Men's Basketball: Rutgers Falls to UMass 83-85.

November 30, 2021

Rutgers men's basketball recently overcame a 30-year drought when it came to making the NCAA tournament, but after another devastating loss, there are rumblings of an unfortunate repeat in Piscataway. After the last three competitive, yet unsuccessful performances, Rutgers struggles to find the relationship between productive practices and execution when it comes down to the wire during game time.

Head Coach, Steve Pikiell had begun sifting through his players, new and old in order to find which combinations make up the dream of a well-oiled machine. Pikiell explains the team's apparent devastation in relation to the loss of their ever-so-helpful, Geo Baker after his hamstring injury sustained in their loss against Lafayette... “Our defense didn't help us at all down the stretch…Obviously you miss a guy like Geo in a late-game situation”.

Throughout the game, there was good synergy and solid shooting off the floor. The offense was looking sharp; hard work was paying off and the Scarlet Knights found themselves holding a 17 point lead but unfortunately allowed this opportunity to slip out from underneath them.

Standout sophomore, Cliff Omoruyi and UMass’s, C.J. Kelly were game leaders throughout the dog fight. Omoruyi with a stunning 16 points and C.J. Kelly answers with an even more impressive 24 points. With the diverse line-up, six different players scored in double figures for Rutgers (3-3).

Scrappy play continued and Rutgers was looking for any potential opening in order to rise to the occasion of close competition. "Hometown Hero", Paul Mulcahy felt the pressure on the leaderboard and answered accordingly, scoring in the paint to give Rutgers an 83-82 lead.

With 5 seconds remaining in the game, UMass responded with a play that exuded confidence. From a little behind the three-point line and hugging the left of the court, Umass's, Noah Fernandes locked in for a jump shot as the buzzer sounded and their home crowd erupted, as the scoreboard registered this play as game-clinching.

Quick flash back to past results... On Monday, November 22, Rutgers got caught in an uphill battle that ended with a fast reaction from Lafayette; the Leopards punished the Scarlet Knights with a three-pointer in the last twenty seconds to pull ahead and further capture the win to upset Rutgers after being down 50-51.

With two back-to-back losses, in the same manner, closing out a game after securing a lead is an area in search of improvement. The Scarlet Knights move forward with goals and objectives as they sink their teeth into their last game of the preseason.

Next Up:

Rutgers faces the Clemson Tigers at 9:00 p.m on Tuesday, November 30. You can watch and support your Scarlet Knights at the Jersey Mike's Arena or on ESPN2.