Basketball Opponent Pregame Glimpse: Rutgers Scarlet Knights

Rutgers is 17-0 at home this year and is favored by 2.5 points over the Wolverines.

Last Result: Rutgers Scarlet Knights 72, Illinois Fighting Illini 57

The Scarlet Knights remained undefeated at the RAC, as they improved to 17-0 at home. With the win, Rutgers snapped a little skid in which they had lost three of their last four games. Ron Harper Jr., who had not had a game with over 10 points and was shooting just 16.7% from distance in his last six contests, led the way for Rutgers against Illinois, accounting for 27 points on 11-for-14 shooting while also going 5-for-5 from three point range. Rutgers, who has struggled shooting the ball from deep all season as they shoot a Big Ten worst 30.7% from long range, actually had a solid night from beyond the arc, shooting 46.7%, on 15 attempts and knocking down seven of them, which is significantly better than their average of 5.4 makes a game from distance on 18.0 attempts.

Illinois was playing without their best player Ayo Dosunmu, who injured his knee on the last play of the game against Michigan State last Tuesday. The loss of Dosunmu, Illinois best scorer who averages 15.8 points per game, proved to be costly, as the Illini could not make a shot in the second half, shooting 26% from the field in the final 20 minutes of the game. Rutgers defense, which ranks 19th best in the country in points allowed per game at 62.2 and 23rd best in the nation in opponent field goal percentage per contest at 44.8%, was stingy against the Illini only allowing them to score 25 second half points while shooting just 31.1% from the field in the contest. Rutgers also had nine blocks in the contest with seven different players recording a block in the game for the Scarlet Knights.

The first 29 minutes of this contest was very competitive, as neither team led by more than seven; however, Rutgers finally began to pull away led by an 11-0 run, which spanned over seven minutes of game time. After the run, Illinois was never able to cut the Rutgers lead to less than seven.

The Scarlet Knights made a few changes to their starting lineup before this game, as they started Geo Baker for the first time since his left thumb injury in place of Caleb McConnell and gave Shaq Carter his first start of the season, allowing Myles Johnson to come off the bench. Rutgers is a very deep team, as no player on their team averages more than 28 minutes played per game while they also have seven players who average more than seven points per contest. Therefore, no matter who starts for Rutgers, their bench players certainly will get a lot of action.

Once again the Scarlet Knights were able to pick up a quality resume win at home, and the RAC, which has already had a record number of sellouts this season, will certainly be rocking again when the Wolverines come to town.

Rutgers Last Matchup Against Michigan:

February 1, 2020: Michigan Wolverines 69, Rutgers Scarlet Knights 63

Michigan held on to win a close contest in Madison Square Garden against Rutgers, despite the Scarlet Knights shooting 83 shots compared to the Wolverines 47. The reason the shot discrepancy between the teams was so large was because Rutgers accounted for 26 offensive rebounds in the game. Rebounding is certainly one of Rutgers’ strengths, as they rank 2nd best in the conference in rebounds per game at 40.5 and 3rd best in the Big Ten and 38th best in the country in offensive boards per contest at 12.0. Michigan also wasn’t helped in this game by losing the turnover battle, as the Wolverines had 16 turnovers in the game compared to the Scarlet Knights 10.

Even though the Wolverines got pushed around on the glass and allowed the Scarlet Knights to outscore them 25-0 in second chance points, Michigan was able to escape with a win in large part due to Rutgers top two scorers Geo Baker and Ron Harper Jr. going a combined 2-for-19 with just 6 points in the game. As a team, Rutgers shot the ball poorly, shooting just 32.5% from the field and 25% from beyond the arc. The Wolverines shot making ability was a crucial reason why they were able to prevail, as they shot 46.8% from the field and 47.4% from three.

Michigan was led by Brandon Johns Jr., who accounted for a career-high in both points with 20 and three point makes with four, stepping in for the injured Isiah Livers. The big man for the Wolverines played extremely well on the offensive end in this game, as John Teske had 13 points and Austin Davis had eight points on 4-for-4 shooting. Zavier Simpson had a mixed day in his first game back from his suspension, as he accounted for nine points, seven of which came from the free throw line, including a few big makes late in the game, 10 assists and three steals; however, the senior guard did turn the ball over six times on a few lazy passes. Franz Wagner accounted for 10 points in the game, including a big and one to finish off a Michigan 19-6 run, which allowed the Wolverines to take a lead 56-44 with just over 10 minutes left in the game. Eli Brooks had nine points in the game, all of which came on three point baskets. One of Brooks’ three point makes ended a Rutgers 8-0 run with 5:43 left in the game, allowing Michigan to go back up by nine points.

Michigan failed to make a shot from the field in the final 5:43, as their only points in the final five minutes of the game came from six free throws in the final 24 seconds. The inability to make shots late in the contest could have been due to fatigue, as four of Michigan’s five starters played all 20 second half minutes, while only John Teske got a small two minute break, as he played 18 minutes in the second half. Rutgers was able to cut what was once a 14 point lead with 9:15 left in the game to just a two point one with 19.2 seconds remaining after Geo Baker made his first shot of the game, which came from way beyond the arc. Wagner was able to knock down two free throws after the Scarlet Knights cut the lead to two and sealed the win for Michigan.

Despite a valiant effort on the glass and from Montez Mathis, who had a season high 17 points for Rutgers, Michigan was still able to somehow prevail. The Wolverines shot 19 more free throws than the Scarlet Knights, which also ended up making a huge difference in a game which was a back and forth battle and had a tournament-like atmosphere in NYC.

Players to Watch:

Geo Baker, Junior, Guard

After starting the first 13 games of the season for Rutgers, Geo Baker suffered a left thumb injury. The 6-4 guard sat out three games and since he has returned Baker has been coming off of the Scarlet Knights bench until he finally got a start in Rutgers last outing against Illinois. Baker is Rutgers’ best player and always seems to have the ball in his hands during crunch time. The perfect example of this is despite scoring zero points against Nebraska through the first 37 minutes of the game when the game was on the line the ball still found Rutgers most experienced guard. Baker took four of the last five Rutgers shots in that game, which included a three pointer to take the lead 72-69 with 2:45 left in the game and the game winning step back three to put the Knights up 75-72 with just one second remaining on a clear out iso play. Even though Baker is averaging fewer points per game at 10.2 this season than he did in his first two seasons at Rutgers, mainly due to the improved talent around him, Baker will still have the ball in his hands at critical points in the game and must make big plays that he was unable to make in the last match-up against the Wolverines if Rutgers wants to beat Michigan in basketball for the first time in their program’s history.

Akwasi Yeboah, Senior, Forward

The 6-6 forward from Chigwell, England is Rutgers’ best three point shooter at 38.5%. Yeboah transferred from Stony Brook after leading them in scoring each of the last two seasons. The senior forward has even hit the 1,500 career collegiate point mark. Yeboah is averaging 10.1 points and 4.8 rebounds per game for the Scarlet Knights. He has been playing really well recently, reaching double figures in scoring seven out of the last eight Rutgers contests. Yeboah is just one of the many players on Rutgers that can step up in a big way in the game against the Wolverines due to the way that the Scarlet Knights share the basketball, as their leading scorer Ron Harper Jr. averages less than 12 points a game. Rutgers is very deep and will feed the hot hand, so if Yeboah gets going early he could have a career game against the Wolverines and help keep the Scarlet Knights undefeated at the RAC this season. 

What does Michigan need to do to win? Can they have Rutgers its first loss at The RAC? Comment below!!!