Big Ten play gets back underway on Thursday, as Indiana welcomes Rutgers to Bloomington for an evening showdown at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
The Hoosiers (10-3 overall, 1-1 in Big Ten play), enter the contest fresh off of a close win over Winthrop on Sunday to close the non-conference portion of their schedule. The Scarlet Knights (8-5 overall, 1-1 in Big Ten play) most recently dominated Columbia at home, winning 91-64.
Before Thursday's late night battle, preview the matchup between Indiana and Rutgers.
HEAD COACH PROFILE
Head Coach: Steve Pikiell
Record: 337-302 in 21st year overall, 140-128 in 9th year at Rutgers
Under Pikiell, Rutgers has changed mightily as a program. He led the Scarlet Knights to an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2021, the program's first since 1991.
Pikiell then led Rutgers back to the NCAA Tournament in 2022, marking the first time the Knights had made the big dance in back-to-back seasons sinve 1976,
Pikiell began his coaching career at UConn, his alma mater, in 1991. He quickly moved onto spending one season with the New Haven Skyhawks of the USBL, before spending three seasons as an assistant at Yale from 1992-95.
His first gig as a head coach came at Wesleyan, a Division III school in Connecticut. Pikiell spent just one year there before serving as an assistant at Central Connecticut State from 1997-01. Pikiell then moved on to become an assistant at George Washington for four seasons, helping the program win its first Atlantic10 conference title.
Pikiell then got back into working as a head coach, taking over Stony Brook where he was a four-time America East Coach of the Year honoree. He led the Seawolves to six postseason appearances in his seven years with the program before landing at Rutgers.
THIS SEASON
Entering Thursday night's showdown with Indiana, Rutgers holds an 8-5 record on the season.
To begin the season, Rutgers rattled off four straight wins in buy games before falling on the road to Kennesaw State by two points. The Knights then went 1-2 at the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas, beating Notre Dame in overtime, but falling to both Alabama and Texas A&M in close defeats.
Rutgers lost a third game in a row coming out of the Players Era Festival, when the Knights opened Big Ten player on the road against Ohio State. Rutgers bounced back with a win at home over Penn State just a few days later.
Since then, Rutgers has gone 2-1 to close out a fairly challenging non-conference slate.
On the season, Rutgers is averaging 79.7 points per game, while shooting 46.3% from deep and 33.6% from 3-point range. The Knights average just 10.7 turnovers a game, while recording 7.2 steals a contest on the year.
Defensively, teams are averaging 74.3 points a night against the Scarlet Knights. Rutgers' oppositions have shot the ball at a 44.1% clip from the field and a 34.1% clip from downtown to begin the season.
Rutgers is ranked 74th in Kenpom, holding the nation's 66th-ranked offense and 98th-ranked defense. In the NET, Rutgers ranked 84th.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
- Guard Dylan Harper: The first of two future top five picks in the 2025 NBA Draft on the Rutgers roster, guard Dylan Harper is playing like the best true freshman in the country to begin the year. Harper is averaging 22.8 points--which ranks fourth in the country and first amongst freshman--5.3 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game. He's doing that while shooting 52.5% from the field and 37.3% from 3-point range in 34.3 minutes a night. Harper has separate performances of 36 and 37 points this season.
- Forward Ace Bailey: The other half of Rutgers' talented freshman duo, Ace Bailey is off to a phenomenal start to the season as well. Bailey is averaging 18.2 points--which is also a top five mark for a freshman this season--and 7.6 rebounds a night. He's shooting 47.4% from the field and 32.6% from deep.
- Guard Jeremiah Williams: A redshirt senior out of Chicago, Illinois, Jeremiah Williams is one of the few players on this Rutgers team that boasts a ton of experience at the college level. Williams is the team's third-leading scorer, averaging 7.8 points a night. He's shooting 46.1% from the floor this season and 25.0% from deep--on 2.0 long balls a game.
STORYLINES TO WATCH
Is Oumar Ballo back...
Against Winthrop, Indiana was without one of its most important players. Big man Oumar Ballo missed the contest after being listed questionable pregame. When asked about Ballo's status after the game, head coach Mike Woodson offered a rather curious response, stating that he and the team would handle the matter internally. Whatever it is that held Ballo out of Indiana's narrow win over Winthrop, the Hoosiers will need it to have been resolved. Rutgers is not an overly big team, meaning Ballo--and his counterpart Malik Reneau--could be in store for a big night if they're able to capitalize on their size advantage down low.
Can Myles Rice be a bit more consistent...
At times this season, Washington State transfer guard Myles Rice has looked like Indiana's best player. On Sunday against Winthrop, Rice looked the part. He went for 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting to lead the scoring effort for the Hoosiers. A few weeks ago against Nebraska, Rice similarly looked like Indiana's best player, dropping 20 points in the loss. The issue for Rice is the four point performance sandwiched in between those two big games. Over his last five games, Rice has scoring performances of 18 points, 20 points and 17 points. He also has performances of four points and two points in his last five. Indiana needs more consistency out of the player who, more often than not, has looked like its best player this season.
3-point shooting...
There's no way around it, Indiana's 3-point shooting has plummeted over the last few weeks, culminating in a 1-for-20 performance against Winthrop. It wasn't an issue of the wrong guys shooting them, Luke Goode took nearly half of Indiana's 3-point attempts in that game. It also wasn't an issue of the looks not being open enough, a majority of the Hoosiers' looks from deep against the Eagles were good looks. As Woodson likes to say, the shots just weren't falling. While that may be a usable excuse after one, or maybe two, bad shooting nights, the way Indiana has shot the ball this season is becoming more of a defining characteristic of this team, rather than just an off night. The 3-point shot is what has the potential to separate this team from some of Woodson's other groups during his tenure at Indiana. This year's squad has plenty of capable shooters. However, the 3-point shot looks more likely to sink Indiana, rather than propel them forward right now.
QUICK HITTERS
Who: Indiana (10-3, 1-1) vs. Rutgers (8-5, 1-1)
Series History: Rutgers leads the all-time series 9-8 (Last Meeting: Rutgers won 66-57 on Jan. 9, 2024 in Piscataway, New Jersey)
When: Jan. 2, 2024, 8:30 p.m. ET
Where: Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, Bloomington, Indiana
TV: Peacock: Noah Eagle (play-by-play), Robbie Hummel (analyst), Caroline Pineda (sideline)
Radio: IU Radio Network: Don Fischer (Play-by-Play), Errek Suhr (Analyst), John Herrick
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