In the second of two regular season meetings with the Boilers, how have the Scarlet Knights changed statistically since early January?
The Scarlet Knights of Rutgers University come to town to take on your hosting Purdue Boilermakers, a team that just ended a short losing streak with a big win over a very defensively sound UCLA squad.
This will be the second of two regular season meetings between the Boilers and Knights. On January 9th, Matt Painter’s team traveled to New Jersey to hand the Scarlet Knights a big home loss, 68-50.
Have they changed much statistically since then? Not dramatically; in fact they’re ranked a bit lower in most categories than they were when conference play was beginning to open up. Where are the Knights now in our usual highlighted statistical areas?
Rutgers University (14-15, 7-11 Big 10) – Kenpom #69
Basic Information
Location: Piscataway, New Jersey
Type of School: Public Land-Grant Research University
Mascot: Sir Henry the Scarlet Knight
Venue: Jersey Mike’s Arena (nice)
Head Coach – Steve Pikiell
Seasons at Rutgers: 9
Rutgers Record: 146-138
Other Head Coaching Jobs: Wesleyan, Stony Brook
Overall Record: 343-312
Regular Season Conference Championships: 4 (Stony Brook)
Conference Tournament Championships: 1 (Stony Brook)
NCAA Appearances: 3 (2 Rutgers, 1 Stony Brook)
Final 4 Appearances: 0
Kenpom Style of Play
() = National Ranking per Kenpom
Offense
Adj. Efficiency: 116.2 (50)
Avg. Poss. Length: 16.9 (88)
Defense
Adj. Efficiency: 104.7 (115)
Avg. Poss. Length: 17.6 (169)
Tempo
Adj. Tempo: 68.9 (102)
Kenpom 4 Factors
() = National Ranking per Kenpom
Offense
Effective FG %: 50.9 (177)
Turnover %: 15.6 (62)
Off. Reb. %: 30.8 (153)
FTA/FGA: 36.6 (71)
Defense
Effective FG %: 52.3 (247)
Turnover %: 17.1 (188)
Off. Reb. %: 31.7 (279)
FTA/FGA: 30.2 (106)
Relevant Miscellaneous Stats
Off. Steal %: 8.1 (24)
Opponent FT %: 69.2 (37)
Two key things here: first, protect the ball. Like we were discussing prior to the UCLA game, no careless passing and be decisive.
Second, hit your free throws (I don’t see that being an issue given that it’s a home game; if we shoot poorly it’s not because of the crowd) and I see this as an easy win. Opposing teams seem to shoot free throws poorly against Rutgers.
Stranger things have happened, but the Boilermakers currently sit as 87% favorites to win with a predicted final score of 83-71 as per Kenpom.