Rutgers Will Continue To Play In High Scoring Games

Rutgers vs. Nebraska, 9:00 ET

I'm on a mini-heater for college hoops having won five consecutive plays in the past two days. In fact, yesterday, I won basically two plays with identical scores as both Iowa State and Tennessee took down their opponents with ease. Tennessee won 74-56 over Georgia, and Iowa State beat Kansas 74-57, with both games around a -6.5 spread. Tonight we are going back to the hardwood and seeing if we can keep the run going as Rutgers takes on Nebraska in an unranked matchup.

I just recently wrote about Rutgers and they were the team that helped me start this run as they hit the over against UCLA. This team is loaded with talent, they have a couple of top options in the upcoming draft with Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey. Despite having both, they haven't experienced a ton of success as they are just 9-8 for the season and 2-4 within conference play. They are coming off a nice win over UCLA, but it was a home game, and they only won by seven points, so it isn't like they dominated people. Prior to that, they lost to Purdue by 18, Wisconsin by 12, and Indiana by 10. The issue for the team seems to be defense, and potentially depth. Rutgers is scoring 76.4 points per game, but 40 of those points come from Harper and Bailey. Their defense is allowing 74.2 points per game. I'm not sure if it is an effort thing or what, but the team needs to find a way to clamp down on defense if they truly want an opportunity to move in the correct direction and advance in the rankings. This game wouldn't be a statement win, but it would be good against a tough Nebraska team.

Jan 9, 2025; Piscataway, New Jersey, USA; Rutgers Scarlet Knights guard Dylan Harper (2) slaps hands with guard Ace Bailey (4) during the first half against the Purdue Boilermakers at Jersey Mike's Arena. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

The Cornhuskers are off to a good start with a 12-4 record, however they are just 2-3 in conference play. They also have lost their past two games. Their losses came against Iowa and Purdue, both on the road. Against Iowa, they took them to overtime, but completely ran out of gas and lost by 10. The next game against Purdue, they were blown out. They lost that game by almost 40. Perhaps that was predictable, going on the road, playing against a good team, and coming off of an overtime game. It is possible there were just too many things going against them. The other losses came against Michigan State, also on the road, and Saint Mary's which was a neutral court loss. Nebraska has a trio of players that has played rather well with Brice Williams, Connor Essegian, and Juwan Gary leading the way. Those three guys are all scoring 11.6 points per game or higher. They also have another three players that are contributing 7.7 or more each game. It isn't the deepest team in the league but they are fairly solid.

The two teams are averaging over 70 points per game, and Rutgers is not good a defense. Nebraska will be better on defense at home, but I won't say they are going to be great here. Still, this will be a fun game to watch as I don't think Nebraska has the shut down defenders to stop both Harper and Bailey. I do think 8.5 points is a bit too many to give Rutgers here but I think the safer play is taking the over 146.5 in this one.