Rutgers clamps down on Maryland for 5th straight win

Paul Mulcahy surveys floor while leading Rutgers to victory over Maryland Thursday. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Last season, Rutgers stunned top-ranked Purdue at home on a half-court buzzer-beater by Ron Harper, Jr., and returned to action three days later in an emotionally charged rivalry game against Seton Hall, one in which the Pirates protected their home floor and dealt Rutgers a narrow loss.

This season, with the Scarlet Knights having the same timeframe between their epic upset over the Boilermakers Monday night — again the No. 1 team in the nation, but this time slaying the giant in its home confines of Mackey Arena on a 3-pointer by Cam Spencer in the final seconds — and a Maryland team coached by a familiar adversary in former Seton Hall mentor Kevin Willard, Rutgers — as has been the case several times this season — reversed its fortune in a 64-50 takedown of the Terrapins inside Jersey Mike’s Arena for its fifth straight win, the fourth time in those five games in which Steve Pikiell’s vaunted defense held its opposition under 60 markers.

“This group is mature, I’ll say that about them,” Pikiell said as Rutgers (11-4, 3-1 Big Ten) made sure to not fall victim to the hangover of beating No. 1 that felled the Scarlet Knights 13 months ago. “They approach preparation the right way, but yeah, it was a crazy couple days, too. That daily fame is fleeting, so you’ve gotta make sure you’re ready to play and when you’re playing teams in our league — two weeks ago, this team was ranked — you’ve gotta be ready and our defense was good. I know it wasn’t pretty today, but I kind of like those kinds of games. We figured out a way to win, and that’s a good sign for us.”

“We went into (Purdue) playing to win,” Paul Mulcahy echoed. “We won, guys were happy that we won, but then that’s what we’re supposed to do. On to the next one.”

The difference this time? A veteran group was reminded that Monday’s upset was not its Super Bowl.

“Coach Pikes had a good point,” Mulcahy said, revealing a message Pikiell imparted to the team in the wake of the monumental victory. “He said our season’s bigger than just one game.”

Rutgers’ defense took center stage Thursday night, sporting Maryland a 4-0 head start but soon locking the Terps down for scoring droughts of 9:08 in the first half and 4:11 in the second half to tighten the screws and show off a newer facet of its vise-like grip that Willard praised for its transformative qualities before the game.

“I think the adjustment Steve has made with the pressure defense has just made up for a lot of their offensive woes, to be perfectly honest with you,” Willard reiterated. “Seeing the struggle scoring in the half court, the press — especially in this building — it just gives them an opportunity. It puts a little bit less pressure on their half-court defense, and it gives them an opportunity to get easy transition points, and I think that’s the biggest difference I’ve seen in them. I just think the pressing has changed them from a half-court team that you really knew what was coming at you the whole time that you knew you were going to have to score to a team that now is a special preparation team that, in this building, is tough.”

“It’s a great thing we’re able to do,” Mulcahy opined, crediting Mawot Mag, Spencer and Caleb McConnell for being Rutgers’ defensive anchors. “We have length, we have athleticism and we’re connected.”

The defensive lockdown held Maryland to single digits for a majority of the first half, which ended in a 24-17 Rutgers edge. The Terps crept back within earshot in the second half, but a hard foul by Julian Reese on Mulcahy while attempting to secure a chase-down block was ruled a flagrant-1 foul, giving Rutgers two foul shots and possession of the ball. The Scarlet Knights fed off the momentum change, igniting a 15-5 run of which Mulcahy was the centerpiece, scoring and facilitating at will.

“I’ve gotta be aggressive, I’ve gotta look to score first,” the senior point guard candidly admitted. “It opens things up for me and my teammates. If teams are going to play me like a passer, then it gives me room to do what I do and I don’t think people respect my game enough.”

“I wouldn’t like me either if I was on another team,” he quipped. “I get it, 100 percent. It comes with the headband, it comes with my persona. I think the people that know me love me, and the people that don’t know me don’t love me. It is what it is.”

Mulcahy’s fingerprints were visible on each possession of a perfect night for the Bayonne native, who made all six of his field goal attempts and registered 15 points on the night, but as both coaches would later remark, it was not his offense that left the strongest impression, but what he did to affect winning and breed success.

“Paul does a lot of things for us,” Pikiell gushed. “He rebounds, he’s vocal, he does a lot of winning things. Points get all the accolades, but all the stuff that you watch on the film, you love about Paul. And that’s why since he’s been here, we’ve done nothing but win. It’s the winner part of him that I love.”

“I remember watching the last eight games of Big Ten play with them, and I thought the difference in this team and their team last year — and obviously this year — is they gave the ball to Paul,” Willard added, praising Pikiell’s movement of Mulcahy to the point guard position to play Geo Baker off the ball. “Paul was a point guard in high school, he played for a great coach who taught him just how to play the game (Mergin Sina at Gill St. Bernard, whose son, Jaren, played for Willard at Seton Hall), and he affects the game. He’s one of the better passers I’ve seen in college basketball in a long time, he’s unselfish, he has great confidence, but I thought the move to him playing point guard last year was the difference in the way they finished the season last year and obviously the way they’ve started this year.”

Winners of five straight since a 45-43 loss to Seton Hall on December 11, a game that came on the heels of a controversial loss at Ohio State that has kept Rutgers from remaining undefeated in Big Ten play, the Scarlet Knights have effectively turned the page and not only saw the error of their previous ways, but have turned the mistakes into a more effective and cohesive brand of basketball, to the betterment of the program and a season that by all accounts could end up being the best in recent program history, something that was thought going into the year to be improbable.

“That’s just the journey of every season,” Pikiell reflected. “You’re not going to play great every night. (Seton Hall) was a one-possession game and we didn’t finish that game, but you learn from it, we finished the Purdue game, and these guys are back on track. We’ve learned from film, our rotations are better now, everyone’s a little more comfortable in what they do. It’s all part of the process, and especially playing in a league like this, it prepares you for that.”