Wisconsin fell to the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in Piscataway on Wednesday night. Here are the top three takeaways from the 72-65 loss.
Wisconsin was handed its fifth loss of the season on Wednesday evening, falling to Rutgers 72-65 in Piscataway. Here are our top three takeaways from the game for the Badgers.
Wisconsin proved they can make shots away from the Kohl Center after all…but they still can’t take care of the ball.
After some abysmal performances outside of Madison this season, the Badgers were finally able to knock down some shots away from home against Rutgers last night, particularly in the first half when they went 40 percent from beyond the arc and 52.4 percent from the floor overall.
Granted, they finished at 34.8 percent from long range and 47.9 overall, and while those aren’t exactly stellar shooting clips, they are notable improvements from where Wisconsin was at in its three-game losing streak at the Legends Classic and against NC State.
Nov 25, 2019; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Wisconsin Badgers forward Nate Reuvers (35) reacts against the Richmond Spiders in the second half of the Roman Legends Classic at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Nicole Sweet-USA TODAY Sports
Ultimately, their ability to score effectively on the road was not the reason for the Badgers’ demise in this one. To try to make sense of this loss, a good start would be to look at their persisting issues with taking care of the ball away from the Kohl Center.
After giving up just four turnovers in the win over Indiana last weekend, Wisconsin ultimately ended up coughing up the ball 14 times last night, just off of its season-high 15 against Richmond, including a whopping 12 in the first half that put the Badgers in a hole early. The Scarlet Knights took full advantage of Wisconsin’s carelessness, converting them into 18 points in the first half and 22 for the game.
The Badgers were lucky Rutgers wasn’t as efficient shooting the ball as head coach Steve Pikiell would have liked (26.3 percent from three and 46 percent overall), otherwise, the game had blowout written all over it.
Wisconsin faces the Rutgers in Piscataway on Wednesday evening. Badger fans should be sure to know these three opposing players.
Wisconsin (5-4) will look to reverse its miserable fortunes away from the Kohl Center so far this season when it takes on Rutgers (6-3) in Piscataway on Wednesday evening.
The Badgers were able to snag a win by the skin of their teeth in last year’s matchup between these programs in Madison, taking down the Scarlet Knights 69-64 after trailing by five at halftime.
Wisconsin is coming off of a much-needed blowout victory over Indiana at home last weekend to snap a three-game losing streak, while Rutgers has lost two straight. Most recently, the Scarlet Knights dropped a 77-65 decision in East Lansing to No. 11 Michigan State on Sunday.
When you compare the personnel on these two rosters, there is no question that this is a matchup Wisconsin should come out on top of, even on the road. That being said, the Scarlet Knights have given the Badgers plenty of trouble in the last three meetings between these squads (they actually beat Bucky in 2017-18), and they have the pieces in their rotation to do so again this season.
Here are the three players on the other side who Badger fans should keep a close eye on throughout tomorrow’s contest.
Harper has stepped into the role of Rutgers’ No. 1 scorer this season now that last year’s leading bucket-getter, Eugene Omoruyi, has transferred to Oregon.
While the sophomore guard/forward’s scoring average is up five points from his freshman season, his value to the Scarlet Knights extends far beyond his ability to knock down shots. The 6-6 Harper has exceptional size for his position and a versatile skill set that helps him make an impact inside and out, on both ends of the court. In addition to leading the team in scoring, he currently ranks second on the team in rebounds and third in blocks and steals.
Dec 3, 2019; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Rutgers Scarlet Knights guard Geo Baker (0) handles the ball against the Pittsburgh Panthers during the first half at the Petersen Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
A consensus Honorable Mention All-Big Ten pick last year, Baker was head coach Steve Pikiell’s top returning scorer heading into the season, as well as a returning team captain.
While his scoring production is down a bit from a year ago, he’s certainly still served as a go-to player for Rutgers in that department this season, ranking just one point behind Harper for the team lead with an average of 11.8 points per game. Baker is also the team’s top assists man as well as a pesky defender, leading the Scarlet Knights in steals.
The 6-4 guard’s 1.6 steals per game is the No. 4 average in the Big Ten, and he trailed only Josh Reaves of Penn State in that category last season.
Baker is arguably the best player Rutgers will have at its disposal against Wisconsin, but it’s worth noting that his performances against high-major opponents this season have left much to be desired: in the Scarlet Knights’ last two games against Pitt and Michigan State, he combined for just 13 points on 22.2 percent shooting from the field.
Rutgers will probably need a stronger effort than that from Baker to beat the Badgers.
Myles Johnson – Center
2019 stats: 8.2 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 1.6 bpg, 69.6 FG%
The 6-10, 255-pound Johnson is Rutgers’ enforcer down low, utilizing his 7-7 wingspan to lead the team in blocks and rebounds so far this season. He’s also about as efficient of a scorer near the basket as you will find in the conference, ranking third in two-point shooting percentage.
Johnson is especially solid on the offensive glass, currently sitting at No. 4 in the Big Ten in offensive rebound percentage after trailing just nine other players nationally in that category a season ago.
Nate Reuvers, the Badgers’ leading scorer right now and the only true post player in the rotation with Micah Potter still ineligible, has had some problems on both ends of the floor when matched up with physical big men in the paint throughout Wisconsin’s first nine games. Reuvers’ struggles have often coincided with the team’s as a whole, so how he fares in his matchup with Johnson will be critical to the game’s outcome.
Reflections on the upcoming game between the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and the Wisconsin Badgers.
The upcoming basketball game between the Wisconsin Badgers and the Rutgers Scarlet Knights marks an occasion in which the brain can logically process a given reality… but the heart, the emotions, need to be married to the brain’s level of awareness.
What do I mean by this? It’s not that complicated — this is something human beings deal with all the time. We have all encountered a life situation in which we know, intellectually, that a given task or moment is important, but we don’t feel the same sense of urgency other people around us might feel. “Yeah, yeah, I know what I have to do,” we might say to a spouse or a sibling who is a lot more emotionally invested in this important moment. Yet, we aren’t as excited (or tense, or focused) as the other person.
Sometimes, this situation leads us to walk into an event less prepared than we thought we were. We might have assumed this task or moment would be easy to handle, but upon immersing ourselves in the event itself, we find ourselves lacking the full amount of resources needed to get the job done properly. We knew this was an important event in our minds, but didn’t put in the actual prep work to make SURE we were ready, and the moment goes badly. Our spouse or sibling or parent or child gets mad at us, and we have to try to do better the next time.
That’s what this Wisconsin-Rutgers game is. The Badgers surely know how important it is to notch a road win, especially in Big Ten play. However, because it’s RUTGERS, the urgency of the occasion might be lacking. Wisconsin has to really invest itself in this game and feel the sense of importance attached to Wednesday night in New Jersey.
If this seems a bit vague and lacking in specificity, here are two precise reasons Wisconsin should take Rutgers seriously, so that the Badgers are on their toes and highly vigilant when tip-off time arrives on Wednesday night:
First, Rutgers beat Wisconsin the last time these teams met in New Jersey. Wisconsin won last season in Madison, but in the 2017-2018 college basketball season, Rutgers ambushed UW in Piscataway. That memory — which Greg Gard was part of — ought to light a fire under some fannies in the Wisconsin locker room and get this team to bust out the gate ROARING at Rutgers.
If that memory from two seasons ago seems a little distant and remote, fine. I will offer an even better reason for UW to take RU seriously: Rutgers gave Michigan State a tough battle on the road this past Sunday. Rutgers went to East Lansing and the Breslin Center, and was right there, down 62-55, with 3:30 left. Rutgers wasn’t likely to win, but it was highly competitive and stayed in the hunt for 37 minutes. Michigan State struggled for much of the game and didn’t land a knockout punch. The Spartans realized that Rutgers was a tenacious team.
As Jon Rothstein said after big Rutgers wins late last season:
The identity of Rutgers is based on toughness and tenacity. If Wisconsin intellectually realizes this game is important, but it doesn’t bring any urgency to the court, the Badgers could get nailed by Steve Pikiell’s players.
Take. Rutgers. Seriously. Let this be a warning to Wisconsin, even though Rutgers hasn’t made the NCAA Tournament since 1991. Wisconsin got burned the last time it went to Piscataway. Vigilance and emotional preparedness need to be part of Wisconsin’s game plan this time around.
A look at the Rutgers Scarlet Knights before their game against the Wisconsin Badgers.
Wednesday night’s basketball game between the Wisconsin Badgers and the Rutgers Scarlet Knights is a huge one. Wait a minute.
RUTGERS? HUGE GAME? No, come on now. That’s just a cheap way to get some extra clicks. You don’t really MEAN that, do you?
Actually… yes, I do. This is genuinely a huge game. If you think about it, it’s not that controversial a statement to make, even though any sentence with the words “Rutgers” and “huge game” seems absurd on its face.
First of all, this is a road game. Wisconsin has to win one of these pretty soon. The Badgers need to enter the heart of Big Ten play — on January 3, 2020, at Ohio State — knowing they can play well on the road. This Rutgers game is the last Big Ten road game before that Ohio State contest. This game is the next-to-last road game for Wisconsin before the heart of the Big Ten season. The other road game is on Saturday, Dec. 28, at Tennessee. If Wisconsin plays a poor game against Rutgers, how can the Badgers realistically expect to win in Knoxville? If the Badgers don’t win in Knoxville, how can they expect to win in Columbus several days later?
Second, Wisconsin plays just one game in the next 16 days after this visit to Piscataway, New Jersey. The Badgers host Milwaukee on Dec. 21, then have the Christmas holiday, followed by the Tennessee game a week later on the 28th. Wisconsin won’t have many live-game situations in which to test its responses and instincts. Getting it right on Wednesday against Rutgers gives Greg Gard and his players a chance to realistically say to themselves, “We’re on the right track.” Without a lot of games in the next few weeks, the Badgers need to make this moment count.
Third, the fact that this is Rutgers is precisely what makes this game bigger, not smaller. If Wisconsin was going to Ohio State or Michigan on Wednesday, to play a top-10 team which has been flourishing, the Badgers really wouldn’t have much of a chance. Moreover, Wisconsin could play well against OSU or Michigan right now and still lose. Rutgers, however, is an opponent the Badgers should beat. RU is an opponent the Badgers need to beat, in order to improve their road-neutral record (part of the NCAA Tournament’s “nitty gritty report” and the overall data profile the committee looks at in early March). Rutgers is an opponent Wisconsin — at this stage of its season-long evolution — can beat on the road. It is in many ways the truest measuring stick this team could ask for. A win says this team can grow. A loss would show this team is not yet ready to evolve.
Huge game? Yeah. I think I just laid out a convincing three-point argument… whether you like it or not.
Perhaps both Ohio State and Minnesota win Saturday, handing Michigan and Wisconsin their third losses of the year, but after that it gets tricky.
Although no games were played Tuesday night Notre Dame saw their hopes of ending their season in the Cotton Bowl for a second year in a row come to an unofficial end.
As the College Football Playoff rankings were released Tuesday night, Notre Dame remained at number 16 in the country, still the lowest of any two-loss power-five teams and also still behind three-loss Auburn.
So as it sits with No. 16 Notre Dame having just one game remaining against an under-500 Stanford team that won’t count for much, even if it does end with a 50 point win for the Irish.
The problem is that Notre Dame has already routed better teams than Stanford in recent weeks and gained no ground.
Unless you can figure out a way that Notre Dame jumps six teams and gets into the top-ten, then they’re headed to Orlando for the Camping World Bowl against a Big XII team.
With the games remaining it’s hard to find six losses that are going to benefit Notre Dame.
Here's a full look at the November 2️⃣6️⃣ #CFBPlayoff Selection Committee Rankings.
Auburn losing to Alabama would probably finally get the Irish ahead of the currently three-loss Tigers.
Perhaps both Ohio State and Minnesota win Saturday, handing Michigan and Wisconsin their third losses of the year, but after that it gets tricky.
Kansas over Baylor or Rutgers over Penn State? No help coming in either of those.
Same pretty much going for Colorado’s chances against Utah, Florida State’s to upset Florida.
Not only would Notre Dame need one of those to happen, they’d need three of the last four listed in order to have a chance, couple with those Auburn, Michigan and Wisconsin losses listed above.
As you can tell the chances at the Cotton Bowl are about as good as gone. so if interested you might as well get those flights booked to Orlando.
That’s the unfortunate reality when what happens in Ann Arbor in late October happen to you in front of a national audience.
MSU football gets back in the win column against Rutgers. MSU hoops takes on Virginia Tech.
Wil and Matt revel in Michigan State’s glorious win over Rutgers. Then they make fun of Greg Schiano a little bit and preview Michigan State vs. Virginia Tech.
MSU’s upcoming opponent, Maryland, is rated 88th in SP+, although the Terps have been in a bit of a free fall lately. They’re ranked No. 73 on offense, No. 82 on defense and No. 127 on special teams. They’re a projected 5.7 points worse than an average college football team on a neutral field.
SP+, according to Connelly, is “(A) tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency.”
Quick thoughts and takes on every Week 13 Big Ten game. @PeteFiutak Michigan State 27, Rutgers 0 It was only a win over Rutgers, but Michigan State really, really, really, really needed that. It wasn’t perfect, the running game was stuffed a bit too …
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Quick thoughts and takes on every Week 13 Big Ten game.
It was only a win over Rutgers, but Michigan State really, really, really, really needed that. It wasn’t perfect, the running game was stuffed a bit too much and the offense stalled a bit, but Cody White went off for 11 catches for 136 yards and three scores, and it was a shutout over a team that was supposed to be shutout. The program can exhale for a moment – it hit the putt.
Rutgers just doesn’t have the offensive talent. Johnny Langan completed 8-of-20 passes for 57 yards with a pick, led the team with 49 rushing yards, and Isaiah Pacheco was held to 36 yards. It didn’t help that the Scarlet Knights were playing a team that cared.
The Spartans owned this game by more than the final score. They didn’t allow a third down conversion and held the ball for almost 38 minutes. There wasn’t any drama whatsoever.
Michigan State did what it needed to do, and now it closes out with Maryland for a shot at a sixth win and bowl eligibility. Rutgers’ season will come to a brutal but merciful end at Penn State.
Iowa 19, Illinois 10
Iowa played a typical Iowa game. It battled hard, played good run defense, and did enough to keep things moving through the air. It wasn’t easy, and it was a grind to do anything on the ground, but it was the eighth win of the season with just Nebraska to go. A shot at a ten-win campaign is still there.
The Hawkeyes couldn’t get any push up front – the Illinois D line did a nice job. Iowa ended up with just 79 rushing yards, and Nate Stanley wasn’t all that sharp, but he connected on a few bit pass plays with Ihmir Smith-Marsette catching four passes for 121 yards.
Nate Stanley went for 308 yards through the air as @HawkeyeFootball gets the win against Illinois.
Illinois played relatively well despite only scoring ten points. The running backs didn’t get the ball enough – QB Brandon Peters led the team with 76 rushing yards – but the O averaged close to five yards per carry. The passing game didn’t cluck – Peters threw two picks – but it was an okay performance despite the final score.
It was a good fight, and now Illinois gets to go for a seventh win when it finishes up against Northwestern. If a 19-10 loss on the road to Iowa was okay, a loss of any sort to this Wildcat team would be totally unacceptable.
Michigan State’s quest to get back in the win column is going about as well as the rest of the season has gone. The difference today is the team on the other side of the field. Michigan State leads Rutgers 17-0 at the half. Here are some thoughts: …
Michigan State’s quest to get back in the win column is going about as well as the rest of the season has gone. The difference today is the team on the other side of the field.
Michigan State leads Rutgers 17-0 at the half. Here are some thoughts:
Cody White has 57 catches in the first half. Don’t look it up. There’s no need. It’s true.
It’s really nice to have Speedy Nailor back. He’s so obviously a different level runner than anyone else MSU has on offense. He absolutely cooked his man on a dee shot and might have had a long TD had the Rutgers defender not grabbed him for an obvious PI.
It’s pretty easy to see why Rutgers hasn’t won a Big Ten game in more than two years. Woof. The talent just isn’t even near where it needs to be.
Matt Coghlin back? It’s not much, but Coghlin has kicked the ball well the last three weeks, going 4/4 in field goals. He easily hit from 46 yards in the first half. In a lost season, it’d be nice for Coghlin to get his confidence back down the stretch.
Coghlin hit the upright from 33 yards after MSU returned an INT to the Rutgers 15 and proceeded to do nothing with it.
Michigan State had an interception returned to the Rutgers 15. Here's what happened next:
-incomplete pass -2-yard rush -sack -missed 33-yard field goal
Michigan State has been stopped twice on 4th-and-1 well into Rutgers territory.
-MSU calls TO to get the right play in on 3rd down -Snaps the ball too early coming out of media TO -Has to change to a new play -Hands to the face penalty Good god.
The two-minute drill looks good again and results in a late touchdown. It’s really too bad MSU can’t take some of their two-minute principles and infuse them into the regular offense.
Above all else, Michigan State has just been so sloppy today. Beyond even what they’ve done in previous games. In week 11 it just reeks of a team being unprepared and unfocused.
The defense has been solid so credit them for that. We must keep in mind the opponent. Rutgers has been very unimpressive on offense.
With Rutgers first punt of the game, Michigan State’s defense continues their streak of preventing a touchdown on the opening drive.
We can bicker and debate the merits of Michigan State Football this year, particularly on the defensive side where hopes were highest, but the Spartans do have one impressive stat to hang their hat on: with Rutgers punt on their first possession of the game, the MSU defense has yet to give up a touchdown on the opening drive of a football game this season.
Now, we can debate the importance of this, and I think that’s a debate that should be had because you could make an argument that the defense is really good, and they’ve done their job all year of shutting down the opposing team to start the game and get the ball to their offense, but the quick three-and-outs, poor special teams, and inability to keep the defense off the field and give them good field position to work with, puts Michigan State’s defense in a very unfavorable position.
By forcing a punt on the first RU possession of the game, the Spartan defense continues its season-long streak of not allowing an opposition score on its opening possession of the game.
