PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The time away from the basketball court didn't seem to bother Rutgers men's basketball team on Thursday afternoon.
The Scarlet Knights returned to action for the first time since Dec. 9 and had one of the best offensive performances of the season against Maine in an 80-64 victory at Jersey Mike's Arena. 80 points marked the most RU has scored in it's six victories this season.
Head coach
Steve Pikiell said after the game that this was the first time in his 30 year coaching career that he had a team miss this much time in between games during a season. He was thrilled with how his team moved the ball on offense.
"I was nervous," Pikiell said. "We haven't run plays, we haven't been together at all. I wanted them to play together and I thought we really passed the ball. That's what I was most pleased about, how we shared the game. Then when we had to make defensive stops, we did. I was very concerned with that end of the floor, that was very important today because Maine has a lot of different scoring options and guys that have gotten hot at different times. But I liked the way we shared the game. I depended on my veteran guys and they were they were ready for the task."
The shooting is what stood out for Rutgers especially from long range. The Scarlet Knight shot a season-high 50 percent (10-20) from behind the arc. Rutgers had four players in double figures with a balanced scoring attack and the team had the lead for 97.5 percent of the game.
Senior forward
Ron Harper Jr. led the way with what seemed to be a quiet 19 points on the day. Harper Jr. added seven rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Rutgers took advantage in the full court and outscored the Black Bears 18-3 in fast break points.
RU improved to 5-0 in the all-time series against Maine, which dates back to a 1924 win inside the Ballantine Gymnasium. Head Coach
Steve Pikiell improved to 19-7 all-time against Maine in his career and 2-0 as the head coach of Rutgers.
Below are four more takeaways from Rutgers victory over Maine on Thursday afternoon.
Milestones for Geo and Ron
Senior guard
Geo Baker returned to Pikiell's lineup as a starter for the first time since the Lafayette game at the end of November. Baker said after the game he felt refreshed with the time off where he was able to rest and rehab the hamstring injury that cost him a few games earlier on in the season.
Baker shot the ball with confidence and knocked down a trio of three pointers in the first half. Baker moved past Donnell Lumpkin and Jeff Greer for fifth all-time at RU in three-pointers with 198.
Ron Harper Jr.'s team-leading 19 points moved him past Tom Savage, Jamal Philips and Doug Patton for 23
rd all-time at RU in scoring.
Paul Mulcahy was on fire
The Scarlet Knights floor general had one of the best shooting performances of his career on Thursday. Mulcahy had a career-high in three points made on a perfect 4-4 from long range.
The point guard also dazzled with his passing finding center
Clifford Omoruyi on multiple alley-oop passes and dishing out four assists. Mulcahy totaled a season-high 14 points on 5-7 shooting from the field. He has scored in double-digits three times this season.
Mulcahy played a team high 34 minutes in the game and in his postgame interview credited the time at home with his family during the holiday in helping his confidence out on the floor.
Cliff Omoruyi continues to slam
Big Cliff continues to be a dominant force in the paint when opponents don't have the size to combat the seven-footer from Nigeria.
Omoruyi had 14 points and eight rebounds in the victory over the Black Bears. He shot 7-11 from the field and on one possession was able to face up his defender and knock down a basket from the wing.
Pikiell continues to gush over the improvement the Omoruyi consistently shows throughout the 2021-22 season.
Coaching with a mask on
Pikiell and his staff all wore masks for the first time during the 2021 season. Rutgers Athletics has set new protocols at Jersey Mike's for the foreseeable future to put the health and safety of all involved first.
The Rutgers basketball staff wants to do everything in their power to keep fans in the arena for the 2021-22 season.
Pikiell talked about the challenges of wearing a mask and joked about what it was like communicating with his players during the game on Thursday.
"Yeah, it's real hard. It's really hard to coach," Pikiell said. "It's really hard. And sometimes to be quite honest, the players don't want to listen to you anyways. So now they have a great excuse, saying 'I can't hear you' 'I didn't see your lips moving', 'I didn't know you were talking to me'. I've heard just about everything. You'll get a little bit everything and we'll figure that out. I'm going to just start writing stuff down now. I know they could all read it that way."
Gallery: (12-30-2021) Men's Basketball versus Maine
