%) and 5-21 from deep. We didn’t let any of their scorers get comfortable.

4. Meanwhile, our offense was terrific. Early on, JWill was getting into the lane at will, leading to 6 first half assists. Then in the second half, Noah Fernandes just exploded, hitting a bunch of deep threes, and he was supplemented by Hyatt, Mag and Simpson burying threes, all of which squelched Wisconsin’s comeback attempts. The lead never got below 10, and Noah’s 5-point flurry after Wisky cut it to 10 was basically game over.

5. We shot 30-67 (44.8%) overall, and a stunning 10-17 (58.8%) from 3-point range, including the aforementioned 5-5 for Deez. We also only had 7 TOs, and we had 18 assists on 30 made FGs.

6. Shoutout to Hyatt for a good game off the bench, with 11 points (4-9, 3-5), 3 rebounds and 2 assists. Dre could have pouted after being replaced in the starting lineup, but he has responded positively like a captain should.

7. Savor this win for a day and then prepare for war against Northwestern at the RAC on Thursday. We owe them a beating after the way they handled us at the RAC last year.

 

[Pdabs]

From the start it looked like they were having fun. (Guess that’s what happens when you hit shots and you’re not in the hole in the first two minutes)

 

[richthedentist]

Great review I believe we did not have a turnover in the second half and actually Wisconsin only had 1 in the second half but it was over by then

 

[RUHouston]

Ferocious is an excellent way to describe our ELITE Defense. No question. This team is 180 degrees different with JWIll….they play SOOOOOO much better with him. It’s like we have an offense now. The whole is definitely greater than the sum of the parts….

 

[Degaz-RU]

1. The tone was set with FEROCIOUS defense in the first half, causing 11 turnovers.

2. Tri-MVPs Noah Fernandes (17 points on 6-6, 5-5), JWill (18 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds), and Cliff (13 points, 13 rebounds, 8 huge blocks). Wowzers.

3. Our defense was elite all game. We held Wisky to 56 points (19 below their season average), on 19-58 from the field (32.8%) and 5-21 from deep. We didn’t let any of their scorers get comfortable.

4. Meanwhile, our offense was terrific. Early on, JWill was getting into the lane at will, leading to 6 first half assists. Then in the second half, Noah Fernandes just exploded, hitting a bunch of deep threes, and he was supplemented by Hyatt, Mag and Simpson burying threes, all of which squelched Wisconsin’s comeback attempts. The lead never got below 10, and Noah’s 5-point flurry after Wisky cut it to 10 was basically game over.

5. We shot 30-67 (44.8%) overall, and a stunning 10-17 (58.8%) from 3-point range, including the aforementioned 5-5 for Deez. We also only had 7 TOs, and we had 18 assists on 30 made FGs.

6. Shoutout to Hyatt for a good game off the bench, with 11 points (4-9, 3-5), 3 rebounds and 2 assists. Dre could have pouted after being replaced in the starting lineup, but he has responded positively like a captain should.

7. Savor this win for a day and then prepare for war against Northwestern at the RAC on Thursday. We owe them a beating after the way they handled us at the RAC last year.

8. Terrific job by Pike with the rotation today. Basically 8-1/2 man rotation, with Noah, Hyatt, GG, and 8 minutes from Ogbole.

 

[Scangg]

Anyone have JWill +/-?

 

[Mr Magoo]

Anyone have JWill +/-?

+23

 

[RUskoolie]

That was an ass whipping. I had the pleasure of taking a board members tickets in the 100s today and holy hell was I heckling Hepburn all half when he was down by my end of the court. I was yelling at him about his hair, yelling his mother's name to him. He peaked up at me at one point too. I want seats down by the floor so bad, that was fun today.

 

[Scangg]

+23

Well I guess everyone's should be good in a 20 point win

 

[G- RUnit]

1. To those who don’t think our D is elite, held Wisconsin almost 20 points below average.

2. Noah was incredible. Knew he could contribute. Figured it would be from the line. This was a nice weapon that Wiscy did not see coming.

3. 8-9 from the line.

4. Williams is amazing. Wish we had filed that lawsuit earlier. Like the assists as much as the scoring. Love the floater.

5. Cliff almost had a triple double and was Hinson like blocking shots.

6. Loved Pike getting T and protecting players.

7. I know I sound like a broken record but the ridiculously biased and poor officiating against RU has to stop. The only reason this was not a 30 point win and a blow out for the ages was the officiating.

8. RAC was incredible even when missing some students.

9. Perhaps our best played game in years?

10. Simpson off game shooting but does so much defensively and only one turnover.

11. Gavin sky-ed for one rebound. Quicker and higher. Lookout when his shot starts to fall.

12. Excellent review Degaz-RU.

 

[ClassOf02]

That was an ass whipping. I had the pleasure of taking a board members tickets in the 100s today and holy hell was I heckling Hepburn all half when he was down by my end of the court. I was yelling at him about his hair, yelling his mother's name to him. He peaked up at me at one point too. I want seats down by the floor so bad, that was fun today.

I mean to each his own, but I don’t get this at all.

 

[darkcheck]

Awesome recap. JWill is the Medicine. He gets to the hole. Takes pressure off Cliff. Can’t pack down vs him. Also opens up the outside in that order. Even Ogbole had a great assist to Noah passing out.

Kudos to Noah too. Relegated to the bench, JWill turned his ankle and that gave Noah extended mins. And man did he make the most of them.

 

[RUforester72]

Great win by the Knights!
The RAC was smoking today!
Wildcats should be scared.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Where are the complaints about the same substitution 4 minutes in to game??????

Sorry couldnt resist

Team looked like last years good team, but with depth. Freakin scary. I know i should look at the result adjusted for normal shooting, but still

Elite elite elite defense

 

[zebnatto]

I mean to each his own, but I don’t get this at all.

Agree, ‘02..

 

[Scangg]

No need to talk about anyone's mom. Show some class

 

[Scangg]

Where are the complaints about the same substitution 4 minutes in to game??????

In the game thread

 

[RU MAN]

Williams just makes everyone on the team better as a court leader and distributor of the BB. He frees up Noah allowing him to be a shooting guard, which is Noah’s strength. And Jeremiah’s ability to see the whole floor is huge. He dribble drives and dishes it or shoots in the paint forcing the opponent to foul him or play off Cliff. It’s a thing of beauty to watch.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

In the game thread

Ha ha ha ha

Staff knows what they are doing. Cliff and jeremiah get tired. Others too. Pike isnt sabotaging

 

[NewJerseyHawk]

The roles on the floor and bench are now aligned properly. We asked every player to perform 1 or 2 levels above their capabilities and some of those players were able to improve and expand their roles.

Now with JWill steadying the pace of our possessions and Ogbole helping off the bench, we are playing with a paint presence for all 40 minutes of the game.

Fernandes really lost Essigian on the defensive end at least 4 to 5 times and gave up 3s, but he more than made up for it with his scoring.

Making plays becomes contagious.....every player stepped on the gas from the 1st possession alley-oop dunk, through Aiden Terry getting the last rebound.

Watching the players in the warm up/layup line before the game, everyone was loose and looked confident. I don't want to say overconfident, but looked like they were ready to play.

I am obviously uber-confident in this staff, but the most confident player I saw during the game, wasn't JWill, or Cliff or Davis.....it was Mawot Mag.

Mag played his 3rd straight A+ game....he attacked the basket, took a couple of 3s and stayed active in the press and half court defense. Wisconsin was missing John Blackwell, their other quicker guard, so Chucky Hepburn was left to deal with Mag, Simpson, Davis and JWill.....it was very obvious from the 1st possession that Hepburn was overwhelmed and didn't have any help.

The spacing on offense is more fluid with JWill and Mag is working into the paint and creating offensive opportunities....and with the ability to defend and Cliff/Ogbole anchoring the paint, we don't have to ask for Mag to do everything.

Final point or item that was noted in another thread and on Twitter, 2024 RU signed recruit. Dylan Grant was in the building. It's was very encouraging to see Mag perform like that and knowing we have a very similar player in Dylan Grant, right behind him in the pipeline to continue that Mag defensive standard down the road.

 

[RUskoolie]

I mean to each his own, but I don’t get this at all.

I played football at Rutgers. You should've heard some of the stuff fans would yell at us on the road behind the bench. It's all part of the game. You want to get inside someone head. Hell when I played the student section was chanting the Pitt QBs Mom's name all pre game lol.

 

[Scangg]

Ha ha ha ha

Staff knows what they are doing. Cliff and jeremiah get tired. Others too. Pike isnt sabotaging

Crazy amount of energy spent to start today's game with the defensive intensity and effort they played with

Bardo said right at the timeout that everyone on the court looked gassed

 

[winfield102]

Relentless on defense! Simpson was all over the place on defense. It's clear to me that they finally realized they only have a chance to win if they are absolutely committed to defense.

Fernandez was on FIRE. To me, he takes Gavin's shots moving forward. Noah has a track record of being able to hit the 3 in college. Gavin comes in and fires 4-6 shots(misses) without even thinking about passing the ball. How long are we gonna watch Gavin offer nothing? Simpson struggles to hit shots but he does create some open shots for teammates.

JWil is such a good facilitator. Looks for his shot and if he draws a defensive crowd, he makes the right pass. High IQ player. Forces the defense to make decisions and he responds accordingly.

Our backup center was the only guy on the court that couldn't hold onto the ball. I think he probably lost the ball about 75% of time. The frequency was extremely alarming.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Crazy amount of energy spent to start today's game with the defensive intensity and effort they played with

Bardo said right at the timeout that everyone on the court looked gassed

So nice to have fresh bodies that are not…..not going to say it

 

[BillyC80]

Where are the complaints about the same substitution 4 minutes in to game??????

Sorry couldnt resist

Team looked like last years good team, but with depth. Freakin scary. I know i should look at the result adjusted for normal shooting, but still

Elite elite elite defense

Exactly. I knew resting our guys would pay dividends in the second half.

 

[ClassOf02]

I played football at Rutgers. You should've heard some of the stuff fans would yell at us on the road behind the bench. It's all part of the game. You want to get inside someone head. Hell when I played the student section was chanting the Pitt QBs Mom's name all pre game lol.

OK. Like I said, to each his own.

I still don’t get it and would never do it just because someone else did.

 

[RUJMM78]

Its amazing what happens on the score board when teams make ten 3 pointers.

 

[Degaz-RU]

Its amazing what happens on the score board when teams make ten 3 pointers.

Unsurprisingly, we are 3-0 when we hit double digit 3-pointers.

 

[carmenst]

I think Jwill is the type of player that feeds off the crowd. Glad to see him have a strong second half after coming out in the 1st half with the injury. He knows how to feed Cliff.

Cliff with almost a triple double today.

Great rotations today. Nice to jump out to an early lead . Hopefully those games where we were down big early are in the rear view mirror.

Gavin needs to keep shooting . He’s getting good looks with some of them half way down and then popping out. This seems to happen to other players as well at home.

Looking forward to watching some meaningful games over the next couple of weeks

Was the bench technical on Brendan Knight?

 

[REDRICH65]

So what is it with Pike’s teams? Last year we crashed onFeb; this year we’re surging. Just college BB I guess. Enjoy the ride.

 

[DC8690]

So what is it with Pike’s teams? Last year we crashed onFeb; this year we’re surging. Just college BB I guess. Enjoy the ride.

And I believe the year before that we beat 5 ranked teams in Feb

 

[Arizona Knight]

So what is it with Pike’s teams? Last year we crashed onFeb; this year we’re surging. Just college BB I guess. Enjoy the ride.

Last year we lost Mag. This year we gained J Will.

 

[jtung230]

3s were a bonus but D is next level. Were back Mortimer

 

[Scangg]

Last year we lost Mag. This year we gained J Will.

Yup, it's not rocket surgery

 

[RUHouston]

I played football at Rutgers. You should've heard some of the stuff fans would yell at us on the road behind the bench. It's all part of the game. You want to get inside someone head. Hell when I played the student section was chanting the Pitt QBs Mom's name all pre game lol.

This. Back in the ‘80’s the Pep Band tormented a girl on Penn State’s hoops team by shouting “MOOOOOSE!” Every time she had the ball…had her in tears once….not classy but that’s what we did as students….

 

[e5fdny]

This. Back in the ‘80’s the Pep Band tormented a girl on Penn State’s hoops team by shouting “MOOOOOSE!” Every time she had the ball…had her in tears once….not classy but that’s what we did as students….

@Chags😎

IYKYK

 

[RUskoolie]

This. Back in the ‘80’s the Pep Band tormented a girl on Penn State’s hoops team by shouting “MOOOOOSE!” Every time she had the ball…had her in tears once….not classy but that’s what we did as students….

I forget which game recently but a student section was chanting Harry Potter every time Gavin caught it.

 

[Scangg]

Students are different. I definitely yelled some inappropriate things as a student that I would never ever say now as a grown adult

 

[BigRnj]

I played football at Rutgers. You should've heard some of the stuff fans would yell at us on the road behind the bench. It's all part of the game. You want to get inside someone head. Hell when I played the student section was chanting the Pitt QBs Mom's name all pre game lol.

How old are you? I get it when the students try to disturb other players who are essentially their peers. But IMHO when grown ass men in their 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s are yelling crap about mothers and girlfriends at 18-22 year old players it makes them look like classless jerks. Riding players, poking fun at where they’re from, and making noise is great but some of the personal, vulgar, and profanity laced stuff I hear from adults is just cringeworthy. Don’t be that guy … Just saying…

 

[BigRnj]

I forget which game recently but a student section was chanting Harry Potter every time Gavin caught it.

Yes the student section, and Harry Potter … big deal, Gavin probably laughs about it.