I eliminated the last 43 seconds because Collins was subbing offense for defense repeatedly and we fouled many times intentionally.
I'm starting to think the NCAA should take 5 seconds off the clock every time the team that is losing commits a foul.
The game ball goes to Jalen Leach who went 8 for 12 from the field for 23 points, with 4 assists and 2 turnovers, but zero rebounds or steals.
He survived an eye poke which took him off the court for a few minutes in the 2nd half. The refs did not even bother to review the contact, which may have been deliberate.
Its impossible to judge intent.... yada yada yada.... but no review.
The other player who played a winning game, Angelo Ciaravino, was very active throughout, with 3 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 assists, a steal and no turnovers.
Ciaravino looks good out there.
Matt Nicholson was +7. Luke Hunger was -4 in 4 minutes and we got outscored 16-6 when Keenan Fitzmorris was on the court for 6 minutes.
In other words, when Nicholson was playing we outscored Rutgers 57-50. When he wasn't, we got hammered 29-15 in roughly 10 minutes.
Beyond that, though, there was the Nicholson/Mullins problem - and it bit hard.
When Matt and Justin were on the court together, we got scorched 21-11 in 7:30.
As I have stated repeatedly - it is not a good idea to play Nicholson and Mullins at the same time.
Neither player is a serious threat to score and it becomes much easier for the opponent to shut us down.
The starters (Nicholson/Martinelli/Barnhizer/Ciaravino/Leach) got off to a flying start, seizing a 13-4 lead at the 14:25 mark.
To his credit, Collins had not subbed at the tv timeout, which is uncommon for him. But Ciaravino picked up his 2nd foul and the coach subbed in Berry and Fitzmorris.
Things went downhill immediately, with Rutgers outscoring us 11-5 over the next 3:32.
Collins then put Nicholson back in, but swapped in Mullins for Leach, making Barnhizer the only ballhandler.
I don't know if Windham was sick, but he didn't play. For me KJ would have been the obvious choice to replace Leach.
Rutgers then hit us with another 13-6 spurt over a bumbling 4:30 stretch.
We went back to that same lineup (Nicholson/Martinelli/Barnhizer/Mullins/Berry) to close out the first half, gave up a three pointer and Martinelli turned it over.
We came out of halftime with the starting 5 (Ciaravino) and Leach made a 3 to cut the deficit to 5, but then got jabbed in the eye and had to leave the game.
That broke our momentum.
For the game, the starting lineup (with Ciaravino) put up a 26-14 advantage in just over 12 minutes.
The old starters (Berry in for Ciaravino) outscored Rutgers 16-11 in 6:07 of game time.
All other lineup combinations got roasted 54-30 in about 21 minutes.
Ace Bailey looked phenomenal out there, but Rutgers struggled against our top two lineups.
I sure wish KJ Windham had seen the court. If Collins simply decided not to play him, that was a troubling decision. If something else was going on, so be it.
I'm starting to think the NCAA should take 5 seconds off the clock every time the team that is losing commits a foul.
| Player | Minutes | NU Pts | RUT Pts | Raw +/- | Player +/- | Net +/- | Box Pts |
| Leach | 31 | 62 | 59 | +3 | +3.76 | +4.36 | 10.20 |
| Ciaravino | 19 | 35 | 30 | +5 | +2.25 | +3.25 | 5.65 |
| Nicholson | 29 | 57 | 50 | +7 | -1.47 | -0.07 | 4.85 |
| Hunger | 4 | 5 | 9 | -4 | +0.63 | -0.17 | 0.63 |
| Fitzmorris | 6 | 6 | 16 | -10 | +1.28 | -0.72 | 1.40 |
| Barnhizer | 37 | 67 | 72 | -5 | -1.61 | -2.61 | 6.15 |
| Berry | 25 | 41 | 55 | -14 | -0.07 | -2.87 | 2.30 |
| Mullins | 8 | 15 | 25 | -10 | -1.56 | -3.56 | -0.70 |
| Martinelli | 40 | 72 | 79 | -7 | -3.21 | -4.61 | 2.40 |
The game ball goes to Jalen Leach who went 8 for 12 from the field for 23 points, with 4 assists and 2 turnovers, but zero rebounds or steals.
He survived an eye poke which took him off the court for a few minutes in the 2nd half. The refs did not even bother to review the contact, which may have been deliberate.
Its impossible to judge intent.... yada yada yada.... but no review.
The other player who played a winning game, Angelo Ciaravino, was very active throughout, with 3 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 assists, a steal and no turnovers.
Ciaravino looks good out there.
Matt Nicholson was +7. Luke Hunger was -4 in 4 minutes and we got outscored 16-6 when Keenan Fitzmorris was on the court for 6 minutes.
In other words, when Nicholson was playing we outscored Rutgers 57-50. When he wasn't, we got hammered 29-15 in roughly 10 minutes.
Beyond that, though, there was the Nicholson/Mullins problem - and it bit hard.
When Matt and Justin were on the court together, we got scorched 21-11 in 7:30.
As I have stated repeatedly - it is not a good idea to play Nicholson and Mullins at the same time.
Neither player is a serious threat to score and it becomes much easier for the opponent to shut us down.
The starters (Nicholson/Martinelli/Barnhizer/Ciaravino/Leach) got off to a flying start, seizing a 13-4 lead at the 14:25 mark.
To his credit, Collins had not subbed at the tv timeout, which is uncommon for him. But Ciaravino picked up his 2nd foul and the coach subbed in Berry and Fitzmorris.
Things went downhill immediately, with Rutgers outscoring us 11-5 over the next 3:32.
Collins then put Nicholson back in, but swapped in Mullins for Leach, making Barnhizer the only ballhandler.
I don't know if Windham was sick, but he didn't play. For me KJ would have been the obvious choice to replace Leach.
Rutgers then hit us with another 13-6 spurt over a bumbling 4:30 stretch.
We went back to that same lineup (Nicholson/Martinelli/Barnhizer/Mullins/Berry) to close out the first half, gave up a three pointer and Martinelli turned it over.
We came out of halftime with the starting 5 (Ciaravino) and Leach made a 3 to cut the deficit to 5, but then got jabbed in the eye and had to leave the game.
That broke our momentum.
For the game, the starting lineup (with Ciaravino) put up a 26-14 advantage in just over 12 minutes.
The old starters (Berry in for Ciaravino) outscored Rutgers 16-11 in 6:07 of game time.
All other lineup combinations got roasted 54-30 in about 21 minutes.
Ace Bailey looked phenomenal out there, but Rutgers struggled against our top two lineups.
I sure wish KJ Windham had seen the court. If Collins simply decided not to play him, that was a troubling decision. If something else was going on, so be it.
