Rutgers reaches another point of reckoning after rivalry loss to Seton Hall

At 5-6 overall after loss to Seton Hall, Steve Pikiell is still searching for a spark as Rutgers nears return to Big Ten play in what could be a long season on the banks. (Photo by Rutgers Athletics)

By Sam Federman (@Sam_Federman)

NEWARK, N.J. – You’re supposed to throw out all of the records in rivalry games. Nothing is supposed to matter outside of the 40 minutes on that particular night, between two sides separated by cold, hard, hate.

A season ago, with the shoe partially on the other foot, a talented Rutgers team that hadn’t quite lost its optimism yet needed every last inch to defeat a Seton Hall side that went on to win just two Big East games. Now it’s the Pirates with the optimism, and they left no doubt against a struggling Scarlet Knights unit on Saturday.

Rutgers was down 11-0 almost immediately, and never led en route to an 81-59 loss at the Prudential Center. It marked the biggest margin in a Garden State Hardwood Classic of Steve Pikiell’s now-ten seasons at the helm of the RU program. The setback dropped Rutgers to 5-6, and down to 147th in KenPom with six losses in seven games. Now with no more non-conference statements to make (and last month’s UNLV win looking worse after the Rebels lost to Tennessee State), Rutgers is staring down the barrel of a potential last-place finish in a stacked Big Ten, needing freshmen to grow up fast.

Pikiell once again changed up the starting lineup, putting Tariq Francis back in the first five and removing Jamichael Davis. The coach thought Francis had a great week of practice, and that Davis could provide instant energy off the bench.

“I went with that lineup, a little bit older,” he said. “They had a good week of practice, our best shooters were on the floor, and I thought that would help us a little bit in this game.”

It didn’t matter. Seton Hall seized the energy right away as Budd Clark stole the ball from Francis, his Rutgers counterpart, multiple times to create easy baskets. Even though the Scarlet Knights bounced back and clawed the game back down to one point, the energy remained with the Pirates.

“When you play in a game like this, you can’t be timid,” Pikiell said. “I thought we were on our heels for the first five minutes.”

When Seton Hall went on a 15-0 run to open up the double-digit lead again, Rutgers had to take its second timeout of the first half.

The Scarlet Knights were outplayed in every aspect of the game. Its shots were blocked seven times. Its point guards turned the ball over nine times. It lost the battle on the glass, and it allowed Seton Hall to shoot 61 percent from inside the arc.

So where can Rutgers go from here? Nobody will be truly convinced of improvement if it sweeps its final two games of the non-conference slate against Penn and Delaware State. Then, Big Ten play starts, and the Scarlet Knights are only favored in two games, both home matchups against Maryland in February and Penn State and March.

Rutgers’ Big Ten schedule is front-loaded. The five games against the other three teams ranked outside KenPom’s top 100 all come within its last seven league contests. January is highlighted by trips to Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, and home games against Michigan State and Indiana.

The Scarlet Knights are still a very young team, and twinkles of promise are starting to shine within the abyss that is the overall team performance at the moment. Lino Mark played what Pikiell called “by far his best” game of the season, with 10 points on 3-for-6 shooting before he left with cramps. Harun Zrno put up his third straight double-digit scoring game, and the decision to put him in the starting lineup and give him more minutes has paid off.

“In all of our high-level games, he’s been able to produce for us,” Pikiell said of Zrno. “We've got to start putting in more stuff for him. If we didn’t have 18 turnovers, he would’ve got some more looks.”

Additionally, sophomore Dylan Grant has been Rutgers’ top scorer this year, emphasizing that growth from the young players will continue to benefit the program in the long term. But will this level of talent be enough to get it done in the Big Ten this year? Will Rutgers be able to keep its key players around next season? Will keeping them around even be enough? All three of those questions lack a clear answer.

That’s why the program feels as though it may be hitting a low point. Rutgers’ once-vaunted defensive identity wavered last season and has not returned. And with that in mind, it could lead to some more ugly nights throughout the season.

But it’s easy to forget that these lows are still notably higher than those of Pikiell’s predecessors. That’s not to say this will or won’t be the end of his time, but it certainly feels like the walls are starting to close in. A particularly disgruntled Rutgers fan entered the media room to shout “Fire Pikiell” as the press contingent awaited the coach’s presence. What will it take to change that fan’s mind? Is that realistic and attainable for this group of Scarlet Knights? How much of that is pinned on Pikiell himself?

Those are columns to be written for another time.