Men’s Basketball Season Notables

PISCATAWAY – Rutgers men's basketball continued its ascent under third-year head coach Steve Pikiell in 2018-19, realizing numerous achievements. Throughout Pikiell's career he has been instrumental in turnarounds that have resulted in conference championships and post-season berths and that trend is also taking shape "On the Banks."

Per KenPom.com, Rutgers was the nation's most improved Power 6 conference program, improving 71 positions since the season's initial rating on Nov. 6, 2018.
Projected to finish 14th in the preseason, Rutgers tied for 10th in the Big Ten standings.
Rutgers' seven league victories was its most in conference play in 13 years, since also winning seven in Big East competition in 2005-06.
Per KenPom, Rutgers was among the nation's youngest teams with 1.05 years of experience to rank 330th nationally out of 353 D-I programs.
61 percent (19/31) of games on the schedule were against opponents that earned 2019 NCAA Championship (15) or National Invitation Tournament (4) berths.
Rutgers concluded its season 77th in the KenPom ratings, the program's best rank since concluding its 2005-06 campaign at No. 71.
Via the wins over No. 16 Ohio State and at No. 22 Iowa, the Scarlet Knights earned victories over two ranked league opponents for the first time since 2007-08, when RU downed No. 18 Villanova and No. 13 Pittsburgh consecutively in Big East play.
Per KenPom, Rutgers' strength of schedule ranked 20th nationally. RU earned victories over No. 16 Ohio State and No. 22 Iowa, as well as two wins over foes receiving votes (Miami, Nebraska).
Rutgers experienced five sell-outs, its most since 2004-05 (7). Average attendance improved 31.1% from 2017-18. RU ranked 65th nationally in percent of capacity (78%) out of 353 D-I programs after placing 232nd in 2017-18 (59.49%).
Eight men's basketball student-athletes, 53 percent of the roster, posted grade point averages of 3.0 or above in the fall 2018 semester. Five Scarlet Knights are expected to be named to the 2018-19 Winter Academic All-Big Ten Team.
RU had two Quadrant 1 and six Quadrant 2 victories. Eight wins from the top two Quadrants was more or equal than 12 teams ranked or receiving votes in the March 11 Associated Press poll.
Of the players with the top eight scoring averages on the team, four were freshmen and two sophomores, with all eight expected to return in 2019-20.
Of the players with the top 10 rebounding averages on the team, eight are expected to return in 2019-20.
The Scarlet Knights are expected to return 90% of their scoring and 84% of their rebounding in 2019-20.
Sophomore guard Geo Baker was an honorable mention All-Big Ten selection by both the conference coaches and media, while junior forward Eugene Omoruyi garnered honorable mention from the media. It signaled the first time the Scarlet Knights had multiple all-league honorees since joining the Big Ten in 2014-15.
Geo Baker ranked second in steals (1.6), fifth in assists (4.1), eighth in minutes (34.0) and tied for ninth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.4) among Big Ten Conference players.
Eugene Omoruyi ranked tied for 10th in rebounding (7.2) among Big Ten Conference players.
Ron Harper Jr. was named the Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Week on March 4 after scoring a career-high 27 points in the 86-72 victory at No. 22/21 Iowa. The 14-point margin of victory was RU's greatest on the road against a ranked foe since in program history.
Freshman center Myles Johnson tied for 8th nationally with a 15.6 offensive rebound percentage, best in the Big Ten and tied for second among all Power 6 conference players.
Ron Harper, Jr. averaged 10.9 points versus nationally-ranked opponents, while shooting 50% (26-of-52) from the field.
Freshman Montez Mathis scored in double digits in 13 games, including 11 times against Big Ten foes, while averaging 13.1 points in RU's seven Big Ten victories.
Geo Baker averaged 4.6 assists and 12.4 points versus nationally-ranked opponents.
Rutgers players combined for eleven double-doubles, signaling the third time in as many as season under head coach Steve Pikiell that the Scarlet Knights combined for double-digit, double-double performances, after 10 in 2017-18 and 11 in 2016-17. It marks the first time in more than 15 years that RU has combined for 10 or more double-doubles in three consecutive seasons.
With the consecutive wins over Nebraska, Penn State and Indiana, it marked the first time RU had won three straight regular season conference games since winning four in 2003-04 (Big East).
The wins at Penn State, Northwestern and No. 22/21 Iowa signal the first time RU won three league road games since also winning three in Big East play in 2005-06.
Rutgers ranked 24th nationally in total rebounds (39.03) and 26th nationally in offensive rebounds (12.61). RU led the Big Ten in offensive boards and was third in total rebounds.
In its seven Big Ten victories, the RU bench outscored opponents by an average of 10.5 points. Rutgers averaged 21.5 bench points in league wins, while holding foes to 11.0.
Rutgers scored 90 or more points three times, marking the first time in 13 years (four, 2005-06) that RU had accomplished the feat.
Rutgers overcame double-digit deficits in four victories, including two (Nebraska, Indiana) Big Ten wins.
Against Eastern Michigan, Rutgers allowed four points in the opening half to tie the NCAA D-I record for fewest points allowed in a half in the shot clock era (since '85-86). The 36 points allowed also tied the school record, matching the defensive effort against Columbia (60-36) on Nov. 18, 2002.
6-6 point guard and incoming 2019-20 freshman Paul Mulcahy averaged a triple-double this past season with 18.1 points, 10.2 rebounds and 10.1 assists-per-game for Gill St. Bernard's High School in Gladstone, N.J.
Guard Jacob Young, a transfer from Texas with NCAA Tournament experience who was a consensus four-star recruit, will be eligible to compete in 2019-20 after redshirting in 2018-19.