Rutgers Basketball: Disorganized and disgruntled

The Scarlet Knights came out flying, driving and doing what it takes to win on the road in the Big Ten.  Then the Radford Gardner-Webb game ended*, ESPNU cut to Nebraska and the wheels fell off.

(*Just another in a long line of mid-to-low major games that ESPN airs before Rutgers road games.  These games always go into double or even triple overtime and cut into the only portion of the game where Rutgers plays well.)

Rutgers continued its very good defensive play this season.  They battled, rebounded and on the defensive end they wanted to win.  However, offensive frustrations kicked in in the first half, and Rutgers played sloppily on that end.  Turnovers killed Rutgers and a 7 point lead ended the half as a three point deficit.

Rutgers came out playing tough again at the start of the second half, but Nebraska had confidence at that point and began to pull away.  And that's when things go weird.  With Rutgers trying to claw back in, and getting to within 5, Junior Etou set his feet and drew a charge.  The Cornhusker made the shot, but it was waved off.  The game went to a commercial break.

When Rutgers came back from break, they were down 7 and Nebraska was at the line, shooting a technical foul.  The TV broadcast didn't make it clear, but it sounded like the refs looked at a video replay and changed the call, saying Etou was in the circle.  (Here's where the confusion comes in.  If you can replay a foul and change the call, that's a bunch of garbage.)  Perhaps, though another ref came in and changed the call without replay (which, I guess, I've seen before).

Either way, the basket counted, it was an and 1 and two technical fouls.  The game went away from there.  There asn't much to talk about here.  Rutgers players were all completely off.  While Jack attacked the basket, Myles Mack never could get it going and let his offensive struggles show in the rest of his play.

Terran Pettaway was too much for the Scarlet Knights.  He finished with 20 points.

Rutgers falls 65-49 and will face #4 Wisconsin Sunday night at the RAC.