My Two Cents: Hoosiers Tired of Losing to Rutgers, Prepped to Change That on Saturday
PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Trayce Jackson-Davis was just a few minutes removed from Indiana's delightful victory over North Carolina on Wednesday night when he pulled an about-face and changed the subject.
He wanted to talk about Rutgers, that outlier Big Ten team from the swamps of Jersey. During his three years at Indiana, the senior forward from Greenwood, Ind. has never beaten Rutgers. Never.
And he is so ready to change that. Sure the Hoosiers are 7-0 and in the top-10 nationally, but the Big Ten season starts on Saturday, and the bitter rivalries resume.
Yes, believe it or not, the Indiana-Rutgers rivalry is pretty serious these days, and pretty salty.
Jackson-Davis, when asked what Indiana is capable of accomplishing this season, went straight to Rutgers, the Hoosiers' opponent on Saturday at Jersey Mike's Arena at Rutgers.
"What we're capable of is playing our next game, which is at Rutgers. I haven't beaten Rutgers since I've been here,'' Jackson-Davis said. "The RAC has always been a very hostile environment. They've had our number there, and that's the biggest test.
"That's what I said to our guys this week, I said, UNC is going to be a great team and a great game. Obviously with this crowd, I liked our chances. But the real test is what we're going to do on Saturday with that game because they're a good team and they're very well-coached.''
Rutgers has won five straight games against Indiana and seven of eight in the series — and they've chirped and chirped about every win. Rutgers has won four straight meetings in Piscataway, while also claiming two victories over Indiana in the Big Ten Tournament.
Since joining the Big Ten in the 2014-15 season, Rutgers has turn the RAC (Rutgers Athletic Center) into a bit of a pit, and after a name change — It's Jersey Mike's Arena now — it's still a very tough place to win. Rutgers has beaten 12 ranked teams here since 2015.
Trayce knows that. Here's his experiences with Rutgers so far:
- Rutgers 59, Indiana 50 on Jan 15, 2020: In his first game at Rutgers as a freshman, Jackson-Davis scored only four points in 19 minutes, dealing with foul trouble of lot of the game. The Hoosiers were just 2-for-19 from three in the loss in Pisacataway.
- Rutgers 74, Indiana 70 on Jan. 24, 2021: Jackson-Davis had 13 points and seven rebounds in the game in Bloomington, but it wasn't enough in the Scarlet Knight's first-ever win in Assembly Hall.
- Rutgers 74, Indiana 63 on Feb. 24, 2021: Indiana blew a 15-point lead — a disturbing trend in Archie Miller's final season as head coach at Indiana — and wound up losing 74-63 in Piscataway. Trayce Jackson-Davis had 21 points, 11 rebounds and three steals, but it wasn't enough. It was the second bad loss in what would be a six-game losing streak to end the season.
- Rutgers 61, Indiana 50 on March 11, 2021 in Big Ten Tournament: This was the last of those six straight losses and the final game of the Archie Miller era. Trayce Jackson-Davis had 19 points and nine rebounds, but his teammates did nothing, The Hoosiers were 2-for-16 that day from three at Lucas Oil Stadium. Indiana fans were as nasty as I've ever seen them that night, booing like crazy and getting after Miller. They were vicious to the Indiana players, too, and Miller was fired a few days later. All of Hoosier Nation rejoiced after four years of failure.
- Rutgers 66, Indiana 63 on March 2, 2022: Indiana blew a double-digit lead in the second half of this game too, and lost when Ron Harper Jr. hit a three-pointer with 2.1 seconds to go. It knocked Indiana off the NCAA Tournament bubble at the time, which was scary bad. Their Big Ten Tournament run saved them.
The Hoosiers would love to end this losing streak today, but it won't be easy. Remember last year when Purdue finally got ranked No. 1 in the nation for first time in school history? They came to Rutgers the very next night after the ranking, and got beat — also on a Ron Harper Jr. game-winner.
The Hoosiers don't have to worry about Hunter any more, and that's a good thing. Geo Baker, a Hoosier killer with a loose tongue who has said repeatedly that he has no respector for Indiana, is long gone, too. Paul Mulcahy is banged up as well.
Rutgers, frankly, isn't as good as they have been. They are 5-2 so far this year, but with no signature wins at all. They're 5-0 at home, but look at the Kenpom rankings for their five conquered opponents. They've beaten Columbia (346 of 363), Sacred Heart (299), UMass-Lowell (137), Rider (217) and Central Connecticut (339).
They lost to Temple (98) in a neutral-site game and at Miami (44) earlier this week in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. They haven't had their signature win yet, and they'd like for it to come Saturday against Indiana, because they're loving this recent dominance.
Indiana would love to end it. They have their best chance, because this is simply the best team that Jackson-Davis has played on at Indiana. Their starting lineup is strong, their bench is really good and they can mix and match better with Mike Woodson tinkering with the roster and playing time.
Indiana is very good defensively, and they also scored 80-plus in their first six games offensively, and almost did it again in the 77-65 win over North Carolina.
They got a big boost from the return of Trey Galloway. The junior guard played 23 minutes and scored 11 points. He was also a difference-maker on the defensive end, and the Hoosiers looked much better with him on the floor at the three instead of Miller Kopp.
His presence in road games will be important, too. He needs to continue delivering that boost.
"Trey brings so much energy to our team, especially on the defensive end of the floor. He just thrives off of it,'' Jackson-Davis said. "He always guards their best guard. He's always in their head trying to get them to make mistakes.
"We call him Crazy Man because that's how he is on the defensive end of the floor. He really thrives off of that, getting steals, out in transition, running. He's a big play-maker.''
Indiana is a 3-point favorite in the game — here's my earlier story on how the two teams have fare vs. the number this year CLICK HERE — and I do think the losing streak ends today. Rutgers center Cliffor Omouyi is having a nice year, averaging 16.8 points and 10 rebounds a game, but Jackson-Davis has had success scoring against him in the past.
For Indiana, it's the same ol' thing on the road. They have to make some perimeter shots, just can't go 2-for-16 from three, or 2-for-19 as they have during this losing streak against Rutgers.
It's the first of 20 Big Ten games for Indiana, and its schedule is not easy. They get most of the best teams in the league twice. Stealing one on the road would be a great start.
Let it start today.
Trey Galloway vs. North Carolina
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Trey Galloway
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Trey Galloway vs. Bethune-Cookman
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Trey Galloway vs. Purdue
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Trey Galloway vs. Wyoming
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Trey Galloway vs. Michigan
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Trey Galloway, Xavier Johnson, Mike Woodson
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Trey Galloway
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Trey Galloway
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Trey Galloway vs. North Carolina
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Trey Galloway vs. Ohio State
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Trey Galloway vs. Penn State
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Trey Galloway vs. Northwestern
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Trey Galloway vs. Morehead State
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Trey Galloway vs. St. Francis
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