Big Ten Basketball: Wisconsin rises, Indiana falls in latest power rankings

10. Rutgers Scarlet Knights – 6-4 (1-1)

It’s rough to judge Rutgers harshly, considering that they’ve had to deal with injuries to two key players, while also playing a difficult schedule. In the past four games, they’re 1-3, including a victory over Indiana, along with losses to Miami, Seton Hall, and Seton Hall, two of which came down to the final seconds.

The player that has struggled the most in those games is Cam Spencer, the transfer from Loyola (MD). He was averaging around 18 ppg in the first six games and took care of the scoring while both Paul Mulcahy and Caleb McConnell were either out or limited. But against better competition, he scored 21 points combined, including 4 or fewer in three of them.

What’s helped kept them afloat is forward Aundre Hyatt becoming a double-digit scorer, while center Clifford Omoruyi leads the team with 14.4 ppg and 9.5 rpg. Freshman guard Derek Simpson is producing 7.7 ppg in the backcourt as well. They’ll have to wait for both McConnell and Mulcahy to get back into gear but this team has been very impressive on the defensive end to this point allowing just 54.5 ppg.

The schedule lights up a big, with home games against Wake Forest, Coppin State and Bucknell coming up. This is a team that has at-large potential but they can’t afford a loss to the Demon Deacons this weekend.