Rutgers Basketball: 3 takeaways from marquee win over Syracuse

3. The Scarlet Knights held the Orange below their average in nearly every category – a good omen and precursor for B10 play

Despite some notable – and awful – defensive miscues and mistakes during Tuesday’s “AAU-esque” display, Rutgers prevented Syracuse from reaching their season averages – shutting down their offensive strengths and sending a message to the rest of the Big Ten.

Coming into this game, the Orange were not necessarily a stellar shooting team, ranking 127th in FG% (45.7) – but the Scarlet Knights held them below their average, allowing Syracuse to shoot 41.4% for the game.  Their defense in the first half, in particular, was phenomenal, holding the Orange to 37% – compared to 45.2% in the second half.

But FG% was not the only area where Rutgers dominated on the defensive end.  The Orange also ranked 127th in 3PT% (34.1%) – and struggled to find their range from beyond the arc, knocking down just 26.9% of their shots.

It was even worse on the boards, where Syracuse ranks among the very best – 7th in defensive boards per game (35.3) and 13th in total rebounds per game (46.3).  In this game, the Scarlet Knights not only held the Orange to 19 defensive rebounds – but outrebounded them, 42-26, for the game.

There are some areas that Rutgers will need to clean up on – especially when it comes to taking care of the ball.  They committed more turnovers than Syracuse forces in a game, and allowed the Orange to collect 10 steals – their season average thus far.  Points off turnovers were one of the few categories that the Orange outperformed Rutgers in, tallying 16 points to the Scarlet Knights’s 12.

In all, there are a number of positives to take away from Rutgers’s performance against Syracuse – and, if anything, the optimism in Piscataway should have grown after today’s win.  With Geo Baker still out for the foreseeable future, Monday’s showdown at Maryland – in what will be Rutgers’s first away game of the season – looms large, and Harper Jr. and company will need to produce and defend like they did tonight in order to continue their winning ways.