Busting Brackets
Fansided

Big Ten Basketball: 2021 power rankings heading into conference tournament

By Ryan Kay

Ohio State Buckeyes guard Duane Washington Jr. (4) is guarded by Michigan Wolverines forward Isaiah Livers (2) during Sunday's NCAA Division I Big Ten conference basketball game at Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio, on February 21, 2021.Ceb Osu Mbk Mich Bjp 17
Ohio State Buckeyes guard Duane Washington Jr. (4) is guarded by Michigan Wolverines forward Isaiah Livers (2) during Sunday's NCAA Division I Big Ten conference basketball game at Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio, on February 21, 2021.Ceb Osu Mbk Mich Bjp 17 /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
6 of 14
Next
Big Ten Basketball
Big Ten Basketball Rutgers Scarlet Knights (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /

Wins

*Sacred Heart
*Fairleigh Dickinson
*Hofstra
*Syracuse
*@Maryland
*Purdue
*Illinois
*Indiana (twice)
*Michigan State
*Northwestern (twice)
*Minnesota

Losses

*Ohio State (twice)
*Iowa (twice)
*@Michigan State
*@Penn State
*@Michigan
*Maryland
*Wisconsin
*@Nebraska

Net ranking: 38

KenPom ranking: 32

AP ranking: N/A

Reasons for Hope: They have some quality wins as they beat Syracuse, Illinois, Purdue, and Maryland. Rutgers had defeated their first five opponents that they had faced by double digits. Their defense has been amazing at times as they have not given up more than 75 points and in sixteen games this season and they have held their opponents to 63 or fewer points eight times. They are

Reasons to be Pessimistic: The Rutgers offense has been underwhelming on the road for numerous games this season. They scored only 51 points in a 21 point loss to the Huskers, the Scarlet Knights put up only 45 points in a  23 point defeat to the Spartans. They also struggled with road losses to Iowa, Penn State, Michigan, and Ohio State where they scored 68 or fewer points.

Brief Overview of the Season

Rutgers has key players that returned including Geo Baker, Montez Mathis, Ron Harper Jr., and Jacob Young who are their four leading scorers this season. Harper is playing very well this season averaging over 15 points a game and Young and Baker are the second and third-leading scorers for the Scarlet Knights this season.

Myles Johnson has helped the Scarlet Knights front line as he is Rutgers’ 5th leading scorer and leads the team in rebounds per game. Harper and Young have been productive on the offensive end and have helped Rutgers play well for the majority of this season thus far. However, Rutgers has lost three of its last four games and they need them to step up on the offensive end in order for the Scarlet Knights to make the NCAA tournament this season.

Rutgers head coach Steve Pikiell is in his 5th season at the helm and has the Scarlet Knights going in the right direction. This team was not supposed to compete for the Big Ten title this season and even though they have a good Net ranking, they still overall this season have played good enough to qualify for post-season play. Rutgers may surprise many in the Big Ten with a win or two in the Big Ten tournament and they will have another opportunity coming up when they play at Minnesota on Saturday.

Home/Big Ten