Rutgers Basketball's Baye Fall Misses Game Against Wisconsin Due to Hand Injury Amid Season of Struggles

It is no secret that Rutgers has struggled to defend and score in the paint this season, and that, in large part is due to the poor play of the teams big men and centers. The teams starting center, Emmanuel Ogbole, has seen himself rotated in and out of the starting lineup with forward Bryce Dortch starting some games in the big man role. This comes in large part due to Ogbole's struggles to develope into a full time Big Ten level starting center.

To make matters worse for the Scarlet Knights, one of their main backup players at center, Baye Fall, has had an extremely rough start to his season in the few games he has appeared in. During the off season, Fall discussed in an interview with Rutgers student newspaper, The Daily Targum, what he was going to bring to the team.

"Y'all needed a center last year, I'm here. Just going to play hard, win a lot of games, get a lot of rebounds, block shots, protect the paint," Fall said to the Daily Targum.

Since the start of the season, Fall has appeared in nine games, and has averaged around five minutes on the floor during the games he has played. So far this season, he is averaging less than a full point per game at 0.6, 1.7 rebounds per game, and 0.1 assists per game. His best game of the season came in Rutgers win against American university, where he posted 2 points and 5 rebounds in nine minutes as the Knights a 80-71 victory over the Eagles.

Center Baye Fall (hand) is out for today’s game against Wisconsin.#TheKnighthood🛡️⚔️ pic.twitter.com/6RsoKPsuKO
— Rutgers Men’s Basketball 🏀 (@RutgersMBB) January 17, 2026

During his 45 minutes on the court this season, Fall has recorded 5 points, 15 rebounds, 11 fouls and one assist. His worst game of the season came against Michigan, where he saw 11 minutes on the court before fouling out. He recorded two points for Rutgers, however, he accidentally tipped in two baskets for the Wolverines, giving them four points.

Now his ability to rebound the rest of the season is in doubt as he suffered and undisclosed hand injury before the teams game against Wisconsin today, and was announced as being inactive for today's game. Rutgers would go on to lose that game 96-87

What remains to be seen is how the Knights coaching staff will adjust their scheme/ lineup knowing that they likely do not have a backup center for at least the next couple of games.