Rutgers is suddenly putting up points in bunches, and now the Scarlet Knights get a chance to see if that surge holds up when Bryant comes to Piscataway, N.J., on Friday evening.
The Knights are 2-0 and coming off a 101-point outburst against New Jersey Institute of Technology on Tuesday, a sharp follow-up to their 81-54 win over New Haven on Nov. 6. For a program that has not traditionally lived in the high-scoring lane, the early returns are hard to miss.
Acting coach Brandin Knight said the formula behind the offensive jump comes down to one word.
"Balance," he said. "They can do it, obviously.
We talked about it prior to (our most recent) game. We talked about it at halftime.
We want to push the tempo and get to that number if we can. But it also requires us pressing (and) us speeding the game up."
Rutgers has gotten that balance from a deep scoring mix. Five players are averaging in double figures, led by Tariq Francis at 15.5 points per game.
Christian Gurdak is next at 12, while Jamichael Davis and Lino Mark are both at 10.5. Rasheed Jones is adding 10.
Knight said the shot selection has helped fuel the production.
"We want to choose great over good when it comes to shot selection," he said. "We saw a lot of guys turn down shots to make the one more (pass) to get a better shot, and then we knocked some of them down. I think it also put us in position to get some offensive rebounds, too."
Knight is serving as acting coach while Steve Pikiell receives treatment for cancer.
Bryant arrives with a 1-3 record and is trying to recover after losses to Quinnipiac, Fairfield and Providence. The Bulldogs opened with an 80-75 victory over Siena on Nov. 2, but their most recent outing ended in a 78-55 defeat to Providence on Tuesday.
"We would have loved to beat Providence. We need to beat a team like Providence in March, and we need to know what that feels like," Bulldogs coach Jamion Christian said.
Bryant has three players averaging double figures. Keegan Harvey is scoring 12 points per game, Onyx Nnani is at 11.5, and Duane Thompson is putting up 10.8.
This will be the fifth all-time meeting between the teams. Rutgers has won all four previous matchups, though the last two, in 2019 and 2023, were both decided by single digits.
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Rutgers needed a cleaner finish after a tight first half, and it found one in a 72-51 home win over Bryant. The Scarlet Knights settled in after the break, with Christian Gurdak giving them a major lift inside and Jamichael Davis adding perimeter scoring that helped turn a close game into a comfortable one.
Acting head coach Brandin Knight said the in-game adjustments mattered as Rutgers took control and stayed there. The bigger challenge is next, with Houston waiting on the schedule, and this one offered a useful reminder that the Scarlet Knights can still lean on depth and defensive response when the margin for error shrinks. [Read more 🡒]