Assessing Rutgers men’s basketball through three games

Rutgers men’s basketball defeated Bryant 66-57 on Sunday afternoon to improve to 2-1 on the season. It was a struggle at times but the Scarlet Knights closed out the game on a 15-8 run over the final seven minutes.

Aundre Hyatt led Rutgers with 19 points and 8 rebounds. Cliff Omoruyi had 13 points and 14 rebounds. Derek Simpson had 12 points and 4 assists off the bench including 8 of 8 from the foul line.

“I told the guys that when it was “win time” we got four straight stops. We grabbed the rebound and they weren’t able to score. I think we learned from Princeton, when it was win-time we didn’t get any stops. Even the games that you don’t play great in, when it is win time you figure out how to win. I’m proud that these guys went up and grabbed big rebounds and made big free throws. That’s what it takes sometimes to learn how to finish it off. We did that today and it was a good learning experience. This will help us moving forward.”

Through three games, Rutgers has struggled scoring near the rim (48% layups) and three-point shooting (24.6%). They’ve turned it over a lot with bad passes and the defense has been up and down at times. That being said, RU is still learning how to play together. It’s going to take time to gel and define roles within the rotation.

Listen and watch below to this episode of The Scarlet Faithful podcast discussing how Rutgers has progressed through three games so far this season.