Thursday, November 18
Chicago, Ill.
8:30 PM
Rutgers University
at
DePaul
Photo by: (Ben Solomon/Rutgers Athletics)
Rutgers Heads to Chicago for First Road Battle Against DePaul
Nov 17 | Men's Basketball
Thursday, November 1,8 2021 | 8:30 p.m.
WinTrust Arena | Chicago, Ill.
TV: FS1 (Pxp: Eric Collins, Color: Donny Mitchell)
Radio: Rutgers Sports Properties Radio Network (WCTC 1450 AM/WOR 710 AM; Jerry Recco and Austin Johnson)
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - The Rutgers men's basketball team will head on the road for the first time this season to take on the DePaul Blue Demons (2-0) on Thursday night at 8:30 p.m. The game is the last of the annual Gavitt Games, a battle between the Big Ten and the BIG EAST. Rutgers is 1-2 in their experiences in the Gavitt Games. The Scarlet Knights last played in the series against St. John's 2018 and lost 84-65.
The Scarlet Knights are coming off of their third-straight victory at Jersey Mike's Arena against NJIT on Tuesday night.
RU defeated the Highlanders 75-61 behind a second half performance where the team outscored NJIT by 15 points.
Scouting DePaul
The Scarlet Knights offense will need to put up a lot of points in their first road matchup.
The Blue Demons are averaging 98 points in their last two victories, winning both matchups by over 25 points.
DePaul beat their last opponent Central Michigan 99-66 on Saturday, Nov. 13.
Senior guard Javon Freeman-Liberty led the way with 22 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, while graduate student/forward Brandon Johnson added 20 points and seven boards.
Sophomore forward David Jones chipped in 16 points and nine rebounds, while junior guard Philmon Gebrewhit scored 15 with eight rebounds.
What to watch for
Pikiell is still working on the balance of figuring out his rotation for the season and getting minutes for some of the young players on the roster early in the year.
Players like freshman Jaden Jones have seen an increase in minutes and taken advantage in several key moments. Transfer forward Aundre Hyatt has shown he is a key part of Scarlet Knights rotation off of the bench scoring exactly eight points in all three games so far and contributing in all facets.
Jones had a career-high 10 points against Merrimack last week. It will be interesting to see how Pikiell handles the rotation in the game against DePaul.
Key Quote from the head coach
"We played three really unique teams," Pikiell said. "One team played us all zone. Lehigh is a drive it to the rim team. And NJIT took 29 threes. We played three unique styles, I kind of like that now as we move forward. The rotation isn't perfect yet and guys are figuring it out. These guys played a lot of minutes, but the rest of our rotation is new. They are figuring it out. Jaden made a couple of plays for us when we were struggling to score. We got some pieces on that bench that need to keep coming and even some guys that didn't check in today have to be ready because I trust those guys still that they can do some good stuff for us."
History against DePaul
The Scarlet Knights are (7-4) all-time against DePaul and have won their last two matchups with the Blue Demons. RU had a 66-59 victory over DePaul on Nov. 17, 2016 at Allstate Arena.
That matchup marked the second year of the Gavitt Tipoff Games. Before that matchup between the Scarlet Knights and the Blue Demons all all 10 meetings were Big East Conference matchups.
Top Rutgers performers of late
The RU offense hit it's stride on Tuesday against the Highlanders. Geo Baker finished the night 8-10 from the field with a season-high 19 points and added three rebounds and four assists. Ron Harper Jr. scored 20 points and had a career-high 13 rebounds in his third-straight double-double of the season.
Paul Mulcahy had a solid game with seven points, six rebounds three assists and three steals. Center Clifford Omoruyi came along with all six of his points coming from dunks in the second half. Guard McConnell had six points, seven rebounds, three steals and a block.
WinTrust Arena | Chicago, Ill.
TV: FS1 (Pxp: Eric Collins, Color: Donny Mitchell)
Radio: Rutgers Sports Properties Radio Network (WCTC 1450 AM/WOR 710 AM; Jerry Recco and Austin Johnson)
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - The Rutgers men's basketball team will head on the road for the first time this season to take on the DePaul Blue Demons (2-0) on Thursday night at 8:30 p.m. The game is the last of the annual Gavitt Games, a battle between the Big Ten and the BIG EAST. Rutgers is 1-2 in their experiences in the Gavitt Games. The Scarlet Knights last played in the series against St. John's 2018 and lost 84-65.
The Scarlet Knights are coming off of their third-straight victory at Jersey Mike's Arena against NJIT on Tuesday night.
RU defeated the Highlanders 75-61 behind a second half performance where the team outscored NJIT by 15 points.
Scouting DePaul
The Scarlet Knights offense will need to put up a lot of points in their first road matchup.
The Blue Demons are averaging 98 points in their last two victories, winning both matchups by over 25 points.
DePaul beat their last opponent Central Michigan 99-66 on Saturday, Nov. 13.
Senior guard Javon Freeman-Liberty led the way with 22 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, while graduate student/forward Brandon Johnson added 20 points and seven boards.
Sophomore forward David Jones chipped in 16 points and nine rebounds, while junior guard Philmon Gebrewhit scored 15 with eight rebounds.
What to watch for
Pikiell is still working on the balance of figuring out his rotation for the season and getting minutes for some of the young players on the roster early in the year.
Players like freshman Jaden Jones have seen an increase in minutes and taken advantage in several key moments. Transfer forward Aundre Hyatt has shown he is a key part of Scarlet Knights rotation off of the bench scoring exactly eight points in all three games so far and contributing in all facets.
Jones had a career-high 10 points against Merrimack last week. It will be interesting to see how Pikiell handles the rotation in the game against DePaul.
Key Quote from the head coach
"We played three really unique teams," Pikiell said. "One team played us all zone. Lehigh is a drive it to the rim team. And NJIT took 29 threes. We played three unique styles, I kind of like that now as we move forward. The rotation isn't perfect yet and guys are figuring it out. These guys played a lot of minutes, but the rest of our rotation is new. They are figuring it out. Jaden made a couple of plays for us when we were struggling to score. We got some pieces on that bench that need to keep coming and even some guys that didn't check in today have to be ready because I trust those guys still that they can do some good stuff for us."
History against DePaul
The Scarlet Knights are (7-4) all-time against DePaul and have won their last two matchups with the Blue Demons. RU had a 66-59 victory over DePaul on Nov. 17, 2016 at Allstate Arena.
That matchup marked the second year of the Gavitt Tipoff Games. Before that matchup between the Scarlet Knights and the Blue Demons all all 10 meetings were Big East Conference matchups.
Top Rutgers performers of late
The RU offense hit it's stride on Tuesday against the Highlanders. Geo Baker finished the night 8-10 from the field with a season-high 19 points and added three rebounds and four assists. Ron Harper Jr. scored 20 points and had a career-high 13 rebounds in his third-straight double-double of the season.
Paul Mulcahy had a solid game with seven points, six rebounds three assists and three steals. Center Clifford Omoruyi came along with all six of his points coming from dunks in the second half. Guard McConnell had six points, seven rebounds, three steals and a block.
Players Mentioned
Guard/Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Guard/Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
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