Cliff Omoruyi slams door on Illinois during Rutgers’ fourth straight win over ranked opponent Wednesday. (Photo by Rutgers Athletics)
Media and critics alike dismissed the optimism, citing the inability to replace two of the Scarlet Knights’ most integral pieces. After non-conference losses to Lafayette and UMass, the dissent grew louder. On December 3, following an 86-51 pasting at the hands of Illinois, it reached the proverbial crescendo.
Two months later, Pikiell was vindicated, perhaps no more than he was Wednesday at Jersey Mike’s Arena, when his Rutgers team dominated the same Illini team who handed it one of his worst beatings in six years at the helm and returned the favor from pillar to post in a commanding 70-59 rout that was never once close.
“I told you guys I like this team, and I think you’re starting to see that,” Pikiell said after Rutgers crushed Illinois on the glass by a 46-28 margin and forced one of the most offensively gifted teams in the Big Ten to go away from Kofi Cockburn and hoist 13 straight 3-point attempts that misfired. “They get along great, they share the game, they play the right way and it’s really showing.”
“We’ve certainly gotten better. They’ve gotten better defensively, all these guys have gotten better offensively, and you learn from games like that. We learned a lot from the game, and I think it helped us tonight.”
So exactly what was it that changed in the past 75 days since that low point in Champaign?
“We’ve evolved a lot,” Cliff Omoruyi shared after a double-double against Cockburn proved Pikiell’s effusive praise for his own big man legitimate. “Compared to the team that played two months ago, we’re together now through everything. We play as a team, everybody’s in the gym doing their own work personally, so we just work on team chemistry.”
“Just our whole attitude and our preparation for games has been awesome,” Caleb McConnell added. “Since then, we just got better because we stuck with the course and we understand what kind of league we’re playing in. We just keep going up.”
McConnell established himself yet again as the emotional leader and backbone of this scrappy Rutgers team, scratching and clawing his way to 11 points that he supplemented with seven rebounds and four steals, the last of which perhaps saving the game and quashing a late Illinois rally when he stripped Trent Frazier to start a runout that ended in an Omoruyi dunk that summarized his role and value in ways no numbers ever could.
“I kind of laugh because every time there’s a big play or something defensively, this kid ends up getting the ball somehow and I’m like, ‘Jesus!’” Paul Mulcahy gushed, reiterating McConnell’s goal of becoming Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. “Caleb’s been great. I’ve seen it for three years. I like it when he’s on my team in practice so I don’t have to go against him, but I’m really proud of him. He deserves it.”
“Caleb’s just so active, he just does so many things,” Pikiell echoed. “He’s 6-foot-7, he’s got great length, he anticipates. He likes the challenges of playing the best players, and that’s awesome for a coach because everyone always talks about points. There’s so much on the other side of the ball that means winning or losing. He does all those things, and that’s why we’re winning.”
Player development is only part of the equation, with hard work beating talent when talent does not work hard serving as another piece of the puzzle. Much like Tom Izzo 11 days ago, another head of a conference heavyweight shared a similar perspective.
“That was something my team hasn’t seen in a long, long time,” Illinois head coach Brad Underwood said of Rutgers. “And that was getting punched in the face. I’m almost in disbelief at how lackadaisical my team was tonight. We had no answer, no life, no spirit, no fight.”
“That’s a team that’s very capable of making a really good run. They’re playing harder than 90 percent of the competition I’ve seen on film, and they’re playing their ass off.”
Now on the positive side of the bubble, Rutgers will attempt to further the momentum it has with trips to Purdue and Michigan Sunday and Wednesday, respectively. The Scarlet Knights currently stand one game out of the Big Ten lead, which begs the question:
What would it mean to potentially win the regular season conference crown?
“We’ve all thought it was possible since we’ve been here,” a confident Mulcahy shot back. “I hate the outside things that don’t expect that and don’t believe in that, but it doesn’t really matter. We want more than just a shot. We want to win. We hold ourselves to that standard.”
“He had a vision and we all believed in that vision,” McConnell said of Pikiell and his unwavering faith. “And we’re still buying in now. It just shows you that we can play with anybody and against anybody with what we’ve got. It’s just us.”
As for whether or not Rutgers is good enough to hear its name announced as one of 68 next month? While the Scarlet Knights are trending in the right direction, their leader is making sure the team gets neither too high nor too low.
“We’ll know on March 13,” Pikiell reiterated. “That’s the only day that matters.”
Great article. You got a lot of quotes I didn't see elsewhere. Will be checking back in for sure.
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