Rutgers basketball falls to St. John's in thrilling charity exhibition
NEW YORK – It’s a new season for Rutgers basketball, but the same mantra still applies for head coach Steve Pikiell.
Defense, defense, defense.
The Scarlet Knights rode stifling second-half defense to erase a 20-point deficit, but St. John's prevailed in two overtimes 89-78 Saturday in a thrilling charity exhibition at a rocking Carnesecca Arena.
FIVE TAKEWAYS
1. Take exhibitions in stride
Resist the temptation to draw sweeping conclusions from an October exhibition. Coaches experiment in these settings, and they also hold stuff back.
For example: Pikiell was certainly experimenting with a starting lineup of Derek Simpson, Gavin Griffiths, Aundre Hyatt, Oskar Palmquist and Cliff Omoruyi. To open the second half, with the Scarlet Knights down 18, the coach sent out four different starters along with Omoruyi. Even facing a big deficit, that’s something Pikiell never does.
He also had some atypical lineups on the floor in crunch time. One of his unstated goals for this game was to give all 10 scholarship players a good run (at least 10 minutes apiece) so he could evaluate them.
“The reason I like to play closed scrimmages is because I like to play different lineups and do things like that," he said. "Ten guys got minutes and got their feet wet. You want to win, but you’re also trying to see some guys, too.”
Defensive stopper Mawot Mag (knee) did not play as he continues to recover from a torn ACL suffered in February.
“We’re not ready yet to put him in the middle of games," Pikiell said. "He can play, but we’ll bring him along at the right pace. We certainly missed his defense tonight.”
Backup center Emmanuel Ogbole (knee) and reserve guard Jeremiah Williams (two-time transfer ineligibility) also sat for Rutgers.
For St. John’s, highly touted transfers Jordan Dingle (Penn) and RJ Luis (UMass) were sidelined by injuries, Dingle as a precaution for a shoulder tweak.
No need to risk anyone’s recovery process for a game that doesn’t count.
2. About the tempo
There has been considerable talk about Rutgers running and pressing as a staple this season, which is the way they’ve been practicing (and a stated desire by the players after an offseason influx of athleticism).
St. John’s, which opened the game pressing 94 feet with off-the-charts intensity, offered an acid test for that style. After falling into a 20-point hole, Rutgers rallied when the pace slowed down. That’s not to say up-tempo is out the window for the Scarlet Knights – few, if any, of their opponents this season will bring the kind of heat the Johnnies brought. And it’s clear that freshman guard Jamichael Davis (who looked right at home with 16 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and no turnovers) is built to thrive with a fast pace.
In the end, Rutgers was at its best when settling into its half-court defense, making St. John’s grind out long offensive possessions, and then striking quick on offense when the opportunity (often provided by heady defense) allowed.
“We play full-court man every day, but playing in that arena with opposing fans and a different team with different guys, it was a different feeling, a different type of energy,” postgrad point guard Noah Fernandes said. “As the game went on we got used to their pressure and used to the pace, and we controlled the second half with our pace – defensively we did what we wanted to do.”
In the overtimes, St. John's had a bit more gas in the tank because there was no drop-off in physicality from players 1-10, and that's without two key guys. In the final sequence of regulation, the Johnnies blocked a jumper by Griffiths (14 points on 5-of-15 shooting) out of bounds and then pressured Hyatt into stepping on the sideline as he tried to get a corner triple off. At the end of the first overtime, Nahiem Alleyne hit a tying 3-pointer at the buzzer after St. John's corralled three straight offensive boards.
3. Omoruyi wins big-man battle
The featured matchup of Rutgers’ All-Big Ten center Cliff Omoruyi and St. John’s All-Big East center Joel Soriano ended with advantage Omoruyi. St. John’s consistently sent two men to double the 6-foot-11 senior, who still posted 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting and grabbed 9 boards.
Defensively, Omoruyi blocked two shots and altered numerous others by Soriano (9 points on 6-of-15 shooting, 16 rebounds) and his teammates. He also stuffed Soriano cold at the rim in the final minute of regulation. Offensively, Omoruyi was probably under-used as Rutgers shot 4-of-20 from 3-point range.
“We need Cliff to be like that," Pikiell said. "He was tested tonight, which was good. They both went at it pretty good. We’ve got to get him the ball more, especially when we’re not shooting the 3 well, but Cliff is good, he’s improved and he’s going to have a big year for us.”
4. It comes down to defense
The tale of two halves was about defense.
When Rutgers “sat down and guarded people” in the half-court, as Pikiell likes to say, it was a different team. Simpson (9 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds, 3 steals) was the catalyst on that end, but Fernandes and Davis thrived, too.
St. John's shot just 25 percent from the field in the second half, and all told Rutgers scored 19 points off of turnovers.
As for St. John's, Rick Pitino clearly has put his imprint on this program. The Red Storm's ball pressure was flat-out suffocating over the first 20 minutes, something they will sustain better once the injured guys return. Point guard Daniss Jenkins (13 points, 9 assists) is a true floor general at both ends, but he tired without Dingle available to relieve him.
As is often the case, this outcome was decided by stops in the half-court -- and that's a work in progress, as you would expect in October.
No doubt this will be emphasized in both teams' film room.
“We’re going to keep pushing; we never stop fighting," Fernandes said. "That’s just the culture Coach Pikes has built. We’re never going to give up and Rutgers fans, don’t give up on us because we’re always going to compete.”
5. Love October basketball
The proliferation of charity exhibitions in college basketball, replacing one of the two traditional closed-door scrimmages, is good for the sport. Thousands of dollars were raised Saturday for the V Foundation’s pediatric cancer research arm – a cause launched by former Rutgers point guard Jim Valvano and championed by former Rutgers assistant-turned-TV-legend Dick Vitale.
“It’s nice to play somebody else, someone who has this kind of quality coaching, quality players, quality crowd," Pikiell said while praising the turnout and the cause. "Maybe some guys had some jitters. That’s why I like to play these types of games on the road.”
The crowd of about 4,000 in 5,600-seat Carnesecca Arena (at least 80 percent St. John’s fans) brought the juice for a no-stakes game. After an interminable offseason filled with mind-numbing news from the transfer portal, it was refreshing to see the ball bounce again.
Jerry Carino has covered the New Jersey sports scene since 1996 and the college basketball beat since 2003. He is an Associated Press Top 25 voter. Contact him at jcarino@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Rutgers basketball falls to St. John's in thrilling charity exhibition
