Lack of depth, size too much for Rutgers to overcome against Ohio State

 

Montez Mathis looks for an open teammate as Rutgers suffered first loss of season at Ohio State. (Photo by Rutgers Athletics)

Even Superman has his kryptonite.

For Rutgers, it was a confluence of events that brought the cacophony of excitement down to earth Wednesday night, as the euphoria surrounding the 11th-ranked Scarlet Knights was temporarily silenced in an 80-68 loss to Ohio State inside Value City Arena in Columbus.

Rutgers (6-1, 2-1 Big Ten) looked convincing through the majority of the first half, seizing control with a combination of 3-point shooting and its textbook defensive lockdown to open up a double-digit lead on a Buckeyes team ranked 23rd in the nation. Despite Cliff Omoruyi being unavailable after spraining his knee in Sunday’s win over Illinois, the Scarlet Knights valiantly fought, stretching their cushion as wide as 16 points before fate turned on two whistles and a landing that looked every bit as painful for those watching at home as it did for the integral piece of the puzzle to whom it happened.

First, the initial of the two questionable infractions occurred with 8:44 remaining in regulation and Rutgers holding a 59-51 lead. Myles Johnson, as important a part of Rutgers’ lineup as ever Wednesday with Omoruyi out and Mamadou Doucoure playing limited minutes, and the recipient of a rather controversial fourth foul call five minutes prior, exited the game when official Bo Boroski — who called Johnson’s fourth foul — rung him up for his fifth and final whistle to eliminate whatever post presence the Scarlet Knights had against Ohio State and its two-headed interior tandem of Kyle Young and E.J. Liddell.

“To only have him on the court for 15 minutes without Cliff is not a good thing,” Steve Pikiell reflected, taking the high road and abstaining from criticizing the officials even if it appeared the Buckeyes were immensely aided by calls that went in their favor. “But those are the obstacles. We’ve got to figure it out, we’ve got to get out guys back. He got some fouls early and he never really got into the flow, but he’s a good player. He’ll bounce back and we’ll learn a lot from this.”

Just over a minute later, Rutgers’ already short rotation shrunk even smaller when Jacob Young, who had been — along with Ron Harper, Jr. — one of the two most important cogs in the scarlet machine — went up for a dunk attempt and came down to the floor with a crashing thud. He was tended to by trainer Rich Campbell, but did not return, leaving a gaping hole in the Scarlet Knights’ offense that was willingly exploited by Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann.

“He fell really hard, and he’s in a lot of pain,” said Pikiell, who later revealed Young was receiving medical attention while his press conference was going on. “We’re just keeping our fingers crossed.”

“We just have the next-man-up mentality,” Geo Baker assessed in the wake of Young’s absence and his teammates navigating the final stretch. “Douc and Dean (Reiber) came in and gave us great minutes, and they came in and fought. We’re hoping JY gets better, but it’s next-man-up mentality. We’ve just got to keep playing.”

The coup de grace came at the 4:25 mark of the second half on this Festivus night, when Boroski entrenched himself as the prime subject for Rutgers fans partaking in the airing of grievances by calling a technical foul that appeared to be the first-EVER assessed to Pikiell in his 15-plus years as a head coach, despite his well-documented intensity and fierce competitive streak, but will officially enter the books as a team technical.

“I just have to do a better job,” the affable Pikiell lamented, offering no excuses and taking the brunt of the blame for the second-half letdown. “That’s it. I have to do a better job with the officials. They’re great. They do a great job.”

“I knew they were a really good team whether we won or lost,” he continued, crediting an Ohio State team who outrebounded Rutgers by 20, 45-25, on the night and by a 26-8 margin after halftime. “We couldn’t really get in a flow the whole game, I wasn’t comfortable the whole game, we didn’t rebound. And when you get beat on the boards like we did tonight, and you give up 22 points at the foul line, you’re not going to win games in a great league against great coaches. We have to do a better job, no doubt, and we have to be more creative with our lineups when guys are out. I’ll take the hit for this, but we’ll get better.”

His senior backcourt leader echoed the sentiment, calling this setback a learning moment, and a mere bump in the road on the way to greater heights.

“I just feel like we let up a lead, which as a veteran team, we shouldn’t be doing,” Baker revealed. “We let the lead go, and that’s on us. I think it humbled us a little bit. We obviously wanted to go undefeated, but there’s some things we’ve got to work on, and now we know that.”

“I wouldn’t say the guys are too down right now. We’re just talking about bouncing back. We really believe in each other and we have a great brotherhood. It’s really not going to be a setback. Everything’s going to stay the same.”