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They won on the road.
Four Thoughts:
I am a fan: I am irrational. I am emotional. I try to be better. Holy moly that was absolutely stressful and aggravating. But it was a win. But good lord, can you make it easy on the road for once? I need to calm down from this one.
Mawot Mag: Rutgers won this game because of Mag. The sophomore/COVID freshman scored 13. He played a great defensive game. He was in the right place at the right time. He had 7 rebounds. I am just saying stats because I haven’t processed this game yet, but Mag is going to be a player. When Jalen Miller took the technical, Mag was the first one to pull him away from the ref. Development here.
Jalen Miller and Oskar Palmquist: The kids are all right. Palmquist hit a huge three early. The game changed when Miller was inserted on McGowens on defense. It’s not always linear and it’s not always perfect, but there was development tonight. Even Dean Reiber played a part. It never looked like Rutgers was going to win tonight, but they did.
The veterans: The vets, whether it was Ron Harper Jr., Geo Baker, or Caleb McConnell, played terrible games tonight. I’d bet there would be the first to tell you that, but they played a very good last four minutes. Geo’s foul was not a foul on the shot, but the ref called it that. Beyond that, they played smart, and Ron hit a huge three. Whatever. Rutgers won and they are 6-4 in conference. On to Northwestern, which will be even tougher. I’m sorry my four thoughts aren’t in depth or good tonight, but this was a tough one to analyze. A grind, just like Steve Pikiell likes.