Twenty-six NBA scouts showed up Thursday night at Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway, N.J., to watch Rutgers’ Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey face off against Illinois’ Kasparas Jakucionis, Will Riley and Tomislav Ivisic.
Not only did Harper and Bailey get the better of the Illini trio statistically — they piled up 46 points, 17 rebounds, seven assists, four blocks and four steals compared to 34 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists, three blocks and two steals — but Rutgers earned its first win over a ranked team this season. Head coach Steve Pikiell celebrated the 82-73 victory in front of Rutgers’ 75th consecutive home sellout long into the night. No, wait… we’re being told that’s not correct.
“Five minutes to enjoy Illinois,” Pikiell told Hoops HQ.
Then Pikiell returned to his office, rewatched the Illinois game while scribbling notes, cut up that video with his assistants and then watched Maryland’s last three games. “They’re playing like the best team in our league,” Pikiell said. “I was here until 3 a.m.”
Why grind so hard? For starters, that’s Pikiell’s traditional postgame routine. More important, despite Rutgers’ .500 record and its power rankings in the 60s, he and the Scarlet Knights are still fighting for NCAA Tournament consideration.
When the NCAA Tournament selection committee gathers four weeks from now in Indianapolis, Rutgers hopes to be in a position where the committee will have to spend legitimate time discussing how Dylan Harper’s injury and illness have affected the Scarlet Knights’ candidacy.
To wit: Rutgers’ 90-81 loss Sunday at No. 18 Maryland — where the Terrapins are unbeaten in Big Ten play — marked the Scarlet Knights’ 11th consecutive Quad 1 opponent. Of those 11 games, Harper missed three entirely: a 10-point loss at Indiana (when Bailey went off for a Rutgers freshman record 39 points), a four-point home loss to Michigan and a seven-point win at Northwestern (when Bailey went off again for 37 points).
Harper played little in three other games — double-digit home losses to Purdue, Wisconsin and Michigan State — due to the flu or his high-ankle sprain. So that’s a 1-5 mark essentially without Harper. But of the five where Harper has been healthy enough to look full-go, Rutgers has gone 3-2: They beat Illinois and UCLA at home (the Bruins’ last loss), they snapped Nebraska’s 20-game home winning streak and they lost on the road at Penn State and Maryland.
(By the way, Bailey, the Big Ten’s scoring leader entering the day at 20.1 points per game, finished with a career-low four points Sunday as he spent most of the second half at the end of the bench with a towel covering his bowed head).
“I’ve got two worlds I live in,” he said. “You want the real world or social media world? The social media world, we’ve got two really good players and (we should) win national championships. The real world, there are a lot of good players (in the Big Ten and the nation) and we’ve got a lot of young guys and we’ve got to go through the journey.”
To Pikiell’s second point, Rutgers starts four freshmen — Harper, Bailey, Lathan Sommerville and dunk-happy Dylan Grant. A fifth rookie, Bryce Dortch, dropped his redshirt three weeks ago when starting post Emmanuel Ogbole suffered a season-ending meniscus tear.
“Ace is playing really good basketball,” Pikiell said. “Our freshmen are older now. I think we’re getting better. Good signs moving forward.”
Nebraska’s Williams Playing Like “A Kid in a Park”
Two short weeks ago, the vibes were awful at Nebraska. After suffering an 83-55 whupping Jan. 26 at Wisconsin that marked the Cornhuskers’ sixth consecutive loss, nobody was thinking about the NCAA Tournament.
“We were rock-bottom,” sixth-year senior swingman Brice Williams told Hoops HQ. “Rock-bottom as in we might not even make the conference tournament.”
Look at Nebraska now. Since claiming the overtime home upset over then-No. 18 Illinois — when Williams scored eight of Nebraska’s 10 in the extra session to cap his game-high 27 points — the Huskers have bumped off No. 16 Oregon and Washington on the road before taking down Ohio State Sunday at home.
Williams has led the charge as he has scored at least 20 points in four straight games for the first time in his 146-game career. During Nebraska’s spree, he has averaged 25.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 4.5 assists in 38.8 minutes per game while shooting 48.6 percent from the field. He posted his first double-double of the year Sunday when he stacked up 24 points and 10 rebounds to move into third place among Big Ten scoring leaders with 19.4 points per game.
“This last week, he has been as good as anybody in the country,” Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg said after Sunday’s win.
“I’ve learned about myself that when I approach the game like a kid in a park, I play better,” Williams said. “The stress is lower. It’s not as serious. It’s just a game. I’m still professional when I prepare, but I don’t try to take away the game or the kid aspects of it.”
This is the culmination of a year-long process as the thoughtful 23-year-old North Carolina native has needed time to grow into new roles. He serves as the team leader, the top scorer and the primary creator for others while being expected to perform similarly defensively.
“My confidence is high,” Williams said. “It’s high because I’m not really thinking about anything. I’m in a flow state. Confidence is something you have to groom. Confidence in yourself. Confidence in your teammates. Confidence in your preparation. My flow state is at an all-time high.”
Nebraska’s flow state might be in the same place. With their four-game winning streak, the Huskers (16-8, 6-7) not only are all but assured of playing in the Big Ten tournament, they’re back on the NCAA Tournament bubble as their KenPom rating sits at 40 and their NET was 51 before Sunday’s game.
AROUND THE RIM
• Hoops HQ has been all over the upcoming coaching change at Indiana since athletic director Scott Dolson announced Friday that Mike Woodson told him he wanted to step down. But if you think Indiana’s issue begin and end with Woodson’s four years at the helm, here are some facts:
Since Mike Davis led the Hoosiers to the 2002 NCAA Tournament title game, Indiana has not been back to the Elite Eight. A whopping 60 other schools — including Davidson, FAU, George Mason, Loyola Chicago, Saint Joseph’s, Saint Peter’s, VCU and Wichita State — have appeared in the Elite Eight since the Hoosiers were there.
There’s all kinds of speculation out there about Indiana’s next head coach. Ole Miss’ Chris Beard, who used to coach for Bob Knight at Texas Tech? Maybe. Ex-Butler coach Brad Stevens, who left the college game behind 12 years ago? Unlikely.
Clemson coach Brad Brownell, who was born and raised in Evansville, played high school ball with Indiana all-time leading scorer Calbert Cheaney and graduated from DePauw University just up Highway 231 from Bloomington? He looks pretty good after reaching the Elite Eight last year and beating No. 2 Duke Saturday night.
Here’s one idea that hasn’t gotten much run: People appear to have faith in Dolson to make the right hire because he brought in James Madison’s Curt Cignetti to fix football and that turned out great. So why not bring in the men’s basketball coach at James Madison at the same time?
Mark Byington went 82-36 in four seasons at James Madison — including 32-4 last year — before moving to Vanderbilt last March. The 48-year-old Byington has the Commodores sitting at 17-6 this year, their best winning percentage since Kevin Stallings directed a 26-8 team in 2007-08.
• Hoops HQ also has been all over Tom Izzo’s pursuit of Bob Knight’s Big Ten record for wins. Izzo climbed alongside Knight atop the list Saturday with Michigan State’s come-from-behind 86-74 home win over Oregon.
Izzo was clearly emotional when he addressed the Breslin Center crowd after the Oregon game, but not just about his achievement. The Spartans also were celebrating the 25th anniversary of their 2000 NCAA Tournament championship — and those players sat not far from the Michigan State bench.
The group included Jason Richardson, whose son, Jase, chose Saturday’s game to show everybody why he’s considered a first-round talent just like his taller, more athletic pops. With starting point guard Jeremy Fears Jr. out due to illness, Jase Richardson made his first start and delivered a career-high 29 points in a career-high 35 minutes. The 6-foot-3 freshman also swatted a Jadrian Tracey jumper at a key point during Michigan State’s comeback from a 14-point halftime deficit.
“Of course Jase had a career night,” Izzo said. “When he got that block late, it was a helluva block. All the (2000) guys were sitting behind me and I said, ‘Jason who?’ It was Jase’s night. How exciting for him and them and his family.”
But also for Izzo, who’s a sucker for having the Spartans family together. One week each fall, former players return to East Lansing to show the current guys the ropes and build bonds between generations. So to have the 2000 team’s official reunion coincide with Izzo’s career milestone…
“When I sat there and looked behind the bench and those guys were all sitting there, it was a memory-making moment to say the least,” Izzo said. “People just don’t realize there are times in your life when certain things happen — and they made Tom Izzo. And if you ask me, they did a lot to make Michigan State basketball.”
Izzo’s first chance to claim Win No. 354 comes Tuesday at home…against Indiana.
• Remember when UCLA lost four games in a row and stood at 11-6 overall and 2-4 in the Big Ten? Never mind about that.
The Bruins took advantage of seven consecutive games in the Pacific Time Zone — including five at Pauley Pavilion — by winning all seven games by an average of 12.7 points. During this run, UCLA’s defense forced 99 turnovers while committing just 56.
UCLA has jumped back into the top 25 of the NET and KenPom ratings just in time for its next trip to the Midwest. The Bruins visit Illinois Tuesday night — giving starting point guard Skyy Clark a chance to play where he spent the first semester of his college career — before going to Indiana Friday night.
• The Big Ten has suffered a rash of season-ending injuries in recent weeks — and no one has been hurt worse than Northwestern.
Brooks Barnhizer broke his foot Jan. 12 versus Michigan State, then battled through five more games (including three straight 20-point efforts) before he and NU coach Chris Collins decided Barnhizer needed to call it a career. Collins cried after Northwestern’s Feb. 1 home loss to Wisconsin when he revealed Barnhizer’s injury. He finished the year at 17.1 points, 8.8 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 2.3 steals per game.
Just three days later, Northwestern graduate transfer point guard Jalen Leach (14.3 ppg, 3.4 apg) suffered a torn ACL against USC that also ended his college career.
Owen Freeman, Iowa’s leader in scoring (16.7 ppg), rebounding (6.7 rpg), blocks (1.8 bpg) and field-goal shooting (63.8 percent), played his last game Jan. 27. The sophomore underwent finger surgery on his right hand.
USC point guard Desmond Claude (16.2 ppg, 4.2 apg) has missed the last two games with a bone bruise. So has Penn State big Yanic Konan Niederhauser (12.7 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 2.1 bpg) as the Big Ten’s blocks leader has been wearing a walking boot on his left foot.
GAMES TO WATCH (all times ET)
Purdue at Michigan, Tuesday, 7 p.m., Peacock. The league-leading Boilermakers have their only showdown with the Wolverines, who share second place with Michigan State. This promises to be a classic because one of Purdue’s strengths — Trey Kaufman-Renn wriggling open inside thanks to pick-and-roll feeds from Braden Smith — could be muted by Danny Wolf’s and Vladislav Goldin’s size in the paint. At the other end, Michigan ranks a distant last among Big Ten teams in turnover percentage (20.5 percent of possessions) and Purdue does a good job forcing them.
Michigan State at Illinois, Saturday, 8 p.m., FOX This game had a little more cachet before the Illini started sliding, but State Farm Center will be jumping because Illinois fans are still bitter about the officiating in their team’s 80-78 loss at Michigan State Jan. 19 when Kasparas Jakucionis fouled out in less than nine minutes. Also, everyone will be hyped because Terrence Shannon Jr. will be back to see his jersey raised to the rafters. For the Spartans, this starts a fierce five-game stretch: At Illinois, home versus Purdue, at Michigan, at Maryland and home versus Wisconsin.
Purdue at Michigan State, Feb. 18, 7 p.m., Peacock. Like we said, it’s a brutal stretch for the Spartans. Purdue’s Braden Smith averages an absurd 8.8 assists and 2.9 steals in Big Ten games, which leads the league in both categories and puts him on pace to set the Big Ten single-season record for assists per game and post the second-best all-time steals average. It wouldn’t be shocking for the Spartans to have four guards take turns trying to wear Smith down because his worst games have come in Purdue’s five losses.
Duke vs. Illinois in Madison Square Garden, Feb. 22, 8 p.m., FOX. Everybody in the league should be an Illini fan for this one because it’s the Big Ten’s only non-conference game between Dec. 30 and Selection Sunday, so a strong Illinois showing can boost everyone’s power rankings. Alas, the Illini don’t have anybody close to Cooper Flagg’s size and athleticism (not many teams do), so it’ll take some remarkable work from Tre White and others to give the Illini a shot.
Purdue at Indiana, Feb. 23, 1:30 p.m., CBS. The Hoosiers nearly pulled off the upset Jan. 31 in West Lafayette, but that seems like a lifetime ago now that Indiana has decided to move on from Mike Woodson. While IU fans are angry about how this season has turned out, there’s nothing that can unify them like their strong distaste for Purdue. Woodson does own a 2-1 home record versus the Boilers, so maybe this is one last chance for cheers to rain down from the rafters for the 66-year-old Indiana Man who was a two-year captain under Bob Knight.
