After a disappointing loss to No. 8 Virginia (No. 7 in the USA Today Coaches poll), the Rutgers Scarlet Knights travel to South Carolina to take on Clemson.
It's been a roller coaster over the last week, with a stunning loss to St. Peter's, followed by a great effort against Vanderbilt and the loss to Virginia in the Barlcay's Classic Final.
It won't be easy, and coach Eddie Jordan will have to have his squad ready to let go of that last loss and turn things around again quickly.
Here are five things to consider as we head into tonight's matchup.
1. How much will exhaustion be a factor?
Jet lag is never fun, but jet lag after playing four games in seven days could be devastating.
As it was, Rutgers looked exhausted playing No. 8 Virginia Saturday night. The 9:30 tipoff didn't help, but in the end, they just weren't in condition to play a physical game against a top defense after a long week.
They're going to have to find some reservoir of energy though if they are to avoid another letdown against Clemson in their fifth game in nine days.
With Bishop Daniels out (he was seen at The RAC on Sunday in a walking boot), Rutgers is a bit short on depth, but Jordan is going to have to find a way to keep his players fresh for 40 minutes. This will be especially vital for guys like Kadeem Jack and Myles Mack, who were on the floor for 40 minutes Friday night and nearly that much Saturday.
It will also impact freshman Mike Williams, who has been on the court earlier and more often since Daniels went down Friday night. While Jack and Mack have been playing at a collegiate level for years, Williams is still getting into proper conditioning, so another long night could wear on him.
If not, Rutgers could see another in a long line of slow starts to their second halves, something which was a factor in the loss to Virginia.
2. Where's the transition?
Strong defense setting up a quick transition game was supposed to be a cornerstone of this team's gameplan but so far this hasn't been the case. Whereas the talk was that this Rutgers team was going to be fast, they haven't been, all too often looking slow when they generate a turnover, which gives the opposition time to set up defensively and destroys any chance at a fast break.
Either the players are not seeing the floor quickly enough and get caught looking for someone to pass to or they are just being lazy about coming up the floor. Exhaustion could be a factor here as well, but the problem has persisted since the first game, so it's not a complete excuse over the course of the early season.
Rutgers has to find a way to pick up the pace and create more urgency when they get a rebound or generate a turnover. Plodding down the court isn't going to get the job done against most of the teams they will face this season, especially in conference games.
3. Mike Williams
As mentioned above, Williams is the guy who has filled in the most during Daniels absence. Defensively, he's played well, but he's also supposed to be a shooter and thus far he hasn't been able to get a rhythm going.
The Scarlet Knights need a guy to step up next to Jack and Mack. Mack has been carrying the offense this year and looked tapped out Saturday night, while Jack is very clearly still working on getting into the flow of the game after having been out much of the preseason and the first few games of the year.
Right now Rutgers has just two players averaging double digit points. Junior Etou has been playing well (averaging 8.5), but the team is going to look to Williams to get his shots in the basket.
They need more people to score, and Williams is a likely candidate.
Rutgers can't keep up with Virginia, loses 45-26 - Read More
What's wrong with Rutgers men's basketball team? - Read More
4. How will the defense hold up?
In stark contrast to Rutgers' lack of scoring threats, Clemson has four players averaging double-digit points per game and a fifth very close to it. They're averaging 69 points a game, while Rutgers is averaging just 55.
That point disparity might not seem like much, but it's troubling. Especially since the Scarlet Knights are allowing 60 points a game.
This means Rutgers is going to have to continue to play improved defense. While they aren't letting teams shoot uncontested from the 3-point line as much anymore, they are letting team beat them in the paint. Given the size of Rutgers' players, this shouldn't be happening.
The good news is that they were able to hold Virginia to 45 points and for the first half they really held the Cavaliers down.
A lot of that was poor shooting by Virginia though, something they can't rely on going forward.
5. How long is Daniels out for?
Rutgers tends to be tight-lipped when estimating how long a player will be out for, usually telling us a player is week to week. As they are traveling now, we haven't had a chance to find out how bad Daniel's injury is, though Jordan said Friday night that X-Rays were negative.
That doesn't mean there isn't ligament damage which could keep him sidelined for some time.
We'll have to see if there is any update tonight.
While Daniels had struggled the last few games before hurting his ankle, he was still a key piece in the starting lineup. Without him Jordan has had to juggle the lineup a bit and work in different players.
Rutgers will have to be without Daniels at least for the Clemson and Seton Hall games this week. Beyond that, we'll have to wait and find out. Hopefully we'll get a little more info Monday night.
It's been a roller coaster over the last week, with a stunning loss to St. Peter's, followed by a great effort against Vanderbilt and the loss to Virginia in the Barlcay's Classic Final.
It won't be easy, and coach Eddie Jordan will have to have his squad ready to let go of that last loss and turn things around again quickly.
Here are five things to consider as we head into tonight's matchup.
1. How much will exhaustion be a factor?
Jet lag is never fun, but jet lag after playing four games in seven days could be devastating.
As it was, Rutgers looked exhausted playing No. 8 Virginia Saturday night. The 9:30 tipoff didn't help, but in the end, they just weren't in condition to play a physical game against a top defense after a long week.
They're going to have to find some reservoir of energy though if they are to avoid another letdown against Clemson in their fifth game in nine days.
With Bishop Daniels out (he was seen at The RAC on Sunday in a walking boot), Rutgers is a bit short on depth, but Jordan is going to have to find a way to keep his players fresh for 40 minutes. This will be especially vital for guys like Kadeem Jack and Myles Mack, who were on the floor for 40 minutes Friday night and nearly that much Saturday.
It will also impact freshman Mike Williams, who has been on the court earlier and more often since Daniels went down Friday night. While Jack and Mack have been playing at a collegiate level for years, Williams is still getting into proper conditioning, so another long night could wear on him.
If not, Rutgers could see another in a long line of slow starts to their second halves, something which was a factor in the loss to Virginia.
2. Where's the transition?
Strong defense setting up a quick transition game was supposed to be a cornerstone of this team's gameplan but so far this hasn't been the case. Whereas the talk was that this Rutgers team was going to be fast, they haven't been, all too often looking slow when they generate a turnover, which gives the opposition time to set up defensively and destroys any chance at a fast break.
Either the players are not seeing the floor quickly enough and get caught looking for someone to pass to or they are just being lazy about coming up the floor. Exhaustion could be a factor here as well, but the problem has persisted since the first game, so it's not a complete excuse over the course of the early season.
Rutgers has to find a way to pick up the pace and create more urgency when they get a rebound or generate a turnover. Plodding down the court isn't going to get the job done against most of the teams they will face this season, especially in conference games.
3. Mike Williams
As mentioned above, Williams is the guy who has filled in the most during Daniels absence. Defensively, he's played well, but he's also supposed to be a shooter and thus far he hasn't been able to get a rhythm going.
The Scarlet Knights need a guy to step up next to Jack and Mack. Mack has been carrying the offense this year and looked tapped out Saturday night, while Jack is very clearly still working on getting into the flow of the game after having been out much of the preseason and the first few games of the year.
Right now Rutgers has just two players averaging double digit points. Junior Etou has been playing well (averaging 8.5), but the team is going to look to Williams to get his shots in the basket.
They need more people to score, and Williams is a likely candidate.
Rutgers can't keep up with Virginia, loses 45-26 - Read More
What's wrong with Rutgers men's basketball team? - Read More
4. How will the defense hold up?
In stark contrast to Rutgers' lack of scoring threats, Clemson has four players averaging double-digit points per game and a fifth very close to it. They're averaging 69 points a game, while Rutgers is averaging just 55.
That point disparity might not seem like much, but it's troubling. Especially since the Scarlet Knights are allowing 60 points a game.
This means Rutgers is going to have to continue to play improved defense. While they aren't letting teams shoot uncontested from the 3-point line as much anymore, they are letting team beat them in the paint. Given the size of Rutgers' players, this shouldn't be happening.
The good news is that they were able to hold Virginia to 45 points and for the first half they really held the Cavaliers down.
A lot of that was poor shooting by Virginia though, something they can't rely on going forward.
5. How long is Daniels out for?
Rutgers tends to be tight-lipped when estimating how long a player will be out for, usually telling us a player is week to week. As they are traveling now, we haven't had a chance to find out how bad Daniel's injury is, though Jordan said Friday night that X-Rays were negative.
That doesn't mean there isn't ligament damage which could keep him sidelined for some time.
We'll have to see if there is any update tonight.
While Daniels had struggled the last few games before hurting his ankle, he was still a key piece in the starting lineup. Without him Jordan has had to juggle the lineup a bit and work in different players.
Rutgers will have to be without Daniels at least for the Clemson and Seton Hall games this week. Beyond that, we'll have to wait and find out. Hopefully we'll get a little more info Monday night.
