Wednesday, December 6
Winston-Salem, NC
6 PM
Rutgers University
at
Wake Forest
Photo by: Cos Lymperopoulos
Men's Basketball Heads to Wake Forest
Dec 04 | Men's Basketball
Scarlet Knights Play Wednesday at 6 p.m. on ACC Network against ACC Foe
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers men's basketball is on the road this week for the team's first true road game of the season, as the Scarlet Knights will play on Wednesday night at Wake Forest. The game (6 p.m., ACC Network), is the first in a two-road game stretch this week, as RU closes out this week playing at in-state rival Seton Hall on Saturday night.
Rutgers comes into the matchup following a loss in the team's Big Ten opener, a home loss to No. 24 Illinois that snapped a five-game winning streak for the Scarlet Knights, who are 5-2 overall.
Rutgers was ranked No. 72 in the initial release of the NET Monday. The team's two losses are both currently Quad 1 games, against top-25 NET teams in No. 8 Princeton and No. 23 Illinois. Rutgers has 15 remaining games against Quad 1 teams.
Cliff Omoruyi had a career-high eight blocks in the game against Illinois. That marked the most blocks in a game by a Rutgers player since Hamady Ndiaye in 2010 (nine blocks vs. St. John's on 2/2/10). Omoruyi was the Big Ten first player to record at least nine rebounds, eight blocks and seven points in a Big Ten game since Penn State's Mike Watkins in 2017 versus Nebraska.
Omoruyi is at 3.43 blocks per game for the season, second nationally to Eastern Kentucky's Isaiah Cozart and first in the Big Ten. He is also third in the Big Ten with 3.57 offensive rebounds per game and leads Rutgers with 9.1 rebounds per game.
Omoruyi is at 995 points, just five shy from becoming the 46th Rutgers player to record 1,000 career points. Omoruyi also is at 730 career rebounds, and is 11 boards away from tying Dane Miller for 8th all-time at RU.
Austin Williams also set season-highs against the Illini. He posted nine points, four rebounds and three assists in 25 minutes of action off the bench.
As a team, Rutgers is sixth nationally in scoring defense (58.4 ppg, leading the Big Ten), seventh in field goals percentage defense (36.4%), ninth in turnover margin (6.3) and 12th in blocks (6.0, first in the Big Ten). They also lead the Big Ten and are sixth nationally in fastbreak points (19.57). Per KenPom, RU is third-best in non-steal turnover percentage (12.8) and fourth nationally in defending two-pointers (39.3%).
Aundre Hyatt leads RU offensively at 11.6 points per game, trailed closely by Omoruyi (11.0). The team has five players (adding Derek Simpson, Gavin Griffiths and Noah Fernandes) between 8.1 and 11.6 points per game.
Wake Forest enters the matchup at 4-3 overall. The Demon Deacons have three losses away from home to top-100 KenPom teams (Georgia, Utah, LSU), and just added a win over Florida to a resume that also included victories over Elon, Towson and Charleston southern.
The win over UF moved Wake Forest to 34-5 overall inside LJVM Coliseum since the start of the 2021-22 season, also now standing at 23-0 on its home floor against non-conference opponents dating back to December 2018.
Gonzaga transfer Hunter Sallis leads the team at 19.1 ppg, a jump from the 4.5 ppg that the former McDonald's All-American notched as a Bulldog. Wake Forest has four players that average at least 16 points a game (Cameron Hildreth, 17.9 ppg, Kevin Miller, 16.4 ppg, Andrew Carr, 16.0 ppg). Beyond those four, no other player averages more than 3.3 points per game. A two-time all-conference selection at Central Michigan, Kevin Miller leads the team with 25 assists and 11 steals.
As a team, Wake Forest in ninth nationally in free throw percentage. The Demon Deacons shoot 79.7% from the charity stripe.
Under fourth-year head coach Steve Forbes, Wake Forest was picked to finish sixth in the ACC's preseason poll. Forbes is looking for his first NCAA Tournament appearance at Wake, who have been to the NCAAs just once (2017) since 2010.
This will be RU's first trip to Wake Forest. The all-time series is even at 1-1, with two games in the past nine years hosted by RU.
Last season, RU dominated Wake Forest at home, 81-57, to earn their first ever win over the Demon Deacons. Rutgers shot 58.5 percent, the second highest mark against a Power 5 opponent in the Steve Pikiell era. RU dominated in the paint (44-16), had 14 steals and had five players score in double-figures.
The other matchup in the series came prior to Steve Pikiell's tenure at RU, as Eddie Jordan's Scarlet Knights fell to the Demon Deacons, 69-68. That matchup, part of the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, saw RU lead by as much as 12 points, with freshman guard Corey Snaders scoring 13 of his 17 points after halftime. RU's attempts fell short on the final possession however to lose by one.
Rutgers is 5-3 against ACC teams under head coach Steve Pikiell. RU has won its last four matchups against ACC schools (last season versus Wake, against Clemson both at home and in the NCAA Tournament, and a home game against Syracuse in the 2020-21 season).
- Rutgers would start the season with a 6-2 record for the second straight season.
- It would mark the fifth time in the past seven seasons that RU has won at least six games in its opening eight contests of the season.
- Rutgers would improve to 2-1 all-time against Wake Forest, winning against the Demon Deacons for the second straight year.
- Rutgers would improve to 6-3 against ACC teams under head coach Steve Pikiell and 2-1 on the road against ACC teams under Pikiell.
| Broadcast Info |
Tipoff: 6 pm
TV: ACC Network (Play-by-Play: Anish Shroff, Color Commentary: Perry Clark)
Radio: WCBS 880, Scarlet Knights App, Audacy App, Sirius XM 380 (Jerry Recco, Austin Johnson)
WRSU-FM Student Radio (88.7 FM): Eddie Kalegi, David Palumbo
| About Rutgers |
Rutgers comes into the matchup following a loss in the team's Big Ten opener, a home loss to No. 24 Illinois that snapped a five-game winning streak for the Scarlet Knights, who are 5-2 overall.
Rutgers was ranked No. 72 in the initial release of the NET Monday. The team's two losses are both currently Quad 1 games, against top-25 NET teams in No. 8 Princeton and No. 23 Illinois. Rutgers has 15 remaining games against Quad 1 teams.
Cliff Omoruyi had a career-high eight blocks in the game against Illinois. That marked the most blocks in a game by a Rutgers player since Hamady Ndiaye in 2010 (nine blocks vs. St. John's on 2/2/10). Omoruyi was the Big Ten first player to record at least nine rebounds, eight blocks and seven points in a Big Ten game since Penn State's Mike Watkins in 2017 versus Nebraska.
Omoruyi is at 3.43 blocks per game for the season, second nationally to Eastern Kentucky's Isaiah Cozart and first in the Big Ten. He is also third in the Big Ten with 3.57 offensive rebounds per game and leads Rutgers with 9.1 rebounds per game.
Omoruyi is at 995 points, just five shy from becoming the 46th Rutgers player to record 1,000 career points. Omoruyi also is at 730 career rebounds, and is 11 boards away from tying Dane Miller for 8th all-time at RU.
Austin Williams also set season-highs against the Illini. He posted nine points, four rebounds and three assists in 25 minutes of action off the bench.
As a team, Rutgers is sixth nationally in scoring defense (58.4 ppg, leading the Big Ten), seventh in field goals percentage defense (36.4%), ninth in turnover margin (6.3) and 12th in blocks (6.0, first in the Big Ten). They also lead the Big Ten and are sixth nationally in fastbreak points (19.57). Per KenPom, RU is third-best in non-steal turnover percentage (12.8) and fourth nationally in defending two-pointers (39.3%).
Aundre Hyatt leads RU offensively at 11.6 points per game, trailed closely by Omoruyi (11.0). The team has five players (adding Derek Simpson, Gavin Griffiths and Noah Fernandes) between 8.1 and 11.6 points per game.
| About Wake Forest |
Wake Forest enters the matchup at 4-3 overall. The Demon Deacons have three losses away from home to top-100 KenPom teams (Georgia, Utah, LSU), and just added a win over Florida to a resume that also included victories over Elon, Towson and Charleston southern.
The win over UF moved Wake Forest to 34-5 overall inside LJVM Coliseum since the start of the 2021-22 season, also now standing at 23-0 on its home floor against non-conference opponents dating back to December 2018.
Gonzaga transfer Hunter Sallis leads the team at 19.1 ppg, a jump from the 4.5 ppg that the former McDonald's All-American notched as a Bulldog. Wake Forest has four players that average at least 16 points a game (Cameron Hildreth, 17.9 ppg, Kevin Miller, 16.4 ppg, Andrew Carr, 16.0 ppg). Beyond those four, no other player averages more than 3.3 points per game. A two-time all-conference selection at Central Michigan, Kevin Miller leads the team with 25 assists and 11 steals.
As a team, Wake Forest in ninth nationally in free throw percentage. The Demon Deacons shoot 79.7% from the charity stripe.
Under fourth-year head coach Steve Forbes, Wake Forest was picked to finish sixth in the ACC's preseason poll. Forbes is looking for his first NCAA Tournament appearance at Wake, who have been to the NCAAs just once (2017) since 2010.
| All-Time Series |
This will be RU's first trip to Wake Forest. The all-time series is even at 1-1, with two games in the past nine years hosted by RU.
Last season, RU dominated Wake Forest at home, 81-57, to earn their first ever win over the Demon Deacons. Rutgers shot 58.5 percent, the second highest mark against a Power 5 opponent in the Steve Pikiell era. RU dominated in the paint (44-16), had 14 steals and had five players score in double-figures.
The other matchup in the series came prior to Steve Pikiell's tenure at RU, as Eddie Jordan's Scarlet Knights fell to the Demon Deacons, 69-68. That matchup, part of the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, saw RU lead by as much as 12 points, with freshman guard Corey Snaders scoring 13 of his 17 points after halftime. RU's attempts fell short on the final possession however to lose by one.
Rutgers is 5-3 against ACC teams under head coach Steve Pikiell. RU has won its last four matchups against ACC schools (last season versus Wake, against Clemson both at home and in the NCAA Tournament, and a home game against Syracuse in the 2020-21 season).
| With a Win |
- Rutgers would start the season with a 6-2 record for the second straight season.
- It would mark the fifth time in the past seven seasons that RU has won at least six games in its opening eight contests of the season.
- Rutgers would improve to 2-1 all-time against Wake Forest, winning against the Demon Deacons for the second straight year.
- Rutgers would improve to 6-3 against ACC teams under head coach Steve Pikiell and 2-1 on the road against ACC teams under Pikiell.
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