Rutgers Men's Basketball Players Era Tournament Breakdown

Rutgers men's basketball just concluded its trip to the Players Era Tournament in Las Vegas, where it went 1-2 in the three matchups it participated in. The Scarlet Knights were defeated in their first two games of the tournament by No.17 Tennessee, 85-60, and Notre Dame, 68-63, before they won their consolation game against UNLV, 80-65.

Rutgers' loss to the Volunteers was just about as ugly as it can get. The Knights were outperformed by Tennessee in every statistical category besides blocks. Ja'Kobi Gillespie, one of the starting guards for Tennessee, scored 32 points by himself, while Forward Nate Ament added 20 more. The game had gotten so out of hand by halftime that the Volunteers let their depth pieces play a majority of the minutes in the second half. Even this easing up failed to tip the scales in the Knights' favor.

Rutgers' game against the Fighting Irish was a tale of two halves, as the Knights were getting manhandled by Notre Dame in the first half before fighting all the way back and falling just short in the second half. In the first half, the Knights surrendered a majority of the turnovers, which allowed the Irish to head into the locker room with a commanding 36-24 lead. Rutgers would flip this script in the second half and claw its way back into the game before coming up just short.

The Knights' game against the Runnin' Rebels was also a tale of two halves, although it was a much less drastic case. Despite UNLV looking better in the first half and holding a six-point lead heading into the break, Rutgers looked much more competitive than it had in previous games. In the second half, the Knights completely took over and had what is arguably their best performance of the whole season.

While it is important to note that the Rebels were down some of their big men in their game against Rutgers, there are two things they can take away from this game and the tournament as a whole. First and foremost is the fact that Darren Buchanan Jr. is severely pushing fellow guard Denis Badalau for more playing time. Badalau did not play at all in the second half against UNLV, when Buchanan scored all of his 15 points. Rutgers head coach Steve Pikiell said multiple times that they are still looking for the best rotation of guys to put on the court. If Buchanan continues to play like this, he could very well find himself getting much more playing time.

Second, is that the Knights have decent three-point shooters, so they shouldn't be settling for mid-range jumpers all the time that hardly work. Rutgers shot 41 percent and 32 percent from three in their games against Notre Dame and Tennessee, while their mid-range jump shots have not been consistent at all. The Knights should look to adapt to the new age of college basketball and let it rip more from the perimeter.

Rutgers' next game will be at home against Purdue on Tuesday, December 2nd, as they are set to open up conference play. Tip-off will be at 8 pm with live coverage being provided by FS1.