Rutgers Basketball: 3 takeaways from marquee win over Syracuse

2. With only five players scoring against the Orange, Rutgers will need their star guard back to provide another boost against B10 foes

With all that being said about Harper Jr.’s play, the Scarlet Knights are going to need Geo Baker to return quickly – especially when considering the gauntlet of Big Ten games coming just this month in Maryland, Illinois, and Ohio State.

To the credit of the Scarlet Knights, players have stepped up and succeeded in filling Baker’s shoes.  Montez Mathis and Jacob Young – after averaging 7.4 and 8.5 points last season, respectively – have lit up the stat-sheet in Baker’s absence, averaging 16.3 and 16.0 points per game, respectively, this season.

They were pivotal against the Orange, especially.  Mathis poured in 19 points to go with seven rebounds, while Young recorded a double-double of 18 points and 10 assists, all the while nabbing five steals.  Myles Johnson also deserves credit for stepping up his game, having also registered a double-double of 11 points and 12 rebounds.

That stellar play would be enough to get Rutgers through games against some of the weaker Big Ten schools like Nebraska and Northwestern, but it will not be enough against the rest of the loaded conference – especially when considering only five Scarlet Knights scored.

This is why they need Geo Baker back, and fast.  Again, there is not a set timetable for Baker’s return after he injured his ankle in the season-opener against Sacred Heart, although he recently has been able to remove his walking boot – a good sign for the star guard.

He should – hopefully – be back before Rutgers’s outrageously difficult stretch of games to open up January (vs. Iowa, at Michigan State, vs. Ohio State), but time will tell if the Scarlet Knights can compete – and survive – without him in their currently-scheduled four Big Ten tilts in December.