PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Following three wins in a five-day span to start the season, followed by an eight day break between games, Rutgers is back in action against Syracuse Tuesday in the Big Ten - ACC Challenge. Tipoff is at 9:30 p.m. on ESPN2.
Ron Harper Jr. leads the team with 21.0 points and 7.7 rebounds. After opening the season with a double-double (18 points, 10 rebounds vs. Sacred Heart), he had a career-high 30 points in the win over FDU.
Myles Johnson recorded 10 blocks in the opening week. His block percentage of 19.4 percent ranks second in the nation. In his last two games, he posted nine blocks in a combined 33 minutes of action.
Jacob Young has been a key for the team both offensively, scored 24 and 17 points respectively, in the second two games of the week, and defensively, where he's excelled with the task of guarding the opposition's best scorer.
Montez Mathis averages 15.3 points per game, sharing second place on the team with Young. Mathis has posted at least 14 points in each of his first three games.
In the opening three games, RU has established a clear advantage in two categories: points in the paint (outscoring opponents 162-92) and on fast breaks (outscoring opponents 76-14). Rutgers has out-rebounded its foes 137-103 and used the high pace to outscore opponents 252-194. Rutgers scored 96 points vs. FDU, its most points in a regulation game versus a Division I program since a 97-87 win over Villanova on Jan. 9, 1999. RU is seeking its first 4-0 start to a season since 2017-18
The Orange opened the season with wins against Bryant, Niagara and Rider. The Orange feature Alan Griffin, a transfer that Rutgers saw the past season seasons when he was in the conference at Illinois. Griffin had a double-double (17 points, 13 rebounds) in his SU debut. Buddy Boeheim (15.3 ppg) was the team's leading returning scorer from last season. Last season, Syracuse posted an 18-14 record, with a 10-10 mark in ACC play. The Orange are 3-4 all-time in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.
Rutgers will take on Syracuse for the 49th time lifetime, in a series that dates back to a first matchup in 1920. Separated by a four-hour, 239 mile drive, the Scarlet Knights will be looking for their first victory over Syracuse since Jan. 29, 2003, when Jerome Coleman paced RU with 31 points and Herve Lamizana banked in a 3-pointer with 16.6 seconds left to give Rutgers a 68-65 win over No. 24 Syracuse, who went on to win the national championship. The series dates back to a first matchup in 1920, and saw the two play annually when both schools were members of the BIG EAST between the 1995 and 2013.
The Scarlet Knights are 2-4 lifetime in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. This is the first home game for RU in the Big Ten / ACC Challenge since 2017 when RU hosted Florida State. Under head coach
Steve Pikiell, the Scarlet Knights have been the road team in three of the past four matchups. Last season,
Myles Johnson (14 points and 14 rebounds) and
Ron Harper Jr. (14 points and 10 rebounds) each had double-doubles in a 71-60 defeat at Pittsburgh. RU has claimed victories in the Challenge in road games at Miami (2018) and Clemson (2014).
- Watch on ESPN2 (Mike Couzens, play-by-play and Jon Crispin, analyst)
- Listen on WCTC 1450 AM / Sirius 134 / XM 196 (Play-by-play: Jerry Recco, Color Analyst: Joe Boylan)
The contest marks RU's first game on ESPN2 since a game vs. Wisconsin (Jan. 5, 2018, a 64-60 home win with Mike Corey and Jay Williams on the call. RU will play four of its next seven games on an ESPN platform.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 two patches to be debuted this season have read "Better Together" (traditional white jersey) and "End Racial Inequality" (black jersey).
The Scarlet Knights will wear retro throwback uniforms for tonight's contest. This will be the second year of these throwback uniforms, first debuted last season.
