Rutgers Preview

Date: Saturday, January 10th

Time: 3:00 pm CST

Location: Lincoln, NE

Last Meeting: Nebraska 60 Rutgers 54 on January 24th

Current Record: 12-14 (2-11 Big Ten) 0-6 on the road

It has not been terribly long since we last saw the Scarlet Knights. Their two game losing streak that they had when the Huskers left New Jersey on January 24th has extended to six and there is little relief in sight.

Check these games out.

After the Nebraska loss they headed to Happy Valley and got stomped by Penn State 60-43. After that they traveled even farther into Big Ten territory and got throttled by struggling Illinois in Champaign 91-60. A very bad loss to a very bad team. They most recently lost to a rebuilding Indiana squad back home in Pascataway 65-43, having shot just 24% from the field and 28% from beyond the arch. This was one of their worst performances of the year.

Now, here’s the fun one. Before they lost to the Indiana they lost to then #3 Purdue by only two points, 78-76. This is a team that has had a hard time against the bottom half of the conference but was able to go on the road and push one of the top teams in the country to the very end of the game. Vincent Edwards was coming off of the flu but even he had 18 points in the Boilermaker win.

Rutgers, for whatever reason, had one of their best nights of the season. Shooting 48% against Purdue’s 45% which is 8% better than they have averaged all year. They also shot 50% from three point range going 6 of 12. They have been averaging 30% on the entire year. A huge jump in play across the board. But they couldn’t hold on long enough to win it. Even their defense was pushing Purdue to the very end.

But, it just was not supposed to be their night. They lost what could have been one of the biggest upsets of the year.

The Scarlet Knights are an improved team, but not by that much. Nebraska knows that from their win earlier on. Rutgers played fairly well and the Huskers had to play catch up at times. They’re more cold than hot for most games and even worse on the road. While they have done well at home at Louis Brown they continue to struggle on the road going 0 and 6.

Their inability to score well and win away from home will most likely continue in Lincoln. The Huskers are on a roll and I don’t see them pulling off another game like they did against Purdue. There is to much on the line for Nebraska and not enough for Rutgers

University of Nebraska 87 Rutgers University 63