Rutgers gets back on track with demolition of Michigan State

Cliff Omoruyi (11) exhorts crowd as Rutgers dominated Michigan State Saturday. (Photo by Rutgers Athletics)

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — After losses to Maryland and Northwestern, with a desperate win over Nebraska sandwiched between them, hardly anyone expected Rutgers to play itself back into contention Saturday against a Michigan State team coming into Jersey Mike’s Arena off an all-out victory of its own.

After all, lackluster efforts preceding the clash with the notoriously physical Spartans are usually not a recipe for victory, at least not on paper, prompting Steve Pikiell to tell the Scarlet Knights to pick up the intensity.

Message received.

Only leading by two points after allowing Gabe Brown to beat the first-half buzzer on a 3-pointer at the horn, Rutgers put Michigan State in a vise over the final 20 minutes, limiting the 13th-ranked Spartans to 25 points after halftime and raising the levels of physicality in an 84-63 rout for a second straight win over Hall of Fame coach Tom Izzo, whose program scored only 37 points in its first game back from a COVID pause in January 2021 in the last meeting between the two schools.

“Well, that was an old-fashioned butt-kicking,” Izzo said, pulling zero punches as Geo Baker and Paul Mulcahy led a half-dozen Rutgers players with double-figure point totals. “It doesn’t surprise me, to be honest with you. As dumb as it sounds, I thought the game was lost early. We gave up some things to Baker early, we didn’t handle the screen-and-rolls very well, and we got our butts kicked on the boards.”

“I thought it was one of the more physical games I’ve been in since the Mateen Cleaves days, and I love the way Steve coached them. I love that brand of basketball, we just didn’t match it. Mulcahy just bully-balled us, and we knew he was going to do that. We didn’t handle it very well with our help.”

Michigan State’s rough-and-tumble reputation was a focal point during the week as the Scarlet Knights (13-9, 7-5 Big Ten) prepared for Saturday’s heavyweight fight, with an assist from one of the team’s unsung heroes.

“We don’t talk about it a lot, but Luke Nathan was kicking our butt this whole week, so I think we were prepared,” Mulcahy recalled. “We matched it all week.”

“That means a lot,” Caleb McConnell said when briefed of Izzo commending Rutgers for its fight and hustle. “The last few games, we haven’t been so physical and Coach Pike kept preaching to us to match the intensity. If we do that consistently every night, I feel like we could play with anybody.”

Rutgers did exactly that, beginning both halves with jarring body blows as Baker began the proceedings with his patented clutch shot making, only for Mulcahy, McConnell and Dean Reiber — the latter of whom posted 12 points in just over 11 minutes — to effectively shut the lights with an 8-0 run that also saw Izzo pick up a technical foul as he seemed to be at a loss for counterpunching the hosts, who coasted to victory from there.

“We dribbled the ball in the post and they were there, they dribbled the ball in the post and they were nowhere,” Izzo lamented. “We looked two steps slow. You can’t let a team get going that hasn’t been going really well, and we let them get going. I’m very disappointed that someone would take it to us like that and I didn’t see us retaliate in any way.”

“I wasn’t in love with the first half as far as our defense was concerned, but I thought we played really good defense in the second half,” said Pikiell. “We didn’t turn the ball over like we did in the past, and rebounding’s always something we emphasize, so plus-10 was a big part of that. We shared the game, 22 assists is hard to do in a game like this. We had a lot of timely baskets, but our defense and our rebounding carried us in the second half.”

On top of the defensive shutdown, Rutgers controlled the glass to a 31-20 margin against the Spartans, and tallied 22 assists in the process, with Mulcahy responsible for 12 of those helpers.

“It takes two, and I’m just trying to get guys the ball,” he assessed of his progression as a point guard. “We’ve got some really talented guys that make it really easy for that to happen.”

“He’s just been locked in,” McConnell opined. “He shows up every day, he’s a leader every day, and I feel like that’s what it takes to play on the level he’s playing at.”

With Mulcahy and Baker in a synergy in the backcourt, Rutgers has already shown it could play the two-man game. Now, with Reiber’s emergence alongside Cliff Omoruyi, the Scarlet Knights have an interior dynamic to join the guards, with McConnell bridging the two tandems.

“You guys haven’t seen the half of Dean yet,” McConnell gushed, effusive in his praise of Reiber. “Dean has a whole other side you guys have never even seen. He’s way athletic, he can finish way above the rim, he can make plays, he can pass, shoot and dribble as a big, and that’s awesome being in this league. Once he puts it together, Dean’s ceiling is through the roof, man. He played 11 minutes and he had 12 points, so that shows you what kind of a player he is. Cliff is super athletic, he can throw the ball almost anywhere and get it into the paint, and Dean can step out and shoot it, he can also pass the ball very well. It just spaces the floor out and we’re giving you a one-two punch, especially when they’re both on the same page.”

“Our team flows better when everybody’s on the same page, defending, really locked in and sharing the game. Nobody can really stop us when we’re doing that, especially when everybody in the starting five’s in double digits, Paul’s in double digits in assists. If we could use this momentum to really get together and set that bar every game, I feel like we’ll be fine.”

With eight games remaining in the regular season, Rutgers can still get back onto the good side of the NCAA Tournament bubble, beginning Wednesday against Ohio State, who now faces a Scarlet Knight team that might be at its most connected after Saturday’s rout.

“We can do it,” McConnell proclaimed, ever the optimist. “Today’s February 5, we have a good schedule left, plenty of opportunity. If we could get things back rolling and get things back on the right page every night, this team has no ceiling, especially when we’re all locked in. We’re going to finish this season out how we started.”

But regardless of how the season ends, the dean of Big Ten coaches has given Pikiell a vote of confidence.

“When I first met Steve, I didn’t know him at all,” Izzo said. “After working at Connecticut for my crazy friend there (Jim Calhoun), he just had such a good demeanor about him, he’s got some toughness to him. I think he’s done a hell of a job. I’m a Steve Pikiell fan. I hate him today, but as far as overall, I really think he’s done a hell of a job.”