IU basketball looks to end its four-game losing streak when it travels to Piscataway to take on Rutgers at Jersey Mike’s Arena on Friday night. The Scarlet Knights are 9-10 overall and 2-6 in Big Ten play.
Friday’s game tips off at 6:00 PM ET on FS1:
Indiana’s poor defensive form in recent weeks has led to a four-game losing streak, with three of those losses by 14 or more points.
According to KenPom.com, the Hoosiers have their third most winnable game on the schedule, on Friday night in New Jersey against Rutgers.
The Scarlet Knights, ranked No. 142 in KenPom and No. 151 in the NET as of Thursday morning, have won their last two home games in the league in overtime against Oregon and Northwestern.
MEET THE SCARLET KNIGHTS
After Rutgers’ most anticipated basketball season ended last season with a 15-17 record, the Scarlet Knights are on their way to their worst KenPom finish under Steve Pikiell.
Pikiell, in his 10th season at Rutgers, led the program to NCAA tournament appearances in 2021 and 2022. But the program has stagnated since then and is on its way to a fourth straight season of 15 or more losses.
Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper left for the NBA after one season, as expected, and much of last season’s rotation either graduated or left through the transfer portal.
Eleven players saw the floor in the most recent Rutgers loss at Iowa on Tuesday and seven are new to the program this year. As you would expect with a team looking for consistency, the starting lineup fluctuated throughout the year, with nine different players earning at least three starts.
Looking at the overall rotation, Rutgers has 11 players averaging over 11 minutes per game and no player averaging over 27.4 minutes.
The two double-digit scorers on the roster are junior guard Tariq Francis, a transfer from NJIT who has come off the bench in the last eight games, and sophomore forward Dylan Grant, who started the first 16 games but has come off the bench in the previous three games.
The 6-foot-4 Francis has the second-highest usage rate in the Big Ten in conference play and is the only Rutgers player to average double figures in league play.
Francis is averaging 15.3 points on 43.7 shots from the field, shooting 32.5 percent on three-pointers and 87.5 percent from the free throw line. He has attempted 88 free throws for the team and can also create for others with a 25 percent assist rate in Big Ten games.
(Shot chart via UMHoops)
The 6-foot-4 Grant showed promise as a freshman last season and was off to a great start to this year’s season. Grant has scored double figures in twelve of the team’s first fourteen games, but has struggled as of late. In the last five games, Grant has scored a total of 18 points and grabbed just 10 rebounds. Overall, he is still the team’s second-leading scorer at 11.5 points per game.
George Washington transfer Darren Buchanan, a 6-foot-4 junior wing, scored 17 points in Tuesday’s loss to Iowa. He ranks third on the team in scoring at 8.2 points per game and shoots 47.4 percent on 3s on limited volume (one attempt per game).
Junior guard Jamichael Davis has started 18 of 19 games and leads the Scarlet Knights with 2.6 assists per game while also recording a team-leading 27.4 minutes per game. Davis is 20-for-53 on 3s (37.7 percent).
Harun Zrno, a one-time IU commit, is a 6-foot-1 freshman who is only a threat on the perimeter. Zrno is hitting 80.7 percent of his shots from 3 and is 28-for-88 on triples this season (31.8 percent).
Kaden Powers, a 6-foot-1 freshman from Seattle, has started the last five games and had 12 points in a loss to Illinois on Jan. 8. Powers is averaging 5.9 points but shooting just 31.5 percent from the field.
The other guard name to know on the roster is 6-foot-10 freshman Lino Mark. The Los Angeles native scored 13 points in an overtime win against Oregon on Jan. 5. He is 0-for-16 on 3-pointers this season and is averaging 3.5 points in 13.1 minutes.
Up front, Rutgers rotates sophomore Bryce Dortch, senior Emmanuel Ogbole and freshman Chris Nwuli along with the aforementioned Grant.
Dortch is not an offensive threat, but can defend at the rim. He has 15 blocked shots and has the 15th best block percentage in league play.
The 6-foot-2 Ogbole is an even better shot blocker – 25 in 19 games – and is the best offensive rebounder in the Big Ten. Ogbole is prone to mistakes, but averages 4.9 points and 6.9 rebounds in 18.5 minutes. If Indiana can’t keep him off the offensive glass, it could be a long night for the Hoosiers.
Nwuli, a 6-foot-4 forward from North Las Vegas, is shooting just 35.3 percent from the field and averaging 2.1 points in 11.1 minutes per game.
PACE-FREE PREVIEW
(All numbers below are for Big Ten games only, and the rankings in parentheses are for Wednesday’s games.)
Friday’s game will be physical, and with a deeper rotation than IU, the Scarlet Knights will look to wear down the Hoosiers over the course of 40 minutes.
Offensively, Rutgers has struggled to score, shooting just 46.5 percent on 2s in Big Ten play, the worst mark in the league. But the Scarlet Knights will be going hard on the offensive glass, with Ogbole looming as a potential problem when expanding possessions.
Rutgers opponents are shooting 39.3 percent on 3s in conference games, the second-highest mark in the Big Ten. The Scarlet Knights are also the third-worst defensive team in the league.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Rutgers, despite its poor record, has been competitive since the return of Big Ten play in early January. Outside of a 26-point loss at Illinois, Rutgers is 2-3 since the new year with an average margin of defeat of 7.3 points (vs. Ohio State, at Wisconsin, at Iowa) and home wins against Oregon and Northwestern.
The KenPom projection is Indiana by seven points, with a 73 percent chance of a win for the Hoosiers. Bart Torvik has the Hoosiers winning by 10 points, with an 83 percent chance of winning.
Indiana desperately needs a win, but the road has not been good thus far under Darian DeVries. The Hoosiers are 1-3 in Big Ten road games.
To leave Piscataway with a win, Indiana will have to play better defense without fouling, keep Rutgers off the offensive glass and consistently make 3s.
See more: Commentary, Rutgers Scarlet Knights
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