Rutgers men’s basketball is set to wrap up non-conference play this Monday against Delaware State. Despite the Scarlet Knights looking very vulnerable in their past few outings, they are hoping to secure a convincing win over a bottom-11 team in the country, according to KenPom.
The Hornets are coming into this game with a record of 5-9. Their wins are against Kean (DIII), Cheyney (DII), Delaware, Longwood, and Holy Family (DII). Despite their games against Delaware and Longwood, Delaware State has lost every single D1 game it has played, and has even lost to schools like DII Virginia State. They come into this game rated as the No. 354 D1 team in the country in terms of KenPom. For reference, there are 365 D1 teams in NCAA college basketball.
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Delaware State’s leading scorer is guard Ponce James, who is averaging 13.7 points per game. He also leads the team in assists per game with four, and steals with 2.2 per game. Their leader in rebounds is forward Miles Webb, who grabs an average of 5.5 per game. The Hornets do have a center, Cyril Obasogie, who is listed at 6 -foot-11. However, he plays for less than 14 minutes a game on average. This means that for most of the game, the Knights should have a drastic size advantage in the paint.
Despite all the struggles Rutgers has been facing lately, it is still drastically better in terms of talent. For example, Delaware State is averaging 61.2 points per game while having played four teams not on the D1 level. Rutgers is averaging 69 points per game while having played several high-major ranked teams like Tennessee, Michigan, and Purdue.
The Knights should be looking to handle the Hornets with ease. They should push their size and talent advantages to put Delaware State in a hole early that they can’t dig themselves out of. That way, they can avoid another disaster before conference play starts. If there was ever an opportunity to experiment with a few modern offensive concepts this season, just to see if they will work, this is the game to do it. This is Rutgers’s last opportunity to figure it, or at least something, out before they enter the gauntlet that is Big Ten conference play.
The Knights are set to tip off against the Hornets on Monday, December 29th, at 7 pm inside Jersey Mike’s Arena. The game will be broadcast live on BTN.
