Big Ten Basketball: Illinois rises, Iowa falls in latest power rankings
11. team. 452. . 5-5 (1-1). . Scarlet Knights
Beating a team that was at the time the No. 1 team in the country has plenty of benefits. For Rutgers, that’s the reason why they aren’t at the very bottom because the rest of its resume has been arguably the worst of any team. Losses include UMass, Lafayette, and DePaul while also needing overtime to get past Lehigh at the start of the season.
The issue for the Scarlet Knights isn’t an unexpected one, but rather a preseason concern that has yet to have been resolved. After losing guards Montez Mathis and Jacob Young to the transfer portal, the offensive production has largely been put on the shoulders of leading scorer Ron Harper Jr. (15.8 ppg and 7.9 rpg), while point guard Geo Baker has been out for several games with an injury.
Outside of Baker and starting center Clifford Omoruyi, the Scarlet Knights don’t have anyone averaging over 6.6 ppg. Guards Caleb McConnell and Paul Mulcahy are good defenders and role players but they don’t provide much consistent scoring and neither does the rest of the rotation.
Rutgers is going to be “Harper or bust” going forward and if he scores around 30 points as he did against Purdue, this team will have a chance to win several meaningful league games. But if he struggles, the Scarlet Knights will be much closer to the bottom than the top.