Bailey’s long-awaited debut lives up to hype as Rutgers turns back Monmouth

Ace Bailey punctuates debut with second-half dunk against Monmouth. Bailey’s 17 points helped move Rutgers to 3-0. (Photo by Rutgers Athletics)

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — One of Rutgers’ two transcendent freshmen already turned heads in the past week with back-to-back 20-point games. Friday was his wingman’s turn.

After missing the Scarlet Knights’ first two contests with a hip injury, Ace Bailey made his official debut on the banks and did not disappoint, scoring 17 points and adding six rebounds as 24th-ranked Rutgers improved to 3-0 on the young season with a 98-81 victory over Monmouth.

Bailey, a potential No. 1 overall pick in next June’s NBA Draft, only needed 27 seconds to get on the scoreboard, doing so on a 3-pointer in the right corner off a pass from Jordan Derkack. Rutgers led wire-to-wire against the visiting Hawks, and it seemed fitting that it was the 6-foot-10 phenom who drew first blood.

“Obviously, we wanted to get him going early,” Derkack said of Bailey and his eventual impact. “We didn’t mean for it to happen like that, but I was just kind of playing out there. Whoever set a flare screen for him, great play. I wound up finding him, and it was a good shot.”

“I wanted him to play,” Monmouth head coach King Rice revealed. “This wasn’t, ‘oh, I want him to play, put it up on the board.’ I love college basketball and this kid is one of the best to do it. It’s amazing that he’s that talented as a young kid, and it’s cool that he’s at Rutgers. I watched him last year when he played against Camden and scored 50, and was like, ‘wow, how is this kid that good at that age?’ I was glad that he played in the game. For a young man to not be playing, and then they run the first play for him and he hits a corner three to start the game, of course that was gonna happen against us today.”

Harper made his presence known as well, adding 20 points for a third straight game reaching that plateau, but the main takeaway was Bailey, who dazzled on a night where Rutgers was short handed, playing without Jeremiah Williams as the senior guard recovers from a shoulder injury.

“Ace is talented, and he helped pass the ball, too,” head coach Steve Pikiell assessed. “We’ve gotta get him in game shape, but I thought he gutted it out for us. He gives us another dimension on the court, and he’ll keep getting better too, like this team. I like this team, and he’s a big part of that.”

The victory did not come without a fight, however, as Monmouth (0-4) got 38 points from sophomore guard Abdi Bashir, who set a school record with ten 3-pointers in one of the better individual performances to date in the young season.

“I was really concerned with (Bashir), and I actually thought we did a decent job on him,” Pikiell said. “Then I looked at the box score. He did a fantastic job. He’s an incredible scorer. I thought we settled in and we shared the ball, we almost had six guys in double figures. (It was) a good team win, and everyone contributed.”

Multiple Rutgers players keyed in on Bashir, one of whom was Derkack, earning praise from the opposing head coach, who compared the hard-nosed junior to himself after the game.

“I love that kid,” said Rice. “He’s so tough and he’s skilled, and he’s a point guard that isn’t gonna shoot a lot of shots, but he’s such a winner. He wins games. There used to be this kid from Binghamton who went to North Carolina and couldn’t shoot, but he led his team to a Final Four. If you’re a point guard and you’re a winner like Jordan is, he can lead his team to a lot of places. I knew he was good on defense, but I didn’t know he was THAT good.”

His own coach was equally complimentary shortly after Rice offered his assessment.

“He does a lot of things for us,” Pikiell echoed, lauding Derkack’s versatility. “He’s a fantastic passer, but traffic rebounds, he can score, he can get it going downhill and he can really defend, too. I thought he did a good job on (Bashir), but Jordan brings a lot to us. He’s a leader, he’s got good toughness, he never misses a day of practice. He watches the most film on the team, too, so we’re really glad to have him back in New Jersey.”

The 98 points amassed by Rutgers Friday is a high water mark in Pikiell’s eight-plus years at the helm, besting the previous peak of 96 markers against FDU in November of 2020. Pikiell attributed the uptick on offense to Monmouth’s faster pace while also highlighting the speedier product turned out by his own unit, but reiterated that more improvement is needed as Rutgers traverses the proverbial playing field.

“We learn lessons in all these games,” he opined. “They’re very important for us. We’re playing at a different pace, and Monmouth plays at a different pace. You’re not gonna score as many points when you play the Wagners of the world, they play at a slower pace. We’re up and down the floor more, so more defensive possessions, more offensive possessions, so your defense can get exploited a little bit more.”

“We’re growing as a group. We gotta improve in every area. You see some good signs of a lot of good things, but you gotta play 40 minutes, too. That’s a huge part of moving forward here once we start playing Big Ten games. Those are 40-minute games.”