Geo Baker and Rutgers look to shoot themselves back onto good side of bubble Wednesday at Indiana. (Photo by Rutgers Athletics)
PISCATAWAY, N.J. — It may as well be kismet that it comes down to this for Rutgers to keep its NCAA Tournament hopes alive.
In each of the past two seasons, the Scarlet Knights have entered their final road game of the regular season in a do-or-die situation, and have twice emerged victorious after Geo Baker pulled Rutgers out of the fire against Purdue and Jacob Young orchestrated similar magic at Minnesota's expense. After being unable to get over the hump Saturday at home against Big Ten leader Wisconsin, Steve Pikiell’s hardwood pugilists now go to Indiana Wednesday in search of a third straight lightning strike. Is such a script fitting for a group who seems to thrive with its collective back against the proverbial wall?
“Unfortunately, it is fitting,” Ron Harper, Jr. conceded. “Life in the Big Ten is tough, and the last two years, back against the wall, we kind of have a funny way of getting it done when it matters.”
“We’ve struggled on the road mightily those two years, last year and the year prior, but when it matters, we seem to get it done, so it definitely gives you confidence going into the game. I think these guys know what we’re going to have to bring to the table to beat Indiana at Indiana, but we’ve been there before.”
National pundits, and even those in the local media, were quick to eulogize Rutgers after non-conference losses to DePaul, Lafayette and UMass in November, and the burial was expedited after a 35-point loss at Illinois to open league play. But as has always been the case, the Scarlet Knights have gone about their business with their usual lunchpail flair, simply looking for a daily 1-0 record and surveying the landscape from there. Needless to say, the results have paid off.
“If we looked at everything the media said about us, we’d be dead in the water,” Harper opined, offering a refreshing look into a player’s perspective wherein he dismissed bracketology as “one of the greatest hoaxes in basketball.” “We just have to take it with a grain of salt and keep pushing. Nobody expected us to be at this point in November, and if you told me after the loss to Lafayette that we’d be here today, I’d be very happy. Me looking at brackets every time we win a game doesn’t make any sense, and me looking at a bracket every time we lose a game doesn’t make any sense. There’s only one Selection Sunday.”
Let us all not forget that at this point four years ago, very few people thought this even possible for Rutgers, still shedding the image of national laughingstock at the time. Pikiell was quick to reference the rebuild that his players — not him or his staff — saw through to its completion, and made no bones about that process being a driving factor in leading the program to where it is today.
“Their experience has put us in this place,” he proclaimed. “I think back to last year, every kid had an opportunity to go somewhere else and transfer. These guys have stayed, and look at what they’ve helped build. We’re looking forward to the last two games, and these guys know it’s never been easy. It’s always hard, and it’s always hard when you play in a great league. You’ve gotta fight and you gotta be ready, but they’ve been there before. I like the way this team’s been all year.”
And will the sense of déjà vu help Rutgers in its next conquest?
“Most definitely,” Caleb McConnell projected. “Just like Pike said, we wouldn’t want it any other way. Ever since me and Ron have been here, our backs have always been on the wall and we know how to get up off the wall. We know how to bounce back, and that’s what we’re going to do. It’s really about just focusing about now and thinking about what we’re going to do now. We’re gonna go in with that mindset of we have to get this game, and that’s going to give us an extra boost.”
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