Rutgers men’s basketball hasn’t won two out of its last three regular-season games in a season since 2021-2022, the last time the Scarlet Knights went to the NCAA tournament. Rutgers has had a losing record in the final three regular-season games every season since that season. It was their poor performance down the stretch that doomed their 2022-2023 campaign, with losses to teams such as Minnesota and Northwestern.
Now the 2025-2026 Knights are faced with a scenario where they need to buck this
trend to secure a first-round bye in the Big Ten tournament. After the team’s wins over Penn State and Maryland, it looked like they might not even need to shake this trend had they pulled off a win against either Minnesota or Washington. Instead, Rutgers was blown out in both games and now will look to get back on a stable footing at a time when recent history suggests they won’t.
The Knights do have more winnable games down the stretch, at Maryland and versus Penn State at home on senior night. However, Rutgers already beat these two teams earlier in the season, and sweeping a rival is very difficult, especially when both teams are on the same tier. If the Knights can pull off two wins against the Terrapins and the Nittany Lions, they should be in a very good spot to secure a first-round bye. However, sweeping both is unlikely, meaning that Rutgers will likely need some help from around the league to secure said bye. If they fail to win at least one game, their chances of getting the first round bye are gone. The game at Maryland could be the most pivotal since both teams are neck and neck in the Big Ten standings.
As for how they win both of these games, that would require a complete turnaround from the last two performances. Rutgers has had success running a full court press on defense, and returning to that aggressive style of play could be the spark the defense needs to tighten up. As for the offense, it is the same thing that it has been all year, they need to play a more modern style of basketball. According to KenPom, Rutgers has the fifth worst average two point shot distance. The Knights either need to find a way to get to the basket, or find some consistency from three point range. Easier said than done but it is clear that the current style of offense just isn’t working and it isn’t fit for the modern era.
From the verbage used by Rutgers AD Keli Zinn, it sounds like head coach Steve Pikiell likely isn’t going anywhere this off-season. With that in mind, picking up a few wins down the stretch could be good for the program as they would head into the off-season with some momentum, even if it changes nothing for the Knights this season.
Rutgers’ game at Maryland is slated for March 1st at noon. Live broadcast for the game will be available on FS1.
