The Rutgers Scarlet Knights take to the road on Thursday night when they travel to East Lansing to take on the Michigan State Spartans in Big Ten action. Rutgers is off to a strong start this season with an overall record of 13-5 and a 5-2 record in the Big Ten. The Spartans of Michigan State, meanwhile, come in at 12-6 overall with a 4-3 record in conference play. The opening tap for this Big Ten showdown is set for 6:30 pm EST.
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Rutgers has certainly done its part early on to build a resume for the NCAA Tournament in March. The Scarlet Knights already boast victories over Wake Forest, Indiana, Ohio State and, most impressively, over then #1 Purdue on the road. Last week, in particular, was an outstanding week for Rutgers basketball. First, Rutgers took down Northwestern on the road and followed that up with a thrilling 68-64 overtime victory over Ohio State. Cam Spencer had a game-high 21 points to go along with six assists, six rebounds and four steals. He came alive in the second half, scoring 16 points to help propel the Scarlet Knights to victory.
“What a great college basketball game,” head coach Steve Pikiell said. “Ohio State is terrific, they real physical and well-coached. To be able to come away with a 'W' after 45 minutes, it was a really difficult basketball game. These guys, they all stepped up. It was one of those games – the ball wasn't going in early. We just stayed the course, hung with it. Our defense always gives us a chance. I'm just real proud. They all made big plays. Paul does what Paul does, Cliff gets a double-double. Everyone came off the bench, Derek (Simpson) made a big lay-up for us when we were struggling to score. Dean gets some steals. Aundre (Hyatt) doing what he does. It was really a great team win, great crowd. I'm very excited for the students that were there – school hasn't started yet so I'm very thankful that everyone showed up and they saw a great college basketball game.”
Cam Spencer = Co-Big Ten Player of the Week.https://t.co/3olfYdwDii#TheKnighthood????? pic.twitter.com/OTPhEwDjm9
— Rutgers Men's Basketball ?? (@RutgersMBB) January 17, 2023
Rutgers has done its damage primarily on the defensive end this season. The Scarlet Knights are 4th in the nation in scoring defense thus far. In addition, they are 4th in opponent's field goal percentage and 15th against the 3pt shot. Rutgers is relentless on the glass as well, ranking 48th in the nation. On offense, Rutgers is 156th in scoring offense this season but just 209th in field goal percentage and 239th in 3pt field goal percentage. Rutgers is 42nd in the country in turnovers.