Three games into the season, the wait continues for No. 24 Rutgers to deploy its preferred lineup.
On the bright side, Friday’s high-scoring win served as NBA prospect Ace Bailey’s official introduction to college basketball.
Bailey and the Scarlet Knights conclude a season-opening four-game homestand against Merrimack on Wednesday in Piscataway, N.J.
Rutgers (3-0) entered the season with plenty of hype thanks to five-star recruits Bailey and Dylan Harper, considered the second- and third-best freshmen in the incoming class. Bailey sustained a reported hip flexor injury in practice days before the team’s season opener against Wagner.
The Scarlet Knights got by without him, beating Wagner by 23 points and staving off Saint Peter’s by 10. Then Bailey joined Harper in the lineup for the first time against Monmouth, and the result was a 98-81 victory.
Rutgers shot 59.6 percent overall and 55.0 percent from deep to score its highest point total in coach Steve Pikiell’s nine-year tenure. The Scarlet Knights won despite the absence of starting guard Jeremiah Williams, who was nursing a shoulder injury and could be back this week.
“We still got to work on a lot of things,” Pikiell said. “We didn’t have Jeremiah Williams (Friday), so we get Ace Bailey back, but we lose a guy like him. So hopefully we get him healthy and back into the swing of things, but a good team win, and everyone contributed.”
Harper led the team in scoring for the third straight game, tallying 20 points to go with five rebounds and six assists. As for Bailey, he knocked down a corner 3-pointer on his first shot attempt, added a highlight-reel dunk on an inbounds play and wound up with 17 points and six rebounds.
“Obviously (Bailey) hasn’t practiced for a little bit and I thought he gutted it out for us,” Pikiell said. “Some big rebounds. Just gives us another dimension on the court. And he’ll keep getting better, too, like this. I like this team a lot. We got to get better, and obviously he’s a big part of that.”
Merrimack (1-2) has played a challenging nonconference schedule as it prepares for its first season in the MAAC. By opening against Vermont, VCU and Princeton, the Warriors faced three teams projected to win their conferences in their respective preseason polls.
After taking down Vermont 65-51 and falling flat against VCU in a 63-42 road loss, Merrimack took a 14-point first-half lead against visiting Princeton on Sunday before the Tigers clawed back for a 68-57 victory.
Adam “Budd” Clark has paced Merrimack in each of its first three games and is averaging 20.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 3.0 steals per contest.
Clark, a do-it-all guard, is the Warriors’ heir apparent to Jordan Derkack, who won Northeast Conference Player of the Year last season before transferring to Rutgers. A 17-ppg scorer last year, Derkack has put up 7.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game for the Scarlet Knights so far — including nine assists on Friday.
Merrimack coach Joe Gallo is excited to see his former protege again.
“I laugh because if I had a dollar for everyone that asked me if I thought (Derkack) could play there, I probably would just quit my job,” Gallo said. “The answer was always yes.”
