Historically, Rutgers has not been a high-scoring team.
That could be changing. The Scarlet Knights (2-0) are coming off a 101-point game, and they will look to maintain their high scoring when they face Bryant (1-3) on Friday evening in Piscataway, N.J.
Scarlet Knights acting coach Brandin Knight said the key to big offense is simple.
“Balance,” he said. “They can do it, obviously. We talked about it prior to (our most recent) game. We talked about it at halftime. We want to push the tempo and get to that number if we can. But it also requires us pressing (and) us speeding the game up.”
Rutgers is looking to stay perfect after defeating New Haven 81-54 on Nov. 6 and beating the New Jersey Institute of Technology 101-64 on Tuesday.
Five players are averaging double-digit scoring for Rutgers. Tariq Francis leads the group with an average of 15.5 points per game, and Christian Gurdak is at 12. The next three leading scorers are Jamichael Davis and Lino Mark at 10.5 apiece, and Rasheed Jones at 10.
Knight said any player is capable of scoring at any time.
“We want to choose great over good when it comes to shot selection,” he said. “We saw a lot of guys turn down shots to make the one more (pass) to get a better shot, and then we knocked some of them down. I think it also put us in position to get some offensive rebounds, too.”
Knight is serving as acting coach in place of Steve Pikiell, who is receiving treatment for cancer.
Bryant, meanwhile, is looking to bounce back from consecutive losses to Quinnipiac, Fairfield and Providence. The Bulldogs opened the season with an 80-75 win against Siena on Nov. 2 and most recently fell to the Friars 78-55 on Tuesday.
“We would have loved to beat Providence. We need to beat a team like Providence in March, and we need to know what that feels like,” Bulldogs coach Jamion Christian said.
Three players are scoring in double digits for Bryant. Keegan Harvey is averaging 12 points per game, Onyx Nnani is at 11.5, and Duane Thompson is at 10.8.
This will be the fifth all-time meeting between the programs. Rutgers has won the first four, but the past two matchups, in 2019 and 2023, were decided by single digits.