Rutgers sees one more get away in hard-fought loss to Seton Hall

Cliff Omoruyi exhorts Jersey Mike’s Arena crowd as Rutgers battled Seton Hall Sunday. (Photo by Rutgers Men’s Basketball)

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — One year ago, Rutgers came into its annual rivalry with Seton Hall on top of the college basketball world after Ron Harper, Jr.’s half-court 3-pointer stunned top-ranked Purdue at the buzzer.

While the euphoria of taking down No. 1 is a feeling hardly anyone would ever want to trade, one still wonders whether its afterglow cost the Scarlet Knights in the short term, as the hysteria of the moment essentially deprived them of a day of practice in preparation for a matchup that ultimately went the way of Seton Hall two days later in Newark.

Twelve months later, a sense of déjà vu filled the scarlet-tinged air as Rutgers again entered the Seton Hall game — this time on its home floor at Jersey Mike’s Arena — encircled in controversy after the Big Ten openly admitted an officiating blunder that went uncalled and allowed Ohio State to steal a win over the Scarlet Knights this past Thursday at the horn. And as much as Rutgers attempted to downplay the distraction, its aura remained and may have affected the bottom line in a 45-43 loss to the visiting Pirates that will be remembered in more ways than one for how it climaxed as KC Ndefo appeared to have stepped out of bounds on the baseline before picking up a defensive rebound in the final seconds, a play that was unreviewable and a double dose of indigestion for Rutgers fans after experiencing a similar fate just 72 hours prior.

“We didn’t play with the right energy that we needed to in a game like this,” Steve Pikiell reflected. “I don’t know if it’s from (Thursday), but this group has been great. We had maybe our best practice of the season (Saturday), so I was confident coming in. We certainly didn’t make shots when we had the opportunities to. I don’t like to make any excuses, but maybe it played a role in us not playing that way.”

“I feel like we just weren’t being us,” Mawot Mag revealed after Rutgers was bully-balled by Seton Hall, who dictated tempo and turned an already physical contest into a meat grinder of sorts. “We weren’t finishing plays. As Coach said, we made great defensive plays, but we couldn’t finish and get defensive rebounds. We’ve just got to get back to the basics, playing our basketball.”

Rutgers basketball certainly does not, on most nights, include 19 turnovers, an uncommonly high amount of miscues forced by Shaheen Holloway’s vigorous pressure defense that never once let the game drive away from it, stepping up to quiet a raucous crowd ready to burst into delirium at any moment and relying on the veteran instincts of Ndefo — no stranger to being the David to high-level opponents’ Goliath from his lead role in Saint Peter’s historic run to a regional final — to snatch a much-needed victory that will resonate into the year and leave the hosts to ponder what could have been.

“I’m most disappointed in the 19 turnovers,” Pikiell lamented. “We really gave up points because of our turnovers. We could have won this game 40 to 38. In a rivalry, you’ve got to come and bring it. (Seton Hall) brought it, and they deserved to win.”

Still, Sunday’s setback is in no way a bad loss for Rutgers, thanks to the strength of the Big East and its upper echelon being the rising tide to lift all boats. The Scarlet Knights still have three non-conference games, including a home tilt with Wake Forest on Saturday, in which to better acquit itself on a resume that will be solidified during the Big Ten season. Regardless, the bitter aftertaste of losing a rivalry game coupled with an uncharacteristic lack of heart made this pill even harder to swallow on the banks of the old Raritan.

“We didn’t deserve to win today,” a blunt Pikiell said. “Credit to Seton Hall, they played harder. We’ve gotta play with much more energy, and that’s on me. We still had chances to win the game, but you have to deserve to win in basketball, and we didn’t deserve to win tonight. That’s on me.”

“You’re going to go through adversity in a season,” Cam Spencer reasoned, trying to put a pragmatic and relatable spin on the circumstances. “All you can do is go back to work and see where we could have been better as a team. I think we know what we have to do better is executing that. There’s not much to say. They can only review so much. You can never blame the ref for winning or losing a game, you just look yourself in the mirror and see what you could have done better.”