The Big Ten had three games on Monday and all ended up being decided by double-digits. The closest took place on the East Coast, as Rutgers knocked off Maine.
Let’s take a look at what happened.
Game of the Night:
–Rutgers Scarlet Knights 72, Maine Black Bears 60
The Scarlet
Knights had a tuneup game to open the season last week and returned to action on Monday at home against Maine. While the Black Bears didn’t enter as a highly projected squad, the group was notably better projected than Rider, who Rutgers beat last week. As such, Scarlet Knight fans were wondering if the Scarlet Knights could take care of business in this one.
Fortunately, the game largely went according to script. Rutgers jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. Denis Badalau led the way with 19 points and Dylan Grant had a great game with 10 points and 10 rebounds as well. Steve Pikiell also got a chance to play a deep rotation, which is something that generally bodes well for the Scarlet Knights when the team can manage it.
The win pushed Rutgers to 2-0 on the season. The team will now get a few days off before returning to action against Lehigh at home on Friday.
The Rest:
–Northwestern Wildcats 110, Cleveland State Vikings 63
This was Northwestern’s third “buy” game of the season and the third one where the Wildcats cruised to an easy win. Northwestern got deep into its bench in this one and saw five Wildcats score at least 15 points in the win. The team finished with a blistering 1.49 points per possession. It was a great performance and pushed Northwestern to 3-0 on the season. The Wildcats will return to action on Friday on the road against rival DePaul. It figures to be Northwestern’s first real test of the season.
–No. 15 UCLA Bruins 83, West Georgia Wolves 62
Despite going 2-0 in the first week of the season, UCLA had a pretty underwhelming start to the year. The Bruins narrowly held off Eastern Washington on Monday and then played a competitive-ish game against Pepperdine on Friday. Fans were hoping for a better showing against West Georgia on Monday and got it, as UCLA won comfortably. Trent Perry led the way with 17 points, nine assists, and five rebounds. Tyler Bilodeau also had a great game with 21 points. The win left UCLA sitting at 3-0. The Bruins will now prepare for a massive showdown with Arizona in Inglewood on Friday.
