Basketball Preview: Merrimack travels to No. 24 Rutgers
The Warriors will also be matched up against former teammate Jordan Derkack
Merrimack travels to New Jersey on Wednesday night to take on No. 24 Rutgers and former Warrior Jordan Derkack.
The Warriors are 1-2, coming off Sunday’s loss to Princeton at Lawler Arena. The Scarlet Knights are 3-0 with wins over Wagner, Saint Peter’s, and Monmouth.
Merrimack vs. #24 Rutgers
When: Wednesday
Top-off: 8:00 p.m. ET
Watch U.S.: Peacock
Venue: Jersey Mike’s Arena (cap. 8,000)
Location: Piscataway, NJ
Purchase Tickets: Click here
History: Rutgers and Merrimack will meet for the second time on Wednesday. The first meeting was on Nov. 13, 2021, and the Scarlet Knights won an ultra low-scoring game, 48-35. Merrimack led Rutgers 23-16 at halftime.
Mikey Watkins led the Warriors with 12 points that afternoon. Jordan Minor had nine points and eight rebounds.
Inside the Matchup
— Rutgers has been one of the top offenses in college basketball to start the season. The Scarlet Knights are ranked No. 17 in the nation in 2-point shooting and No. 73 in adjusted offensive efficiency.
Can the Warriors generate turnovers, as they usually do, against Rutgers’ offense? Merrimack is No. 18 in defensive turnovers forced, and Rutgers is No. 22 in offensive turnover percentage.
— The Warriors will see former teammate Jordan Derkack, who transferred to the Scarlet Knights this offseason. Derkack is averaging 7.7 points and 5.7 rebounds in 25 minutes per game. Derkack has started all three games for Rutgers.
— Freshman guard Dylan Harper has been Rutgers’ best player, averaging 21.3 points per game and shooting 57.5 percent in three games. Fellow freshman Ace Bailey is averaging 17.0 points per game. Harper and Bailey are both playing 30+ minutes per game.
Keys to the Game for Merrimack
The Warriors need to find their groove shooting. I’m not concerned with Merrimack’s lack of finish in the last two games. They have too much talent to shoot this poorly. It feels more like a rough stretch than anything significant. But to have a chance against Rutgers, they can’t afford a poor shooting night. To keep these games close, if anything, you have to over-perform shooting.
Create turnovers. There isn’t anywhere in this matchup where I’d say the Warriors have an advantage, so they have to rely on their strengths. Yes, Rutgers has been a difficult team to turn over, and they are among the best in preventing steals. But Merrimack’s game defensively is chaos and turnovers. It’s a battle of a good turnover defense against a hard-to-turnover offense. Who wins that battle?
Slow the game down. This will be one of Merrimack’s most challenging games of the season. Butler (on Friday), Stanford, and Saint Mary’s are the others. To keep the game close (and give yourself a chance late), the Warriors probably want to slow down the tempo and limit Rutgers’ possessions. Merrimack is ranked No. 316 in tempo this season, and Rutgers (overall) is ranked No. 170, but the Scarlet Knights are ranked No. 39 in average possession length (15.2 seconds). I think Rutgers is going to play fast — although I am interested to see if it takes them time to adjust to the zone — and if that’s the case, the Warriors will want to slow down their possessions to limit Rutgers’ chances with the ball.
Inside the Numbers
