Enjoying the Build: 4 Thoughts On Iowa Revenge

Rutgers went on the road for a statement win, bringing vengeance. They won 86-72.

Ron Harper Has Iowa’s Number: The Freshman was fantastic. He went off for 27 points. He was four of seven for three and five for five from the line. When Iowa was trying to cut back into Rutgers’ big lead, Harper was the one to settle things down. He led the break, he scored the points and he was absolutely the key to this victory. He matches up so well against the Hawkeyes and made them pay tonight.

Geo Baker Talked and Geo Baker Backed It Up: Baker didn’t have the points—he only scored 9, but he did so many other things well. He scored 9 points, had 9 assists and he pulled down 6 rebounds. Baker knew he didn’t have to score to beat the Hawkeyes, he just had to run the show. And run the show he did. That was a great game by Baker after saying they were going to come and get Iowa here after the heartbreaker earlier this season.

Issa... Thiam?: When Rutgers needed him, Thiam stepped up. After not playing much in a long, long time, Thiam finally stepped up. He scored 13 points and hit 4 threes in the game. If you want to know what Rutgers basketball is going to look like on a night after night basis after Pikiell really gets this program going, look at this game. At one point, Rutgers was up 20 points and Iowa was shooting 29%. And part of that was due to Issa Thiam. Pikiell said they were going to need them. And tonight he stepped up.

Rutgers Won 5 on 8: Listen, Iowa is the kind of team that draws fouls. But this was ridiculous, especially in the second half. A Rutgers big man breathed on Iowa and a foul was called. But Rutgers withstood it and made their own shots. The Scarlet Knights won tonight. Everything went in. The defense was dominant. And if Iowa didn’t draw fouls, this would have been a 30 point loss for them.

That is the first road win against a ranked team since January 2008. Wow. Get yourself to the RAC Wednesday night. The Penn State game is going to be a madhouse.