PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The Scarlet Knights turned on one of the best defensive performances in
Steve Pikiell's tenure at RU to propel
a 71-40 victory over St. Peter's at Jersey Mike's Arena on Monday night. Rutgers forced 23 turnovers, had 12 steals, and scored 25 points off turnovers in the victory.
Grad
Noah Fernandes led the Scarlet Knights with a game and season-high 19 points while going 9-for-9 at the charity stripe and dishing out three assists in 26 minutes of play.
Senior
Clifford Omoruyi added 17 points, eight rebounds, and three blocks in 27 minutes of action. Omoruyi had multiple and-ones and a few highlight reel dunks in the win. Sophomore
Derek Simpson chipped in with 10 points and two boards.
Leading 11-9 following the second media timeout in the first half, Rutgers went on a 7-0 run to lead 18-9 with 8:15 in the first frame. The Scarlet Knights held St. Peter's scoreless for the next four minutes and forced five turnovers during the stretch.
In the opening stanza, held the Peacocks to 23 percent shooting from the field including 14% from downtown. RU led 27-17 at the break, and the Scarlet Knights stymied SPU to a season-low in first-half points.
Coming out of the locker room, the RU offense ignited a 13-4 scoring run that fueled a 40-21 advantage with 16:14 to play in the matchup.
The Scarlet Knights manufactured another 9-1 scoring stretch to put the game out of reach early in the second half leading 49-24 at the second media timeout.
RU held the visitors to 13-55 (23.6 percent) shooting and 3-19 (15.8 percent) from three-point range to manufacture another home victory.
UP NEXT:
RU has a one-game entry into Big Ten Conference play. This season's early-season league slate sees the Scarlet Knights host Illinois on Saturday, December 2 at 4:00 PM on Big Ten Network.
Postgame Notes
With the Win:
- Rutgers improved to 5-0 at home this season. At Jersey Mike's Arena, the Scarlet Knights are 19-6 at home over the past two seasons, 29-10 at home over the past three seasons and 47-11 at home over the past four seasons.
- Rutgers improves to 12-4 all-time against Saint Peter's, and 10-3 at home.
- It was Rutgers' first win over SPU since December 23, 2010
- Rutgers has started the season with a 5-1 record for the second straight season.
- Rutgers improved to 58-7 in non-conference home games under head coach Steve Pikiell.
Notables
- Cliff Omoruyi moved past Gene Armstrong for 9th all-time at RU in rebounds, now with 721 for his career.
- Omoruyi had a season-high 17 points and had his fourth game this season with 4 blocks
- Noah Fernandes had a season-high in points (12), assists (3) and blocks (2)
- Rutgers held St. Peter's to 17 points in the first half. It was the lowest amount of points in a half by a RU opponent since the Scarlet Knights held a 24-17 halftime lead against Maryland on Jan. 5, 2023.
- In the 38th game of his career, Antwone Woolfolk made his first career three-pointer on his second career three-point attempt.
- Rutgers forced an opponent into 20+ turnovers for the third time this season.
- Rutgers' had a season-best scoring margin of 31 points.
- Rutgers' five-game winning streak matches their longest winning streak of last season.
- At halftime, Rutgers held a 27-17 lead, holding St. Peter's to 23 percent from the field. SPU was as close as 23-17 at the 2:10 mark. The Scarlet Knights went on a 33-9 run to expand that lead to 52-26 at the 9:58 mark of the second half and then expanded that to 67-32 at the under-four, a 40-15 run.
Gallery: (11-27-2023) MBB Takes on St. Peters
Rutgers Head Coach Steve Pikiell
Opening Statement:
"I appreciate everyone being here on a Monday. Today was a great environment and our crowd is always awesome. Coach Mason does a fantastic job and they play hard. They are one of the best rebounding teams in the country and we talked about that aspect of their team for a bunch of days. We didn't do a great job in that area but we did force 23 turnovers and held them to 40 points. They hold the ball for the entire shot clock too so they play with a very different style. I tell the guys that our non-conference prepares us for a lot of games and these guys did a great job.
Noah Fernandes was fantastic in practice and was locked in this week. He held their leading scorer to 0 points. Cliff Omoruyi was a real presence for us. Good team win and now we have a top 25 team coming into Jersey Mike's Arena. We have to keep getting better."
On Noah Fernandes' hustle and leadership:
"I think he has been cheating us because he's a shot blocker too, I never knew he had that in him. Noah has been a great addition. He is a tough veteran player. His block was an amazing play and his energy all night was great. When Noah got tired,
Jamichael Davis stepped in and
Derek Simpson helped us too. Those kinds of plays bring great energy to the entire arena. He will continue to make plays like that and I'm so thankful he's here."
On the team's defense:
"Every game is big, our defense is good, we have a lot of different defenses. This team is very athletic. Our guards do a really good job in the formations that we have, and we don't have the best defender in the country back yet either. So, I wanted to get to 80 today, we got to 71. It's not where we want to be but, the way they play in the way they have the ball for the entire shot clock shortens the game and that when you give them second shots, it runs another 20 seconds off the clock. We have to continue to get better. That's one thing this group has done and they've done a great job, Cliff Omoruyi and the veterans like
Aundre Hyatt. We did another really good job of taking away some of the things that they really liked to do. I'm pleased with the way these guys are learning and the way they practice. There are better days ahead for us and, obviously, having
Austin Williams back today to see him and what he could bring to us, he is really talented. So just kind of keep getting healthy and keep getting better."
On improving the team's pace in the second half"
"That is the good job that they did, they shortened the game and they got back defensively. You have such anxiety to rebound and everyone's trying to get to the basketball so that hurts your fast break through a little bit. But, we're a good fast break team and there's gonna be teams that don't just allow you to do that all the time. We got out in the second half, got some stops, got some rebounds, and we were able to do it, but we've made good stuff in the half court too and they take you out of your stuff too. So just keep getting better."
On turnovers leading to points:
"This group really passes the ball too. The fact that we had seven turnovers today is huge, because we started off the year turning the ball over at a high rate and so they learned from it. They're doing a better job in practice, taking pride in what they do and the less turnover you have the more turnovers you create for the other team because you get free baskets and it helps get you to the free throw line."
On getting Cliff more involved as the game went on:
"Cliff is good. When he's focused and locked in he doesn't get into foul trouble. He's doing a really good job of getting a good low post position. And then he went for some offensive rebounds too, which is huge for us. Cliff needs to be involved. He is one of the best big guys in the country. When he's at his peak, he's a problem for people."
On how close the team is to its true identity:
"Without having a national defensive player of the year candidate, these guys are figuring it out. There are a lot of new pieces, but I like this team and I think we are going to get better. That's all I can say. It's always a journey. The games aren't played on paper or on computers. You got to make shots. You got to make plays. You got to understand how to play out double teams you got with different screen coverages. You got to live through it. So I love living through this part with my team. I love improving and this team has been good at studying and taking what we're trying to teach and really learning from it. So I think we can get a lot better in all areas and I do think we're an 80 point team. We're gonna get there. We got close today."
On Derek Simpson's performance:
"Derek's getting better. He's making shots which I knew he could always do. He's aggressive to the rim. Most importantly, his defense is getting better. That generates some offense to form him. Derek's important. All of our guards are important, all our bigs are important, and his improvement is going to be very important going forward."
On return of Mawot Mag:
"He is very close. When he tells me he's ready, he'll be ready. He's been good. When he's ready he'll be ready. It'll be nice to have him back."
Saint Peters Head Coach Bashir Mason
On Rutgers:
"A tremendous amount of respect for Rutgers and the Rutgers coaching staff and the players. They play extremely hard. They defend and they are tough. I thought they played a great game."
On his relationship with Coach Pikiell:
"I coached against him when I was an assistant coach at Wagner. I have a great deal of respect for Coach Pikiell and the job he did at Stony Brook. Being here today, there was a great turnout and a great atmosphere. One thing about Coach that I will always remember is when I was coaching for Wagner, we lost the championship game and with no real relationship with Coach, he got my number and reached out. He reached out to me and let me know that everything that I was doing as a Coach was good and I shouldn't change anything. I will always remember that message."
On the environment:
"The environment and the energy in the building was amazing. It was completely different from when I use to come here as a kid."
