PISCATAWAY, N.J.- Rutgers men's basketball will return home to take on the Rider Broncs (1-3) on Tuesday night. 

The Scarlet Knights are off to a (3-1)  start to the 2022-23 season. Head coach Steve Pikiell looks to get his team back on track with the first of two matchups at home on Thanksgiviing week with a game slated for Saturday against Central Connecticut State on Saturday.

"Our team played a second half that was tough and physical and we learned a lot about ourselves here tonight, but we have to play better and we have to play for all 40 minutes," Pikiell said. "Give Temple credit they made big plays down the stretch and they never gave us a chance to come back. When you are down that many points, things have to go perfectly and certainly it's a hard thing to do. But we played hard and we have to keep working."

Last time out

RU's second half comeback came up short as the Scarlet Knights lost 72-66 to Temple in the Basketball Hall of Fame Showcase. RU outscored Temple 43-34 in the second half. Hillside, N.J. native Khalif Battle scored a game-high 24 points for Temple and led the Owls to a 15 point led going into halftime. Forward Jamille Reynolds had 17 points and was 7-12 from the field. Reynolds collected nine rebounds.

Rutgers was 23-60 from the field and just 1-16 from three-point range. Pikiell resorted to a stout press on defense that helped RU get back in the game. The Scarlet Knights were without two starting players and captains in senior point guard Paul Mulcahy and senior wing Caleb McConnell. Junior center Clifford Omoruyi led the scoring for RU for the second-straight game with 21 points and 11 rebounds marking his second double-double of the season. Big Cliff was 9-17 from the field in 38 minutes on the floor. Junior guard Cam Spencer followed with 17 points on 5-12 from the field. Spencer played a team-high 39 minutes and made seven of his eight free throws. He grabbed five rebounds, had four assists and four steals. Spencer is up to 16 steals on the season's four games. 

RU standouts through 4 games

Junior center Clifford Omoruyi is leading RU with 17.5 points-per-game and has been a force to be reckoned with in the paint thus far. Omoruyi is averaging 10.5 rebounds and shooting 50.7 percent from the field..

"He's really grown and now he's understanding how teams are playing him," Pikiell said. "He can now beat you from outside the paint and teams have to step out and guard him there. His development is going to be huge for us."

Junior transfer Cam Spencer has been just as advertised on the offensive side of the floor. The Davidsonville, Md. Native is leading the team with 16.8 points-per-game and 4.0 assists. Spencer is shooting 47.7 percent from the field He also leads the team thus far with 32.8 minutes-per-game. He has 16 steals in the first four games of the season and his average of 4.0 steals-per-game is good for second in the country.

Senior forward Aundre Hyatt has been a huge contributor on the offensive side of the ball averaging 14.0 points and shooting a red hot 44.7 percent from three point range. He's averaging 5.5 rebounds in 30.0 minutes thus far.

"I love the effort and the plat of Aundre Hyatt," Pikiell said. "He's done a really good job of keeping plays alive, making free throws and making threes. He's starting to talk and communicate more on the defensive end."

History with Rider

Rutgers owns a 15-1 edge in the all-time series, which began in 1947-48. Following the Broncs' lone win in the series, a 61-57 win on Dec. 21, 2007, the Scarlet Knights have won the last three. The game against Rider last season scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 18 was cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The last game RU played against Rider was on Dec. 28, 2012 when the Scarlet Knights won 68-56 at home.

Simpson's Rider connection

Freshman guard Derek Simpson's father, Ron Simpson played at Rider and is a member of the school's athletics Hall of Fame. In just three seasons he compiled 1,735 points, an average of 20.0 points per game.   His career scoring average is the highest ever among 1,000-point scorers at Rider.  In the first game of the second season Rider played with the three-point shot rule (1987), Simpson made nine, a record that still stands.

He made 98 three-point field goals that season, a record that also still stands.  Co-winner of the 1986-87 East Coast Conference Player of the Year award, averaging 23.2 point per game.  He was the first Bronc to compile 1,000 points in his first two seasons.  Scored 42 points in a game twice, against Drexel and East Stroudsburg.  Ranked 20th in the nation in scoring and seventh in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage as a junior in 1987.  His 660 points scored as a senior, was a Rider record until broken by Darrick Suber in 1993.

Scouting Rider

Rider is coming off a pair of losses abroad to Stetson and Central Arkansas at the MAAC/ASUN Dublin Classic. Dwight Murray, Jr. has scored at least 17 points in all four games this season, including 30 last time out against Central Arkansas, matching his career high. For the season, he's averaging 20.5 ppg., shooting 47.1 percent from deep. Murray's 5.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.8 steals per game are all best on the team. 

Rider returned four starters and 74 percent of its scoring from a year ago, including Preseason All-MAAC First Team selection Dwight Murray, Jr. and All-MAAC Third Team selections Mervin James and Allen Powell. The Broncs reached the MAAC Semifinals for the first time in a decade last season, knocking off top-seeded Iona on a Murray floater with seven seconds remaining in the MAAC Quarterfinals. 

Ajiri Ogemuno-Johnson is back for his fifth year in Lawrenceville. Having already played 111 games for the Broncs, a healthy year would allow him to surpass Mike Ringgold's Rider-record 133 career games played. However, visa issues prevented him from playing the two games in Ireland. The Broncs were picked third in the MAAC Preseason Poll. 11th-year Head Coach Kevin Baggett's teams have posted a 162-155 record. Baggett won MAAC Coach of the Year in 2015 and 2018.

Injury Obstacles

Senior point guard Paul Mulcahy (shoulder) exited the game against UMass Lowell in the first half and didn't return and did not play in the game against Temple. Senior guard Caleb McConnell (knee) has yet to play in the first four games this season.

Super Saturday at MSG vs. Michigan State

The Big Ten Conference has announced the matchup for the 2023 Big Ten Super Saturday event, to be held at the legendary Madison Square Garden in New York City this week. On Saturday, Feb. 4, Rutgers will take on Michigan State in men's basketball at The World's Most Famous Arena. The Scarlet Knights will serve as the home team and the game will tip-off at noon ET on FOX. Rutgers will make its second trip to Madison Square Garden since the Big Ten Tournament was played there in 2018, and first since facing Michigan in the 2020 Big Ten Super Saturday contest.

Geo Baker's broadcasting debut

Former RU standout guard Geo Baker will join Jerry Recco as the color analyst for the broadcast on Tuesday night. Baker is making his radio debut and has attended all three RU home games thus far. Baker recently joined The Field of 68 Podcast earlier this season and will be a contributing broadcaster to the program.