Rutgers Basketball's identity remains its defense

photo courtesy of The Associated Press

It may be hard to believe, but this year's Rutgers team is on pace to becoming one of Steve Pikiell's best defensive teams.

by Mark Remsa

For almost the entirety of the season, people have been wondering what is this year’s Rutgers Men’s Basketball team’s identity? In previews leading up to the season, many sports writers felt Rutgers either had no identity with many new faces to the program or this team was going to be a fast-paced offensive team with a smaller backcourt.

It turns out, their identity is still defense.

Last year, I wrote an article describing the identity of last season’s team as one of the best defensive units in the country and so far, the current team is following suit.

According to KenPom, Rutgers currently ranks in the top 15 nationally in multiple defensive efficiency categories, including 7th in adjusted defensive efficiency, 13th in defensive effective FG%, 14th in defensive turnover %, 13th in defensive 2PT %, 3rd in defensive block %, and 2nd in forced turnovers.

Believe it or not, this year’s team is actually on pace to becoming one of Steve Pikiell’s best defensive units since he took over the program in 2016, according to KenPom.

Continue reading this article at The Knight Report on Rivals.

Weekly Big Ten Power Rankings Challenge (thru 1/7)

The teams at Rutgers Hoops Insider and Gopher Crew continue their season-long Weekly Big Ten Power Rankings Challenge. Currently, Rutgers Hoops Insider leads Gopher Crew (@GopherCrew) in the challenge, 5-2.

Each week on every Monday, Rutgers Hoops Insider will post the rankings to the Rutgers Hoops Insider Twitter account. Please vote for which power rankings you prefer.

This is the eighth set of published power rankings by the Rutgers Hoops Insider and Gopher Crew.

NET Rankings of Rutgers' Opponents (thru 1/7)

photo courtesy of Rutgers Athletics

NET Rankings of Rutgers' Opponents (thru 1/17)

Here are the NET Rankings of Rutgers' opponents for games played through January 7th. Rutgers currently sits at 95 in the NET Rankings as they are 8-6 overall and are in last place in the Big Ten at 0-3. Rutgers will have many more opportunities to salvage their season but at this point in the season the Scarlet Knights are fighting just to pick up a win in the Big Ten. The Scarlet Knights have an opportunity to pick up their first Big Ten win of the season against Indiana on Tuesday, January 9th (7 PM, Peacock).

Currently, Rutgers has seven Quadrant 1 games remaining on their schedule. Of the seven Quadrant 1 games that remain, only two of them are at home (1/28, Purdue; 2/10, Wisconsin). Rutgers picked up its first Quadrant 1 win of the season against Seton Hall back in early December.

Rutgers has five Quadrant 2 games remaining on their schedule with two of the five at home (1/17, Nebraska; 3/10, Ohio State).

Rutgers has five Quadrant 3 games remaining on their schedule with all five at home (1/9, Indiana; 1/31, Penn State; 2/13, Northwestern; 2/25, Maryland; 2/29, Michigan).

Rutgers has zero Quadrant 4 games remaining on their schedule.

For a complete listing of the NET Rankings please click here.

Rutgers' Record in Each Quadrant

• Quadrant 1: 1-6
• Quadrant 2: 0-0
• Quadrant 3: 0-0
• Quadrant 4: 7-0

NET Rankings of Rutgers' Opponents

Nov. 6, vs Princeton*, L (28, Q1)

Nov. 10, Boston U.*, W (277, Q4)

Nov. 12, Bryant*, W (166, Q4)

Nov. 15, Georgetown*, W (211, Q4)

Nov. 18, Howard*, W (258, Q4)

Nov. 27, Saint Peter's*, W (165, Q4)

Dec. 2, Illinois, L (10, Q1)

Dec. 6, at Wake Forest*, L (47, Q1)

Dec. 9, at Seton Hall*, W (73, Q1)

Dec. 16, Long Island*, W (340, Q4)

Dec. 23, vs Mississippi State*, L (33, Q1)

Dec. 30, Stonehill*, W (353, Q4)

Jan. 3, at Ohio State, L (44, Q1)

Jan. 6, at Iowa, L (67, Q1)

Jan. 9, Indiana (98, Q3)

Jan. 14, at Michigan State (23, Q1)

Jan. 17, Nebraska (59, Q2)

Jan. 21, at Illinois (10, Q1)

Jan. 28, Purdue (2, Q1)

Jan. 31, Penn State (139, Q3)

Feb. 3, at Michigan (81, Q2)

Feb. 6, at Maryland (126, Q2)

Feb. 10, Wisconsin (13, Q1)

Feb. 15, Northwestern (80, Q3)

Feb. 18, at Minnesota (88, Q2)

Feb. 22, at Purdue (2, Q1)

Feb. 25, Maryland (126, Q3)

Feb. 29, Michigan (81, Q3)

Mar. 3, at Nebraska (59, Q1)

Mar. 7, at Wisconsin (13, Q1)

Mar. 10, Ohio State (44, Q2)

Q1 home games are highlighted in yellow

Q1 road games are highlighted in green

Q1 neutral site games are highlighted in blue

* non-conference game

Aundre Hyatt showing significant improvement as Rutgers' best player

Photo courtesy of Rutgers Athletics

The veteran forward is showing significant improvement and has emerged as one of Rutgers' best players on the hardwood this season.

by Mark Remsa

Although Rutgers played poorly and averted disaster this past Saturday against Stonehill, one of the brightest spots in the game was Aundre Hyatt. As a matter of fact, Hyatt has been the brightest spot for Rutgers almost nearly the entirety of the season, and it shouldn’t surprise many because he’s steadily improved his game this year.

Before the start of the 2023-24 season, there was very little mention of the Bronx native as a breakout player for Rutgers and analysts across college basketball questioned whether he could be a sparkplug in place of the previously injured Mawot Mag and perform consistently from a game-to-game basis.

So far, Hyatt is proving doubters wrong as he currently leads Rutgers in several categories, including scoring, three-point percentage, and three-point field goals made.

Continue reading this article at The Knight Report on Rivals.

True freshman Jamichael Davis providing a big boost for Rutgers Basketball

photo courtesy of The Knight Report

by Mark Remsa

It felt like yesterday when Rutgers freshman guard Jamichael Davis was inserted into the starting lineup by head coach Steve Pikiell for the first time in his career, and may I add, in arguably New Jersey's biggest college hoops rivalry, the Garden State Hardwood Classic.

How did Davis respond?

In 32 minutes, he played brilliantly as he registered 11 points, 6 assists, 2 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block. But one statistic that may have gone unnoticed in the game was how many turnovers he committed. Zero.

Continue reading this article at The Knight Report on Rivals.

Weekly Big Ten Power Rankings Challenge (thru games played 12/17)

 

The teams at Rutgers Hoops Insider and Gopher Crew continue their season-long Weekly Big Ten Power Rankings Challenge. Currently, Gopher Crew (@GopherCrew) and Rutgers Hoops Insider are tied in the challenge, 2-2.

Each week on every Monday, Rutgers Hoops Insider will post the rankings to the Rutgers Hoops Insider Twitter account. Please vote for which power rankings you prefer.

This is the fifth set of published power rankings by the Rutgers Hoops Insider and Gopher Crew