Rutgers’ latest vindication and synchronicity are proof of its arrival on big stage

 

Geo Baker scored 15 points in return to action as Rutgers won Big Ten opener at Maryland. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

It was only one year ago tonight when Rutgers fans emphatically broke down the walls that prevented them from publicly dreaming big.

December 14, 2019. The day in which the dam burst, the levees broke, the banks were awash with prosperity after a 20-point demolition of in-state rival Seton Hall.

Perhaps it was simply fate that the State University would pick the exact same day of the following year to author an encore just as, if not more, resonant than the catharsis that resulted from claiming New Jersey bragging rights last season.

Prior to Monday, Rutgers had never won its opening contest of Big Ten Conference play since joining the league in 2014. The program had not taken the floor ranked within the Top 20 of a national poll since Jimmy Carter occupied the White House. And perhaps more impressive than that, the last time the Scarlet Knights had won each of their first five contests by a double-digit margin, the United States was in the throes of the Great Depression, with no end in sight after Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s inauguration less than 24 months prior. All that changed in one fell, 40-minute swoop, in a year where unpredictability and alterations completed faster than your local tailor have become de rigueur in society.

So, too, has Rutgers after its latest lasting impression, an overpowering defeat of Maryland in its Big Ten curtain-raising for 2020-21 whose tenor and composition were far more stentorian than the 74-60 final score let on.

“I think it’s always important for us to bring the best product we can on the court,” Ron Harper, Jr. declared after his latest star turn — a 27-point effort in which he posted 19 of those markers after halftime and outscored the host Terrapins by himself for stretches of the final stanza — allowed the 19th-ranked Scarlet Knights to move to 5-0 on the season. “But you know, we don’t look at the rankings or the number next to our name, because we know everybody in the Big Ten is a great opponent. We just have to go into each game with a chip on our shoulder. We’re a lot of underrecruited guys and we’re just hard-nosed, hard workers.”

“I think that’s kind of a big statement for our team,” Myles Johnson echoed after a 10-point, 16-rebound double-double — the latter figure a career-high — complemented Harper’s second-half takeover and a team defensive effort that rendered Maryland into 34 percent shooting from the floor. “I think winning on the road, making it our first Big Ten win, too, was a huge statement. It just shows we’re a different team and we’ve gotten even better from last year.”

Rutgers indeed was a different team Monday than in either of its previous three iterations, and that was due to the return to action of Geo Baker. The senior point guard, who missed three games with a sprained ankle — coincidentally, he missed only three games last season with a thumb injury before sparking the Scarlet Knights’ magical February — played as though he never missed a beat, scoring 15 points and connecting on his patented step-back 3-pointer for his first basket of the evening.

“I didn’t think he would play that much,” head coach Steve Pikiell revealed. “But he said he felt really good, and we kept him on the floor.”

“It meant a lot to us,” said Harper of Baker suiting up. “He fought hard to get back healthy these last couple of weeks. It’s all about sacrifices. He sacrificed for this team today, and him being back was big.”

Not only was Baker’s return big, but the imposing presence of Johnson and Cliff Omoruyi on the floor together was as well. The pair, who proudly wear their motivational roles for one another on their sleeves, played a major role in Rutgers establishing its size advantage against a shorter Maryland front line, collecting 16 points, 21 rebounds, and several altered shots not reflected in the final stat sheets.

“I think the lineup with me and Cliff is definitely going to work out,” an optimistic Johnson assessed. “Having me and Cliff in at the same time is kind of like double trouble. They don’t really know who to guard, plus we’re crashing the glass. With me, 6’10”, and Cliff 7-something, pretty much every rebound’s going to go our way, and our length is crazy. It’s hard to stop that.”

“I really like it,” Pikiell concurred. “As Cliff and Myles keep getting better defensively, guarding those guys, we can go to it at any time. I like it and we continue to work on it, and as long as they stay out of foul trouble, it’s a lineup that we can go to at times in the game and become real physical. I like the versatility.”

The Scarlet Knights have the measured quantities that separate good teams from those still searching for the right combination. The question surrounding this group going into this year was that of how their intangibles had developed in lockstep with realistic expectations in Piscataway for the first time in decades. Those factors are now also present and accounted for, and in abundance to match the big dreams both players and fans share as one.

“We’re always trying to make history,” Baker declared. “I came here for a national championship, so I’m not really worried about rankings right now.”

“When I first got here, it wasn’t the prettiest,” Johnson — Baker’s roommate who has been through hell alongside him on the way to heaven — recounted. “It was in the basement. Now, I think we’re making big noise. I think we’re one of the best teams in the nation, really, and going into each game with that confidence, the results are showing.”