PISCATAWAY - The Scarlet Knights debuted in front of the home crowd for a great cause on Thursday night.
RU suffered 91-85 loss to the St. John's Red Storm at Jersey Mike's Arena Thursday evening in an exhibition game for the Dick Vitale Pediatric Cancer Fund of the Jimmy V Foundation.
Rutgers started five star freshmen Ace Bailey and
Dylan Harper, sophomore
Jamichael Davis, junior
Emmanuel Ogbole, and senior captain
Jeremiah Williams. After dealing with foul trouble and losing the rebounding battle early on, St. John's opened up a 17-8 lead with 12:30 left in the first half.
"The foul trouble and learning how to play through it is all a part of the game," head coach
Steve Pikiell said. "We have nine new guys. We have some guys coming on the court today for the first time. We have some things to work on. But, it's a scrimmage and it's great. The good part is we're 0-0 and we played for a great cause, the team needs to keep getting better."
The Scarlet Knights settled in and exploded on a 22-0 scoring run. Bailey started the surge by cutting to the rim for an easy slam on an inbounds play, followed by back-to-back-to-back three-pointers from Harper, Bailey, and fifth-year PJ Hayes.
Junior
Jordan Derkack served as the best defender for Rutgers and may have had the biggest hustle play of the night - after St. John's recovered a loose ball and had a seemingly wide open dunk, Derkack sprinted back for the block and caused a turnover, bringing his teammates and the Scarlet faithful to their feet.
"He's really good," Pikiell said. "First of all, he's a worker. He's in early and stays late. He's tough and he's a multi-position guy. I think he's gonna be a really good player."
The Scarlet Knight defense held the Red Storm scoreless for more than six minutes (including over seven minutes without a made field goal), taking a 44-36 lead into halftime. Hayes was perfect from the field in the first half with 10 points in 11 minutes and Ogbole had the most impactful presence - Rutgers outscored St. John's by 20 with him on the floor.
Bailey took control in the second half. With just over 12 minutes remaining, he pulled up from beyond the arc without hesitation, drilling his fourth three and starting a perfect 4-for-4 from the field out of the break.
Harper was also sensational in his debut - he scored eight massive points in a row down the stretch to extend Rutgers' lead to eight with less than six minutes remaining. Bailey and Harper combined for 45 of the Scarlet Knights 85 points on 47% shooting.
Gallery: (10-17-2024) RU-St. John's Exhibition
"For a freshman, Dylan has so much control. He plays like a senior," St. John's head coach Rick Pitino said. "He resembles Clyde Frazier, the way he plays. He was amazing. Ace just has great talent. Both of them are great. I think they're terrific. They deserve the ranking that they're getting. They'll be great if they just listen to Coach Pikiell, he's a tremendous coach. I think he's got two great ones, and I think they're gonna be a hell of a basketball team."
Zuby Ejiofor and Kadary Richmond were fantastic for the Red Storm. Ejiofor posted 27 points and 13 rebounds, helping St. John's win the rebounding battle 46-37, and they outscored the Scarlet Knights by 20 when Richmond was on the floor. Simeon Wilcher added 15 points himself.
"We got killed on the glass," Pikiell said. "But, these are good games for us. Like I said in the locker room, we know we need to get better. Even if we won the game, I'd be telling them the same thing. We have to do things better."
Pikiell credited St. John's with being a tough, physical team that is great at offensive rebounding.
Captain
Zach Martini also brought great energy in the second half, posting six points and four rebounds, though it was not enough as costly turnovers down the stretch led to Rutgers' demise.
"First and foremost, I want to thank the students and the band for coming out," Martini said. "They were so loud. A couple of the guys were talking on the bench and said this is only the arena at half capacity, so I can't wait to see what Jersey Mike's Arena is like during the game against Wagner."
Rutgers will kick off the regular season at home against Wagner on Nov. 6 at 6 pm.
Postgame Notes
Attendance: 4,240
- Rutgers went on a 22-0 run in the first half, holding St. John's without a point for 6:21 and without a field goal for 7:16.
- Rutgers scored 85 points.
- Last season, RU surpassed 80 points just four times last season (Nebraska in OT, Michigan, LIU, Howard), with a high of 87, and regulation high of 85.
- Rutgers scored 44 points in the opening half. RU only scored 44 points in a half three times last season
- 44 points in the second half against St. Peter's on November 27, 2023
- 46 points against Howard on November 18, 2023.
- 44 points in the exhibition game at St. John's on November 21, 2023
- Rutgers had seven newcomers play in their first game against outside competition in the exhibition: Jordan Derkack, Dylan Harper, Ace Bailey, Tyson Acuff, PJ Hayes, Lathan Somerville and Zach Martini
- 70 points came from newcomers (Bailey: 25, Harper: 20, Hayes: 13, Martini: 6, Derkack: 4, Somerville: 2).
- 47 points came from freshmen (Bailey: 25, Harper: 20, Somerville: 2)
- Ace Bailey led RU with 25 points
- Last season, RU only had two games where a player had 25 or more points (Gavin Griffiths with 25 points against Boston U and LIU).
- Dylan Harper had 20 points
- The last time that RU had 2 players post 20+ points in a regular season game was in the 2022 NCAA Tournament, when Caleb McConnell posted 23 and Ron Harper Jr. scored 22 against Notre Dame (March 16, 2022).
- Rutgers starting lineup: Jermichael Davis, Dylan Harper, Ace Bailey, Jeremiah Williams, Emmanuel Ogbole
- That starting five represented two freshmen and RU's three returners. The group boasted just 25 previous starts at RU (14 by Davis and 11 by Williams last season).
Postgame Quotes.
Rutgers Head Coach Steve Pikiell
Opening Statement:
"First I want to thank you all. This wasn't an easy game to have. Coach Rick Pitino was awesome. I'm thankful to the crowd who paid to come. We're going to make a nice donation to the Jimmy V Foundation. Coach Pitino made this possible. He's in his 52nd year in his coaching career, which is unbelievable. They played well, we played well too. We've got a good group of guys and I'm excited."
Pikiell on Ace and Dylan's first game:
"Those two kids are talented. They're great kids and they're really good passers. They definitely have to learn some things. College defense is something they're going to continue to get better at, and I'm thankful."
Pikiell on the loss:
"We got killed on the glass. But those are good games for us. Like I said in the locker room, we know we need to get better. Even if we won the game, I'd be telling them the same thing. We have to do things better. We haven't been rebounding the ball well in practices. I wasn't happy we gave up 90 points like that. But when you play good players, a good experienced team, a Hall of Fame coach, and it's for a good cause; it's a good day."
Pikiell on offensive goals:
"They're tough and they're physical (St. Johns). The backboard obviously hurt us. We tried to run a couple of quick hit sets but it didn't go how we'd like. This is why these games are good. We have film to devour and now we have some new things we have to execute. I'm concerned about a lot of things. But no, I like my guys."
Pikiell on foul trouble:
"The foul trouble and learning how to play through it is all a part of the game. We have nine new guys. We have some guys coming on the court today for the first time. We have some things to work on. But it's a scrimmage and it's great. The good part is we're 0-0 and we played for a great cause, the team needs to keep getting better. Don't baptize the team before they're ready. As
Tyson Acuff gets better, it's going to be a work in progress."
Pikiell on Jordan Derkack:
"He's really good. First of all, he's a worker. He's in early and stays late. He's tough and he's a multi-position guy. I think he's going to be a really good player. PJ Hayes was good.
Emmanuel Ogbole is going to keep getting better.
Lathan Sommerville came in and gave us some good minutes. We'll keep plugging away, but Jordan is a good player."
Pikiell on St. Johns:
"All the credit to St. John's. They were a really good offensive rebound team last year. They followed through, and did it again this year, spinning their strength."
Jeremiah Williams thoughts:
"Like Coach said, it's for a great cause. It was a great event. You don't know who will come out to a scrimmage game. It was great to see our fans come out and provide us with the energy they did. I'm looking forward to the season. I think there is a lot to be excited for."
Zach Martini thoughts:
"First and foremost, I want to thank the students and the band for coming out. They were so loud. A couple of the guys were talking on the bench and said that this was only the arena at half capacity. So I can't wait to see what Jersey Mikes Arena is like during the game against Wagner."
Pikiell final statements on Dylan andAce:
"These kids just turned 18. It's a journey but I'm really glad. I think you guys should be too. There are more exciting days ahead to come. Thank you, guys, for coming, We appreciate it."
St. John's Head Coach Pitino on Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey and Coach Pikiell:
"For a freshman, Dylan has so much control. He plays like a senior. He resembles Clyde Frazier, the way he plays. He was amazing. Ace just has great talent. Both of them are great. I think they're terrific. They deserve the ranking that they're getting. They'll be great if they just listen to Coach Pikiell. He's a tremendous coach. I think he's got two great ones, and I think they're going to be a hell of a basketball team".
