PISCATAWAY, N.J. - No. 19 Rutgers men's basketball heads to College Park for its Big Ten opener and first road contest of the season, heading to take on Maryland in a 6 p.m. tipoff Monday that will be televised by the Big Ten Network. The Scarlet Knights do so following a
79-69 win over Syracuse on Tuesday in the ACC / Big Ten Challenge.
Ron Harper Jr. led the team with 26 points against the Orange. The team leader at 22.3 points per game has scored at least 15 points in each game this season. Harper Jr. is second in the Big Ten in three-point percentage (45.8 percent).
Jacob Young had his first career double-double against SU with 18 points and a career-high 10 assists, along with five steals. He was the first RU player with at least 15 points and 10 assists in a game since
Geo Baker in 2017 (Dec. 9 vs. FDU). Young leads the Big Ten assists (6.75) and steals (3.25), and is ranked in the top-25 in the nation in both categories.
Myles Johnson also contributed a double-double in the contest with 11 points and 12 rebounds. The team leader in rebounding (7.3) and blocks (10) is third in the conference with 2.5 blocks per game.
Montez Mathis scored 19 points versus Syracuse, one shy of his career-high. He is second on the team at 16.3 points per game. RU is the only team in the conference with three of the top eight scorers in the league (Harper, 4th, Mathis, 7th, Young, 8th).
RU has started the season 4-0 for the first time since the 2017-18 season. All four victories have come by double-digits, the first time for RU doing that since 1966-67. That 1966-67 team featured All-American Bob Lloyd in the backcourt alongside co-captain Jim Valvano and earned a third-place finish in the NIT, becoming the first Rutgers basketball team to reach post-season play. A 5-0 start, all by double-digits, would mark the first time doing since 1934-35, a team that set RU's record with six straight double-digit victories to begin a campaign. RU currently has the sixth toughest remaining schedule in the nation per ESPN's Power Index.
Maryland enters the contest at 4-1 following a loss at Clemson in the ACC - Big Ten Challenge. Eric Ayala leads the team at 13.4 points per game. The Terps claimed the Big Ten Championship last season with a 24-7 mark. UM returns an Honorable Mention All-Big Ten honoree in Darryl Morsell and the Big Ten 6th Man of the Year in Aaron Wiggins, but lost two starters in First Round NBA Draft pick Jalen Smith and Anthony Cowan.
The Scarlet Knights claimed a major victory the last time these two teams met. In the final home game of that last season, RU upended No. 9 Maryland, 78-67.
Jacob Young led the home team in that game with 17 points and three steals, while Baltimore native
Montez Mathis added 15 points to spark a court storm when the victory was sealed.
Overall, this is the 16th meeting in a series that dates back to 1940 and includes six meetings prior to both joining the Big Ten together in 2014-15. Last season's win marked RU's first victory over Maryland since joining the league.
- Watch on BTN (Kevin Kugler, play-by-play and Stephen Bardo, analyst)
- Listen on WCTC 1450 AM / WOR 710 / Sirius 137 / XM 195 (Play-by-play: Jerry Recco, Color Analyst: Joe Boylan)
- Last season, the Scarlet Knights were picked 12th in the media's preseason poll. The team continued to out-perform those expectations in a historic season for the program. This season, RU was pegged fifth in the league in the same poll. In addition, the Scarlet Knights will begin the season nationally ranked in the preseason polls, coming in at No. 23 in the Coaches Poll and No. 24 in the AP poll. It marks the first time since 1978 that Rutgers is nationally ranked in the preseason. Numerous national pundits have spotlighted the Scarlet Knights as a team on the rise this season.
- With raised expectations come preseason recognitions. Both Geo Baker and Ron Harper Jr. received recognition this preseason. Baker was named Preseason All-Big Ten and is on the Watch List for the Bob Cousy Award (nation's top point guard). Ron Harper Jr. is on the Wooden Award Watch List (nation's top player) and the Julius Erving Award Watch List (nation's top small forward).
- With 11 letterwinners returning, the Scarlet Knights will bring back a large percentage of their production from last season. RU brings back 80% of its scoring, 81 % of its rebounding, 92% of its assists, 84% of its steals and 80% of its blocks. Rutgers is one of just two Power 5 programs to bring back at least 80% of production in each category, and the lone team to reach 80% in all five categories in the Big Ten.
- This season there will be no fans at the RAC at the outset of the season as Rutgers abides by attendance limits set by the Governor's office. However, there will be fan cutouts populating the seats, with 933 cutouts sold to begin the season.
- Amidst the challenges that pandemic has brought, sophomore Paul Mulcahy stepped up to have a proactive and positive voice in the community. He started the 'Grateful4 Foundation'. Playing off of his uniform number (#4), Mulcahy started a social media initiative challenging others to name four things that they are grateful for, inspiring others to adopt a positive mindset.
- In addition to being an elite big man in the Big Ten, junior Myles Johnson has always been extremely dedicated to his academic pursuits in the School of Engineering. Recently, he founded the BLKDev organization, which seeks to inspire African-American youths to get involved with the world of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). He created a website that features educational resources, scholarship application information, black STEM news and a collection of stories that show representation to the young students he hopes to inspire.
- As social injustices have been prevalent this year, members of the program have been vocal to speak up for change, including in participating in marches for social justice. Another effort that the student-athletes have spearheaded is the creation of a uniform patch for this season. This patch, of which there are five different versions, feature different sayings that the team chose that were meaningful to them. The first three patches to be debuted this season have read "Better Together" (traditional white jersey) and "End Racial Inequality" (black jersey), and "Love Conquers Hate" (throwback white jersey).
