Rutgers Basketball: 3 takeaways from marquee win over Syracuse

Rutgers Basketball claimed its first marquee victory of the season, defeating Syracuse in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

After dominating three mid-majors to begin their season, nationally-ranked Rutgers Basketball entered Tuesday’s showdown with Syracuse searching for a win over a power conference school – and they satisfied that need, securing a 79-69 victory over the Orange at The RAC.

To be truthful, this game was incredibly ugly – the ESPN2 commentators compared the second half to an AAU game, with 50 combined three-pointers being taken, 29 combined turnovers, and 33 fouls committed between both teams.

Despite the woes, this win was huge for a Rutgers team that is currently playing without Geo Baker, the team’s star point guard and last season’s returning second-leading scorer.  Ranked 21st nationally, the Scarlet Knights battled back and forth with a Syracuse Orange squad that was also missing its best player in Buddy Boeheim.

After Syracuse held a 3-2 lead a few minutes into the game, the Scarlet Knights maintained a comfortable advantage – a lead between 4 to 10 points – until the Orange rallied to take a three-point lead with seven minutes left.  It was all Rutgers from there, however, as Steve Pikiell’s squad embarked on a 21-8 run to end the game.

Just five Scarlet Knights scored in the win, and it was a career-day for Ron Harper Jr. – more on him in a bit.  He led all scorers with 26 points while receiving help from Montez Mathis (19 points), Jacob Young (18), and Myles Johnson (11).  Paul Mulcahy rounded out all Rutgers scorers with five points.

Again, this win is huge for a Rutgers team that will begin Big Ten play next week against a solid Maryland team.  There are some areas that will desperately need to be improved upon if Rutgers hopes to be a contender in a top-heavy Big Ten, but there are also some positive takeaways for the Scarlet Knights – particularly in the form of Harper Jr.