Rutgers left to reflect and reassess after colossal upset loss to Lafayette

Cliff Omoruyi was one of few bright spots for Rutgers Monday as Scarlet Knights suffered unexpected upset loss to Lafayette. (Photo by Rutgers Athletics)

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Rutgers had been living dangerously in each of its first four games, needing overtime to survive Lehigh in the season opener, then shaking off slow starts against Merrimack and NJIT before being outdueled late on the road at DePaul.

Monday night proved more of the same.

Unable to shake Lafayette, an 0-4 team ranked 315th of 358 in Ken Pomeroy’s ratings and one who suffered losses of 28 points or more in all but one of its contests — including trips to Syracuse and Duke — on the young season, the Scarlet Knights were life and death to put the pesky Leopards away, not getting breathing room until Ron Harper, Jr. stripped a cutting Neal Quinn and then converted Paul Mulcahy’s dish for a straightaway 3-pointer to give Rutgers the lead inside the final minute.

But as the old adage states, play with fire long enough and you will get burned.

Lafayette proved the time-tested axiom right when Kyle Jenkins confidently shot an early dagger into a season rife with high hopes, the expectation that the Scarlet Knights would add to their renaissance of the past two seasons, by draining a three with two seconds to play. A desperation heave by Mulcahy caromed off the backboard, and there was Rutgers, left to pick itself up off the ground following a shocking 53-51 defeat, perhaps one of the more glaring losses under Steve Pikiell’s six-year watch on the banks.

“Disappointing,” was all Pikiell could say in the aftermath of a night where Rutgers (3-2) shot just 29 percent from the field and connected on only four of its 26 3-point field goals. “But I’m going to give Lafayette credit. When they needed to make a big play down the stretch, they made the big shot. The last two games have come down to a couple of stops, and we weren’t able to get it. We obviously have to play much better, we have to figure out a way to keep improving, but you certainly can’t shoot that percentage from three when you’re getting open looks.”

“We’ve just gotta play better, more energy. And it’s on me. It’s on me as the coach, I’m fully aware of that and I stand by (that) I like this team a lot. I really do.”

His point guard, who shouldered more responsibility in the wake of Geo Baker being forced off the court by a hamstring injury and Harper fighting back issues, affirmed the optimism.

“I’m not happy, but I’m not worried,” Mulcahy reiterated. “We have a really good team and we’ve shown a lot of flashes of that, so I’m not satisfied (with) where we are, but I’m not worried. We’re gonna figure it out. I’m trying my best with my leadership and I’m working on that to help us, but we’re gonna figure it out.”

“I don’t know who’s shooting well right now. Coach says sometimes that affects our entire game, but all of us work our tails off. Everybody’s always in the gym, so we all kind of still trust each other and believe in each other, so it doesn’t really matter right now. They’re gonna fall.”

Glossing over what could be a major issue can only last so long, however. Rutgers’ next contest comes Saturday at UMass, followed by a rematch of its first-round NCAA victory over Clemson a week from Tuesday at the building formerly known as the RAC. And not only is Rutgers struggling offensively, but the rebounding aspect of this year’s roster that Pikiell highlighted and praised so effusively in the preseason was demolished to the tune of a 45-32 Lafayette domination on the glass.

“We kind of addressed it, and I thought we did a good job on the backboards against a really good rebounding team (DePaul),” Pikiell reflected. “I thought we were kind of headed in that area, but I really was disappointed. I thought we could have had 18 offensive rebounds today, but we just didn’t have it when we needed it. We need to bring it on that end of the floor, we need to rebound better, and we will.”

Mulcahy was even more succinct.

“We need to do a better job coming out and punching teams in their mouth,” he admitted. “We’re gonna get there. This isn’t real adversity, it’s just basketball. We lost two games early that everyone expected us to win, but it’s (about) how we collect ourselves and bounce back.”

“I think we’re a lot better than this, obviously,” Pikiell reiterated. “I’d like to be 5-0. That’s where I thought we’d be, but we’re not there and there’s nothing you can do about the past. You can only work on what you need to do to get better in the future. Lafayette ran us around, you’ve got to give them credit. We’ve just got to get them playing a lot better together, and we will. That’s what my job is.”