Rutgers fans, it’s a Men’s basketball game day! The new-look Scarlet Knights are set to make their regular-season debut tonight at home against New Haven after a long off-season that has brought many changes for the team. This will also be Brandin Knight’s first regular-season game as Rutgers head coach after taking over for Steve Pikiell, who announced over the summer that he was battling cancer.
Last season, Rutgers finished 14th overall in the Big Ten with an overall record of 14-20. Despite the poor
overall record, the Knights showed significant improvement from their young playmakers towards the end of the regular season and beat an injury-riddled Minnesota team in the Big Ten tournament before getting knocked out. They were also invited to the College Basketball Crown but were eliminated in the first round by Creighton.
In the off-season, Rutgers lost a handful of players but were able to keep many of their high-upside younger players, such as Lino Mark and Kaden Powers, around, along with solid, more experienced veterans like JaMicheal Davis and Tariq Francis. On top of that, they brought in some talented transfer additions, at least on paper, that should bolster the team all around.
One transfer to look for in this game is center Christian Gurdak. Despite this game being against lower competition, it will be interesting to see how he changes Rutgers offense by providing a more reliable Big man scoring option. In Rutgers exhibition game against St. Johns, Gurdak put up 20 points.
Another transfer to watch in this game is Darrin Smith Jr. Smith put up 20 points in the Knights exhibition gaints Villanova before following it up with an 11 point performance vs St. Johns.
New Haven has already played one game this year, a 74-58 loss to Syracuse. Despite being outscored 39-17 in the first half, the Chargers won the second half against the Orange 41-35 with forward Teshuan Steele recording 18 total points. However, outside of him, only one other player scored in double-digits for New Haven. If the Knights can find a way to contain Steele, they should be able to get a convincing win to start their season off hot.
Rutgers will tip off tonight against New Haven at 7 p.m. inside Jersey Mike’s Arena. The game will also be broadcast live on BTN+
