PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers men's basketball will head back out on the rugged road of the Big Ten this week. The Scarlet Knights face the top-ranked team in the league in a tough road venue, playing at No. 3 Purdue on Thursday night at Mackey Arena. The game tips off at 7 p.m. on Fox Sports 1.
TV: FS1 (Play-by-Play: Jason Benetti, Analyst: Robbie Hummel)
Radio: WCBS 880 AM / Sirius XM 381 (Play-by-Play: Jerry Recco, Analyst: Austin Johnson)
WRSU Student Radio 88.7 FM (Play-by-Play: Eddie Kalegi, Analyst: Alec Crouthamel)
Rutgers will enter the midweek matchup at 14-11 overall and 6-8 in league play after the Scarlet Knights' four-game winning streak was snapped in a loss at Minnesota.
Derek Simpson and Cliff Omoruyi each posted 19 points against the Gophers, while RU had a Big Ten play-high 10 steals, with Omoruyi matching his career-high with a second straight three theft game.
Aundre Hyatt had a career-high four assists in the game. Hyatt now has 100 career assists and has set new career-bests this season in assists (34) and steals (22).
In the last five games, RU has a 4-1 record since
Jeremiah Williams was deemed eligible. In that span, Williams leads the team in scoring at 13.2 points per game, along with 20 assists. Cliff Omoruyi in that span has averaged 12.8 points, 9.2 rebounds and 4.0 blocks.
Rutgers possesses a defense that is second nationally in adjusted efficiency, second in non-steal turnover percentage and fourth in block percentage. RU's field goal percentage defense is 17
th in the country and tops in the Big Ten. The Scarlet Knights also pace the league with 137 blocks.
Rutgers has the second toughest conference strength of schedule in the Big Ten, per KenPom. The Scarlet Knights play the two teams in the league twice and play two matchups against five (Purdue, Illinois, Wisconsin, Maryland, Nebraska) of the top seven teams in the KenPom rankings.
Following a loss in its last game to Ohio State, just the third of the year for the Boilermakers, Purdue slid down to No. 3 in the nation behind UConn and Houston. The Boilermakers are 23-3 overall and are 81-17 in the past three seasons. Purdue is 13-0 this season at Mackey Arena and 43-3 over the past three seasons at the venue. Rutgers is responsible for one of just those three losses in the 46 games.
As a team, Purdue is in the top-10 nationally in assists, free throw attempts and free throws made, rebounding and rebound margin, scoring offense and three-point percentage. They are in the top-20 in adjusted efficiency on both offense (2
nd) and defense (20).
Zach Edey, the reigning national Player of the Year, leads the nation in offensive rebounding and is third in points at 23.2 points per game. He has 19 double-doubles on the year, most in the league. Guard Braden Smith is second nationally with 187 assists while Lance Jones makes 2.2 three-pointers per game.
Rutgers and Purdue will meet for the 22
nd time all-time, with 17 of those matchups coming since RU joined the league in 2014-15. Rutgers has won five of the past eight meetings. That streak included a 70-68 win in the meeting at Jersey Mike's Arena, as
Ron Harper Jr. hit a buzzer-beating shot to down the No. 1 ranked Boilermakers, the first ever win for RU over a top-ranked team as well as a win at Mackey Arena over No. 1 Purdue again on Jan. 2, 2023, a 65-64 win.
Earlier this season, Rutgers fought back in the second half to push the No. 2 Boilermakers, ultimately falling 68-60. RU was led by
Aundre Hyatt (15) and Cliff Omoruyi (13) in that contest.
- Second straight ranked win of the season
- Second straight win at Mackey Arena
- The 17th ranked win for Rutgers under head coach Steve Pikiell
- The ninth ranked win for the program since the start of the 2021-22 season, all of them against program ranked 16th or higher nationally.
- Rutgers would have three wins all-time over top-3 ranked teams, and all would have come against Purdue.
- Wins in six of the past nine against Purdue.
Clifford Omoruyi is eight rebounds from 900 in his career, and 18 rebounds from tying Rashod Kent (910) for fourth on RU's all-time rebounding list.
Omoruyi (82 blocks this season) is one block from matching seventh place on RU's single-season blocks list. Omoruyi, Hamady Ndiaye and Herve Lamizana are the only RU players with multiple seasons of 80+ blocks.
With his next block, Cliff Omoruyi (currently 210 career blocks) will surpass Matt Haarms for 18
th on the all-time Big Tens blocks list. Among players who made their debut starting when RU played its first season in the league in 2014-15, Omoruyi trails just Trayce Jackson-Davis (270) and Mike Watkins (265). Omoruyi will become just the ninth Big Ten player since 2000 to surpass 210 career blocks.
Omoruyi is also 15 points from tying Larry Gordon for 24
th all-time at RU in scoring.
Rutgers returns home for its next two games (Sunday versus Maryland and next Thursday against Michigan). The Maryland game is the annual blackout game.
