Rutgers demolishes Sacred Heart for 2-0 start, Pikiell’s 100th win

Rutgers’ 2-0 start has drawn grounded optimism from a watchful Steve Pikiell. (Photo by Mike Lawrence/Rutgers Athletics)

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Expectations may have ramped up steadily each year around the Rutgers program, but the tenor in which Steve Pikiell addresses his team is different once again.

There is no more disrespect card being played on the banks, nor has there been since 2020. Last year’s high optimism, which featured Pikiell talking up the Scarlet Knights in such a way that one may have mistaken them for a national championship contender, has even been placed on the back burner.

Early in this, his seventh go-round in the shadows of the Raritan, Pikiell is more grounded in the real feel of his team, one he admits is a work in progress and far from a finished product. But early returns, like Monday’s 40-point dispatching of Columbia in Rutgers’ season opener and Thursday’s second act, an 88-50 knockout of Sacred Heart, offered two strong salvos to suggest a potential trajectory higher upward so long as the status quo can be maintained.

“We had a lot of good things today in this game,” Pikiell reflected after Thursday’s win, his 100th as Rutgers head coach. “I thought we were locked into the game plan with a short period of time. Paul (Mulcahy) does what he does, he had a little bit of everything, but it was a good team effort.”

“We’ve got some answers coming off the bench. They give us great energy, but I like the blend of veterans with the young guys. We’ve got work to do, we keep figuring stuff out, but they share the ball, they pass the ball and they’re connected. Defensively, we were swarming against a team that really wants to score points, so to hold them to 50 —our goal was 55 — we did a really good job on that end of the floor.”

So laser-like was Pikiell’s focus on the task at hand — in an ever-changing landscape, his demeanor and mannerisms remain constant — that his players even had no idea that a milestone was in the offing.

“Nobody heard about it, but two weeks ago, I was thinking because sometimes when we watch film, they throw his record up, and I was like, ‘did he hit his 100th yet?’” Mulcahy revealed. “We just found out after the game. He doesn’t talk about himself enough, but he’s a freaking great coach.”

“That’s a major achievement. Coach Pike’s worked his tail off since he got here. He’s always watching film, he’s an incredible coach and has done incredible things in the short time that he’s been here. He doesn’t talk about himself enough, but that’s big-time.”

“That’s enough,” Pikiell quickly interjected after Mulcahy deflected a spotlight on his reticent leader. “On to the next.”

The next, at least from a long-term sense, can include freshman guard Derek Simpson, who has already drawn comparisons to Geo Baker for his similar build, physical resemblance, even the same jersey number as the recent Rutgers graduate. On this night, Simpson’s exploits for his 11 points included a melange of different offensive repertoires and a sequence just before the first half drew to a close where he stripped the ball in the open floor, then finished for a one-handed slam to the delight of the Jersey Mike’s Arena crowd.

“I read the defender’s eyes and I saw he looked to my left, so I kind of baited him into throwing it and I heard (gasps) from the crowd,” Simpson recounted. “And I was like, ‘I gotta do it the one time.’ It was a great feeling hearing everybody. I turned around and saw everybody’s hands up, it was a great feeling.”

“I think it’s been a great two games so far, but what’s really been helping me is my teammates kind of just telling me, ‘keep doing you and just keep that swagger that you got.’ That’s what I’ve kind of been doing. We stay positive all the time, none of that negative stuff comes around. It’s been a hard process. You practice a month before any games, practicing with your teammates can be hard sometimes, but I’m glad we’ve come this long way. I guess I am a natural, but there’s still more to go.”

“He’s getting better and better and better,” Pikiell surmised. “If I put the first practice tape on, it didn’t look like this, but he keeps getting better. We’re real pleased with his progress. He gives us a gear and a speed that is important, and he shares the ball, too. He’s doing a good job staying focused on what we need him to do, and he’s giving us great energy.”

Pikiell tried not to overinflate his team’s morale Thursday, but did say that it had a chance to be even better if it kept passing the ball as it has in these first two contests. And after allowing just 85 points to Columbia and Sacred Heart, the veteran coach is satisfied — for the most part — with the attention to detail on the defensive end.

“We’ve been real active and we’ve been real focused,” he said. “After the first few fast break baskets they got, we really settled in and we did a great job in transition. We mix it up, we’re a very different defensive team. We’ve got to do some work in a couple areas, but I like our versatility on that end of the floor and these guys give us great size. Their length really showed up today.”