PISCATAWAY – A young college basketball team, no matter how talented, has to learn how to win.
Rutgers took a big step forward in that regard Tuesday.
The Scarlet Knights opened a big lead and then held on to edge red-hot Penn State 80-76 in their Big Ten home opener. This was as close to a must-win as you’ll see in mid-December because it’s Rutgers’ first and only Quad 1 triumph before the calendar turns to 2025.
The Scarlet Knights (6-4 overall, 1-1 Big Ten) got 24 points, 11 rebounds and five assists from freshman sensation Dylan Harper, the Don Bosco Prep graduate who continues to play like an All-American. Fellow freshman Ace Bailey turned in 15 points, 15 rebounds and two blocks in his most complete game yet.
Penn State (8-2, 1-1) opened league action with a stunning 81-70 handling of No. 8 Purdue at home and came into Tuesday at No. 18 in the NCAA’s NET ranking. This was the Nittany Lions’ first road game. They were led by 20 points and six assists from senior forward Zach Hicks a Camden Catholic High School alum.
Penn State came to Piscataway leading the Big Ten in scoring at 90.1 points per game, a figure that ranked fourth nationally behind only Kentucky (92.6), Samford (90.5) and Gonzaga (90.2). Postgrad guard Ace Baldwin (15.1 ppg, 8.1 apg).
Rutgers helped neutralize that with its best defensive half of the season, holding the Nittany Lions to 33 points on 36 percent shooting over the first 20 minutes. The Scarlet Knights also crushed them on the glass over the course of the contest, going plus-14 overall, plus-6 on the offensive glass and racking up a 22-8 advantage in second-chance points.
Penn State leads the all-time series, 45-38 but Rutgers has won four of the past five. The Scarlet Knights are now 6-1 in their last seven Big Ten home openers.
5 TAKEAWAYS
1. RU needs this version of Ace Bailey
There was a key sign early on: Bailey wrestled a defensive rebound away from two Penn State defenders. That’s the kind of energy Rutgers needs from its 6-foot-10 unicorn, and it was present from tip to buzzer.
This team needs Bailey to use his prodigious tools to rebound and defend more than it needs him lighting up the scoreboard.
This was a mature performance all the way around for the freshmen. He took good shots – mostly at the rim or beyond the arc – and played inside enough to dominate the glass. He also turned in his best defensive game, showing promise as a rim protector.
2. Offensive adjustments
Pikiell clearly instructed his charges to stop taking long 2-pointers, and they mostly heeded the order. In the first half, 28 of Rutgers’ 33 field-goal attempts were layups or 3-pointers.
It helped that the Scarlet Knights spaced the floor as well as they have all season and worked to find the open man. That made good use of 3-point specialist PJ Hayes, who got four open looks in the first half alone and drilled two of them.
One sequence was particularly telling: Jordan Derkack pushed the ball to the top of the key, drew defenders and whipped a pass left to an open Tyson Acuff. Acuff corralled it just inside the arc, pump-faked his defender out of the way and then stepped behind the line and drilled his triple.
We all knew Rutgers could score, but this was high-efficiency scoring instead of relying on Dylan Harper to blow past defenders on every possession or on Ace Bailey to make tough fadeaway shots. It will pay off in the long run.
3. Lineup change worked
As he often does after a loss, Pikiell altered the starting five. He inserted sophomore Jamichael Davis for junior Jordan Derkack at guard and assigned Davis to come out of the gate defending Baldwin.
The change proved effective. Baldwin started slow and never really got untracked as Rutgers leapt to a 13-9 lead before the first set of subs came in near the 13-minute mark. Davis played within himself on the offensive end, sharing the ball nicely, and helped push the pace. And Derkack filled his super-sub role with nine points and three assists.
4. Big-time crowd
It had been 20 long days since Rutgers played at home, the longest such stretch during Steve Pikiell’s tenure.
Responding the magnitude of the moment, fans rose to the occasion. The place was full to the rafters, 8,000 strong, and the students stood the entire game. They were nearly as loud for stops as for made buckets, which is important because this squad needs the positive reinforcement on that end.
As we’ve seen throughout the Big Ten in the early going – any team with March aspirations must defend home court. Rutgers did that with a big assist from its fans.
As a postscript: It’s highly unlikely Pikiell ever will schedule this kind of a gap between home games again.
5. The needle rests
This game was vital because Rutgers’ next change to move the needle in terms of resume doesn’t come until a Jan. 2 trip to Indiana.
That doesn’t mean Saturday’s Garden State Hardwood Classic (3 p.m., Fox) against struggling Seton Hall (5-5) is unimportant. The rivalry has been full of surprises – the road team pulled of a stunner in each of the past two seasons, and the Scarlet Knights cannot afford a metrics-damaging loss. But beating Seton Hall, Princeton and Columbia won’t carry weight in March.
This win probably will.
Jerry Carino has covered the New Jersey sports scene since 1996 and the college basketball beat since 2003. Contact him at jcarino@gannettnj.com.
