Former St. Paul and UConn basketball player Steve Pikiell has been doing his part to lead the Rutgers men’s basketball program into a better level of contention in the Big Ten Conference. Thursday night’s home win is certainly a big step in the right direction for the head coach and his team.
The Scarlet Knights stunned No. 1 Purdue, 70-68, at the buzzer at the Jersey Mike’s Arena on Ron Harper Jr.’s game-winning 3-pointer from the giant ‘R’ in the middle of the court. Rutgers improved to 5-4 on the season and 1-1 in Big 10 play with the upset victory. Pikiell has nine freshmen and sophomores on his roster, and the Scarlet Knights began Big 10 play with a humbling 86-51 defeat against Illinois on the road on Dec. 3. Thursday’s win was a heck of a bounceback for Rutgers, and it came less than a week later.
Pikiell is in his sixth season as the head coach of the Scarlet Knights. He led the Scarlet Knights into the NCAA Tournament for the first time in his tenure last March. Before Rutgers, Pikiell was the top man at Stony Brook University.
Photo credit: Rutgers athletics
