Big Ten Basketball: Week 7 power rankings for the conference

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PISCATAWAY, NJ – DECEMBER 05: Head coach Steve Pikiell of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights directs his players in the first half against the Michigan State Spartans on December 5, 2017 at the Rutgers Athletic Center in Piscataway, New Jersey. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

The Scarlet Knights are another team who can’t find consistent enough play. After their win over Seton Hall, hopes were high that maybe Rutgers can turn their program around. But, after this week, the vibe surrounding Rutgers basketball goes back to how it was originally.

The reason for the negativity about the Knights is their two home losses to Stony Brook and Hartford last week. The Seawolves came in at 4-8 while the Hawks were 6-7. These were two awful losses at the RAC for Rutgers.

These are the types of losses that push you out of the NCAA tournament. It is not expected that Rutgers will make it that far, but this is a big shot in the foot to a program that is trying to turn things around in Piscataway.

If the Scarlet Knights want to turn this thing back around, they need to do it on the defensive end of the floor. Rutgers is yielding just 59.5 points per game (although their strength of schedule is quite poor), which is good for 4th in the nation.

On the offensive side of the ball, the scoring needs to continue going through junior guard Corey Sanders (13.3 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 3.4 apg), although he is struggling from the floor (38.8 FG%). Freshman Geo Baker (12.6 ppg) has really become a go-to scorer as well, while DeShawn Freeman (11.9 ppg, 8.7 rpg) continues to lead the team in rebounding. It will be interesting to see how these guys respond as the conference season starts back up soon.

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