MBB defeated 91-85 in the exhibition against St. John's for the Jimmy V Foundation

PISCATAWAY – The Scarlet Knights debuted Thursday night in front of their home crowd for a good cause.

RU suffered a 91-85 loss to the St. John's Red Storm on Thursday night in an exhibition game for the Jimmy V Foundation's Dick Vitale Pediatric Cancer Fund at Jersey Mike's Arena.


Rutgers started five-star freshmen Ace Bailey and Dylan HarperSecond semester Jamichael DavisJunior Emmanuel Ogboleand senior captain Jeremiah Williams. After dealing with early foul trouble and losing the rebound battle, St. John's built a 17-8 lead with 12:30 left in the first half.


“The foul problem and learning to deal with it is part of the game,” said head coach Steve Pikiell said. “We have nine new players. We have a few players coming onto the pitch for the first time today. We need to work on some things “Played for a good cause, the team needs to keep getting better.”


The Scarlet Knights came into the game and went on a 22-0 winning run. Bailey started the momentum by hitting an easy slam to the rim on an inbounds play, followed by consecutive three-pointers from Harper, Bailey and fifth-year senior PJ Hayes.

Ace can knock them down from 3️⃣.🔥

📺 Watch on Big Ten Network pic.twitter.com/VBGQcVy7iM

— Rutgers Men's Basketball 🏀 (@RutgersMBB) October 18, 2024

Junior Jordan Derkack served as Rutgers' best defender and had perhaps the biggest flurry play of the night – after St. John's recovered a loose ball and went for what appeared to be a wide-open dunk, Derkack sprinted back to the block and caused a turnover that brought his teammates with him Scarlets are loyal to their feet.

“He’s really good,” Pikiell said. “First of all, he is a worker. He's early and stays late. He is tough and a multi-position guy. I think he’s going to be a really good player.”

The Scarlet Knight defense held the Red Storm scoreless for more than six minutes (including more than seven minutes without a made field goal) and took a 44-36 halftime lead. Hayes was perfect from the field with 10 points in 11 minutes in the first half, and Ogbole had the most commanding presence – Rutgers outscored St. John's by 20 points with him on the floor.

Bailey took control in the second half. With just over 12 minutes left, he pulled in from the other side without hesitation, drilled his fourth three-pointer and went a perfect 4-for-4 from the field coming out of the break.

Harper was also sensational in his debut – scoring eight massive points in a row down the home stretch, extending Rutgers' lead to eight with less than six minutes left. Bailey and Harper combined for 45 for the Scarlet Knights' 85 points on 47% shooting.

Gallery: (10/17/2024) RU-St. John's exhibition

“For a rookie, Dylan has so much control. “He’s playing like a senior,” St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino said. “He’s similar to Clyde Frazier in the way he plays. He was great. Ace just has great talent. Both are great. I think they are great. They deserve the ranking they get. They're going to be great if.” You just listen to Coach Pikiell, he's a great coach, I think he's got two great players, and I think they're going to be a heck of a basketball team.

Zuby Ejiofor and Kadary Richmond were fantastic for the Red Storm. Ejiofor scored 27 points and 13 rebounds to help St. John's win the rebounding battle 46-37. When Richmond was on the floor, they outscored the Scarlet Knights by 20 points. Simeon Wilcher added 15 points himself.

“We were killed by the glass,” Pikiell said. “But these are good games for us. As I said in the locker room, we know we have to get better. Even if we won the game, I would tell them the same thing. We have to do things better.” “

Pikiell praised St. John's as a strong, physical team that excels at offensive rebounding.

captain Zach Martini He continued to bring plenty of energy in the second half, scoring six points and four rebounds, although it wasn't enough as costly turnovers ultimately led to Rutgers' downfall.

“First and foremost, I want to thank the students and the band for coming,” Martini said. “They were so loud. A few guys were talking on the bench and said this is only half the capacity of the arena, so I can't wait to see what Jersey Mike's Arena looks like during the Wagner game.”

Rutgers will open the regular season at home against Wagner on November 6th at 6 p.m.

Post-game notes

Number of visitors: 4,240

• Rutgers went on a 22-0 run in the first half, holding St. John's without a point for 6:21 and without a field goal for 7:16.
• Rutgers scored 85 points.

  • Last season, RU only topped the 80-point mark four times (Nebraska in OT, Michigan, LIU, Howard), with a high of 87 and a regular high of 85.

• Rutgers scored 44 points in the first half. RU scored 44 points in a half just three times last season

  • 44 points in the second half against St. Peter on November 27, 2023
  • 46 points against Howard on November 18, 2023.
  • 44 points in the exhibition game at St. John's on November 21, 2023

• Rutgers had seven freshmen play in their first game against outside competition in exhibition: Jordan Derkack, Dylan HarperAce Bailey, Tyson AcuffPJ Hayes, Lathan Somerville and Zach Martini
• 70 points came from freshmen (Bailey: 25, Harper: 20, Hayes: 13, Martini: 6, Derkack: 4, Somerville: 2).
• 47 points came from freshmen (Bailey: 25, Harper: 20, Somerville: 2)
• Ace Bailey led RU with 25 points

  • Last season, RU only had two games in which a player had 25 or more points (Gavin Griffiths with 25 points against Boston U and LIU).

• Dylan Harper had 20 points

  • The last time two RU players scored more than 20 points in a regular season game was in the 2022 NCAA Tournament when Caleb McConnell scored 23 and Ron Harper Jr. scored 22 against Notre Dame (March 16, 2022).

• Rutgers starting lineup: Jermichael Davis, Dylan HarperAce Bailey, Jeremiah Williams, Emmanuel Ogbole

  • That starting lineup represented two freshmen and RU's three returning players. The group has only had 25 starts at RU (14 by Davis and 11 by Williams last season).

Post-game quotes.

Rutgers head coach Steve Pikiell

Opening speech:
“First I want to thank you all. That wasn't an easy game. Coach Rick Pitino was great. I am grateful to the audience who made sure I came. We're going to make a nice donation to Jimmy V.” Coach Pitino made that happen. He's in his 52nd year as coach, which is incredible. They played well, we also have a good team and I'm thrilled.

Pikiell on Ace and Dylan's first game:
“Both of these kids are talented. They're great kids and they're really good passers. You definitely need to learn some things. College defense is something they will continue to get better at and I’m grateful.”

Pikiell about the loss:
“We died on the glass. But these are good games for us. As I said in the locker room, we know we have to get better. Even if we won the game, I would tell them the same thing. We don't have to return the ball well in training. I wasn't happy that we gave up 90 points. But when you're playing against good players, a good Hall of Fame coach and… It's for a good cause; it's a good day.

Pikiell about offensive goals:
“They are tough and physically strong (St. Johns). The backboard obviously hurt us. We tried to play a few quick hit sets, but it didn't go as well as we would have liked. That's why these games are like this.” Good. We have films to devour and now we have to implement some new things. But no, I like my boys.

Pikiell about foul trouble:
“The foul problem and learning how to play through it is part of the game. We have nine new boys. Some of us are coming to the square for the first time today. We need to work on some things. But it is one.” The good thing about it is that we are 0-0 and played for a good cause. The team must continue to improve before it is ready Tyson Acuff will get better, it will still be a work in progress.

Keep going Jordan Derkack:
“He's really good. First, he is a worker. He comes early and stays late. He's tough and he's a multi-position guy. I think he'll be a really good player. PJ Hayes was good.” Emmanuel Ogbole is getting better and better. Lathan Summerville came in and gave us a few good minutes. We’ll keep going, but Jordan is a good player.”

Pikiell via St. Johns:
“All thanks go to St. John’s. Last year they were a really good offensive rebounding team. They did it and did it again this year by using their strengths.”

Jeremiah Williams Thoughts:
“Like Coach said, it’s for a good cause. It was a great event. You don't know who's coming to a scrimmage play. It was great to see our fans come and give us the energy that they did. I I'm looking forward to the season. I think there's a lot to be excited about.

Zach Martini Thoughts:
“First and foremost, I would like to thank the students and the band for coming. They were so loud. A few of the guys were chatting on the bench saying that this was only the arena at half capacity. So I can't.” Wait and see what it looks like in Jersey Mikes Arena during the game against Wagner.

Final statements from Pikiell about Dylan and Ace:
“These kids just turned 18. It's a journey but I'm really happy. I think you should be too. There are still more exciting days ahead of us. Thank you guys for coming. We appreciate that.”



St. John's head coach Pitino continued Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey and Coach Pikiell:
“For a rookie, Dylan has so much control. He plays like a senior. He's similar to Clyde Frazier in the way he plays. He was great. Ace just has great talent. Both are great. I think they’re great.” They deserve the placement they get. “They will be great if they just listen to Coach Pikiell.”