Rutgers Basketball: 3 takeaways from home exhibition loss to St. John's

There are few teams that has more interest on them this season than Rutgers Basketball, who has the 5-star freshmen duo of Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey. So seeing how they and the rest of the roster look in person was must-watch TV, taking on St. John's at home in a charity exhibition matchup.

It looked good for the Scarlet Knights early on, taking a double-double lead due to a 22-0 run. However, a halftime lead was evaporated, as St. John's took a late lead and held on for the 91-85 win. The good news is that the loss doesn't count toward their record and there were plenty of good signs.

Still, there were also some takeaways on both sides of the coin for the Scarlet Knights. Here are three key points for the Big Ten team.

1. Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper's 20+ point games

It was a slow start for the dynamic 5-star duo, but both Bailey (25 pts) and Harper (20 pts) showed signs of superstardom. That was especially true for Bailey, whose shot-making ability was on display against a good St. John's perimeter defense. There may be times where the shot-selection of these guys goes awry but these two will have Rutgers in any game this season.

2. Interior defense

One of the reasons why St. John's was able to come back and get the win was the play of Zuby Ejiofor, who finished with 27 points and 13 rebounds. The Scarlet Knights didn't have an answer for him, with neither Emmanuel Ogbole or Nathan Sommerville having much an an impact. It was one of the biggest issues the team had one paper and if Ejiofor was able to exploit it, so can the rest of the Big Ten.

3. Hayes and Derkack's key performances

The big question for Rutgers Basketball was how would the supporting cast look alongside the 5-star guys? Projected rotation pieces such as Tyson Acuff, Zach Martini, and Jeremiah Williams didn't have too much of an impact due to foul trouble and other things but two guys did stand out.

PJ Hayes was a late pickup from San Diego who proved to be the team's best shooter, scoring 13 points off the bench on 4/4 FG, including a couple from deep. Jordan Derkack was the NEC Player of the Year at Merrimack but struggled from the field, going 1/7 FG for just four points. However, he did have a team-high seven rebounds and three assists while also making a few hustle players. Rutgers may not need much scoring from Derkack from Hayes but they do bring needed intangibles for this supporting cast.