How Rutgers basketball handled bad breaks, outside noise to halt losing streak

The morning after his Rutgers basketball team halted a three-game losing streak with a one-point, shorthanded triumph at Wisconsin, Steve Pikiell’s voice is hoarse.

Pikiell is not known for high-volume ranting and raving, and he didn’t go there last week, even as much of the Scarlet Knights’ fan base devolved into hysteria. But the strain of a long season has unmistakably hit his vocal cords.

“If you can’t get through a losing streak, you’re in the wrong league,” the coach said Sunday. “Every team in our league goes through it.”

That’s true. Witness Indiana in December, or Purdue right now.

“You embrace that people are interested,” Pikiell said, “but nobody knows the journey of the season the way coaches and players do.”

‘Like he was 95 years old’

That journey encountered several potholes recently. The loss of glue-guy forward Mawot Mag to a season-ending knee injury was one. Another surfaced right before tip-off against Wisconsin. Postgrad guard Caleb McConnell, the team’s top defender, was doing a standard “touch the line” warm-up drill at center court when he bent over and his back went out.

“He literally couldn’t walk – he looked like he was 95 years old,” Pikiell said. “He’s a tough kid, too.”

McConnell spent stretches of the game on the floor of Rutgers’ locker room.

“And afterwards it doesn’t help that you’re on planes and buses,” Pikiell said. “He was like a pretzel coming out of it. We have a few days, so hopefully he’ll be fine.”

McConnell dealt with chronic back injuries earlier in this college career; Pikiell doesn’t believe this is related.

“He’d been fine,” the coach said.

Adjustments on the fly

At the moment, McConnell’s status for Thursday’s home game against Michigan is uncertain. But at Wisconsin, Pikiell and his players had to make on-the-fly adjustments. One was moving Oskar Palmquist into the starting lineup and shifting wing Aundre Hyatt’s defensive responsibilities.

“All week (in practice) Aundre was guarding bigs; now he has to guard wings,” Pikiell said. “His ability to adapt has been awesome.”

Just to reassure the senior, Pikiell gave him a last-minute pep talk.

“Aundre, you guarded Ron Harper the last two years (in practice),” Pikiell said. “This is just like Ron. You’re ready.”

Yet, in a further testament to the 6-foot-6 Hyatt’s versatility, Pikiell shifted him onto 6-foot-9 Wisconsin standout Tyler Wahl in crunch time. Hyatt delivered. He ended up with eight points and nine boards, including the game-winning put-back.

And Rutgers’ subs came through as well, contributing to a defensive effort that held Wisconsin to 33 percent shooting.

“Oskar’s 18 minutes were good,” Pikiell said. “When I watched him on film and graded him out, he was where he needed to be. Dean (Reiber) too.”

Then there was freshman Derek Simpson, who logged 21 minutes and was on the floor at the end. His drive to the rim on Rutgers’ final possession set Hyatt’s put-back in motion. That was pure instinct and athleticism, but at the other end, Rutgers’ responsibilities are complicated. The learning curve for a freshman in Pikiell’s defense is steep; there’s a lot of compartmentalization involved, and to boot, the Badgers are a unique prep with their style of play.

“He’s figuring things out,” Pikiell said of Simpson. “When I send him into the game I tell him, ‘Remember what we talked about – Wisconsin.’ Wisconsin has nothing to do with Michigan. They’re two different ways we’re defending.”

‘Things no one realizes’

Coaching college athletes involves much more than Xs and Os, of course. For example, freshman forward/center Antwone Woolfolk was enjoying a promising campaign and then had to cope with the death of his grandmother.

“There are things no one realizes,” Pikiell said. “Woolf’s grandma died and he’s struggling with that. His grandma raised him, and he’s a great kid. You go through stuff like that.”

It’s like being a parent, times 13. There are joys and sorrows, breakthroughs and struggles.

“What I love most about coaching is the journey of the season,” Pikiell said. “No one gets that. People think they throw the ball up and you go. There’s more to it.”

Message received

In a long season under the public microscope, nerves can fray just like Pikiell’s voice. Concerns about his players’ mental health are front and center. As he’s said many times, when he played guard at UConn in the 1980s, the only opinions he heard after games were his coach Jim Calhoun’s and his mother’s (the latter, always positive).

Those days are long gone. Especially at Rutgers, where many of the fans are new and perhaps lacking the perspective of long-timers who suffered through decades of drought – or converted football fans who don’t quite grasp the ebbs and flows of a 31-game marathon.

“No one is winning every game,” Pikiell said. “At the end of the year, they’ll tell you if you’re good enough (for the NCAA Tournament). They don’t pick the postseason (brackets) after every game. At the end of the year it’s, ‘Here’s your resume; did you get the job or not?’”

Getting college students to tune out the noise is hard, and if handled improperly, it can feed a self-fulfilling prophecy. But Pikiell keeps repeating his message, and Saturday’s gut-check at Wisconsin was a sign that it’s been received.

“When I first took the job nobody cared, so (heightened interest) is a good thing,” Pikiell said. “But I tell my players, ‘Please, don’t ever let that stuff get to you.’ This group’s been a great group. They make me proud in every way. They’re not the most talented team we’ve had, but this group is connected and this game was just another example.”

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@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: How Rutgers basketball handled bad breaks, noise to halt losing streak