Takeaways | Rutgers basketball gets blown out by Purdue with season officially off the rails

Posted by Admin January 10, 2025 Basketball

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PISCATAWAY – This was a major opportunity for Rutgers at a time it badly needed it.

A ranked opponent in Purdue, at home, with the Scarlet Knights desperately searching for signature victories to salvage a season that’s quickly gone off the rails.

In other years, Steve Pikiell’s team might’ve been able to take advantage, summon every ounce of energy and grit and toughness and fight to emerge with a win.

Not this year. Not this team.

Rutgers committed too many turnovers early, its defense lacked all game long and its questionable offense was exposed yet again in a 68-50 loss to the No. 19 Boilermakers Thursday night at Jersey Mike’s Arena.

The Scarlet Knights (8-8, 1-4 Big Ten) have now lost three in a row and four of their last five.

“Purdue’s good,” Pikiell said. “We’ve got to play better than that. We don’t turn the ball over generally. Average 10 turnovers, we had 12 in the first half. That’s not the way to play against a team like Purdue. Got to get more guys on the same page. Got to get healthy. Just have to play better.”

Boos rained down on the court when Purdue took a 16-point lead with four minutes left, prompting many fans to stream for the exits.

Ace Bailey led Rutgers with 17 points, while Tyson Acuff had 10 off the bench.

The Scarlet Knights’ shot just 32.7 percent from the field and went 7-of-23 from long distance.

Braden Smith and Trey Kaufman-Renn each had 16 points for Purdue (Smith also had 14 assists).

Jersey Mike’s Arena hasn’t been an easy place to play for Purdue in recent years – Matt Painter’s team entered Thursday a loser of three of the previous four meetings these teams have had here.

Rutgers had won five of the previous nine meetings overall.

Purdue (12-4, 4-1) didn’t even play all that well Thursday night – the Boilermakers shot a paltry 4-of-24 from the three-point line.

This game was there for Rutgers.

Rutgers cut it to five with 11 minutes left on a three from Tyson Acuff, but that’s as close as it could get.

“We don’t finish,” Pikiell said. “We don’t do the things we need to do – make the big plays. We’ve got to figure that part out most definitely.”

The first half ended with Purdue holding a 33-24 lead, but that advantage could’ve been much larger had the Boilermakers shot better than 2-of-13 from three-point range.

Rutgers didn’t help itself with 12 first-half turnovers that led to nine points for Purdue.

“I think when you turn the ball over alarmingly in the first six or seven possessions of the game, you put yourself in a bind,” Pikiell said. “That’s not how you want to start.”

It was a pretty sloppy, underwhelming half of basketball from the Scarlet Knights, who shot just 7-of-22 (31.8 percent) before the break.

Things didn’t get much better from that point on.

Five takeaways

1. Dylan Harper looks better, though far from 100 percent

The star freshman has been battling the flu, which limited badly in Monday’s loss to Wisconsin, but Harper looked closer to full strength against Purdue.

Certainly not all the way back, but better – Pikiell said after the team’s loss to the Badgers that Harper had a “bad strand” of the flu. It showed.

Against the Boilermakers, Harper finished with six points on 2-of-9 shooting (0-of-3 from the perimeter) with six rebounds and three assists.

“It’s been a journey,” Pikiell said. “He practiced yesterday so that was really the first practice that he’s had. He’s still a work in progress.”

Harper made a big play in the first half, getting a block and a layup in transition that sliced Rutgers’ deficit to six points.

Painter acknowledged after the game that the result could’ve looked much different had Harper, whom he called a “special player,” been fully healthy and at full strength.

“Give our guys credit, we played hard,” Painter said. “But we played them at the right time. We’ve got to keep that perspective.”

2. Starting lineup change

Pikiell made a change that many fans have been clamoring for, inserting freshman center Lathan Sommerville into the starting five in place of Emmanuel Ogbole.

On this night, at least, the move didn’t make too much of a difference.

Sommerville finished with two points and three rebounds in 21 minutes, and struggled at times on defense. Ogbole had four points and five rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench.

Pikiell said Sommerville had earned the opportunity and thought he matched up better against Purdue.

This also brings us to our next takeaway…

3. Purdue’s points in the paint

The Boilermakers hammered Rutgers around the basket, finishing with 38 points in the paint (Rutgers had 20).

That’s been a major issue for the Scarlet Knights all season.

It’s not getting any better.

4. Quiet atmosphere at Jersey Mike’s Arena

The raucous environment inside the RAC has given the Scarlet Knights one of the best homecourt advantages in recent seasons, but that energy was largely missing Thursday night – despite the practically sold-out crowd.

It was pretty quiet from the opening tip and mostly through the first half, a stark change from typical games here.

There were times where the crowd popped – especially about seven minutes into the second half when Bailey knocked down a three that cut Rutgers’ deficit to six, then again just more than a minute later when Acuff hit the triple that made it a five-point game.

But for the most part, that energy didn’t last.

5. What it means and up next

It mostly means Rutgers needs to beat UCLA (6:30 p.m., FS1) on Monday at Jersey Mike’s Arena.

The Scarlet Knights are now 0-6 against Quad 1 opponents. Their NCAA Tournament resume is largely in tatters.

The Bruins have struggled lately, suffering losses to Nebraska and Michigan. Coach Mick Cronin ripped his team after Tuesday’s loss to the Wolverines, calling his players “soft” and essentially questioning their levels of desire.

UCLA plays at Maryland on Friday before making traveling up to New Jersey.

Still, at this point, even beating the Bruins may not be enough for Rutgers.

Regardless, the Scarlet Knights just need a win.

“I’m well aware how hard it is to get into the NCAA Tournament,” Pikiell said. “It is hard. A lot of things have to go your way. But you’ve got to win games.”