Is Rutgers Ready for Florida?

PISCATAWAY, NJ – Before his team boarded the plane to Gainesville for back-to-back champion Florida, Rutgers men's basketball head coach Fred Hill wanted to ensure that everyone was securely buckled. The ride isn’t getting any smoother for the Scarlet Knights, who are off to a perfect 3-0 start.

This remarkable season-opening run includes wins over Tennessee Tech, North Dakota State, and North Carolina Central. Although these programs were unranked preseason, they still competed at a very high level during the Blue Ribbon Challenge, an inaugural tournament held at RU’s Louis Brown Athletic Center.

“We did some really good things, but when we got a big lead, we got out of character,” Hill said. “We were trying to teach our guys how to put people away.”

Hill’s starting lineup includes one rookie, and his bench is occupied by at least two more newbies who were called upon during key stretches in these wins.

Hill can attribute these victories to the play of third-year forward J.R. Inman and true freshman Corey Chandler, one of his highly touted recruits, following last season’s slump which resulted in a 10-19 record. Both players are off to record-breaking years for the eager Scarlet Knights, who are looking to overcome modest Big East expectations; they were ranked 15th out of 16 conference teams to start the season.

6-7 Inman, one of the starting forwards on the undersized Rutgers front, scored 63 points during their three-game Blue Ribbon Challenge tournament. He scored a career-high 24 points against UNNC after dropping 21 points and 11 boards over NDSU on Sunday.

He shot a whopping 59.5 percent on 22-for-37 shooting over the four-day period, dominating the glass with nine offensive rebounds (tied with two other Knights), 25 overall, and he recorded six blocks.

Chandler commanded the backcourt with his crisp ball-handling skills and no-look feeds. He scored at least 10 points in each of the games, becoming the first Scarlet Knight to score in double figures in his first three games since 1996-1997. He dished out a team-high eight assists and swiped seven steals. His inexperience showed up in his nine tournament turnovers.

Several other Knights have added much-needed contributions to a team with much more depth this season than in years past.

Point guard Anthony Farmer (12 points and four rebounds per game) has been able to rest his tired legs more this year, averaging nearly 10 fewer minutes on the floor (23.3 as opposed to 32.7 last year). Although he is still battling shooting woes (9-24, 37.5 percent), he leads the team at the free-throw line, shooting an outstanding 80 percent on 16-20 attempts.

Second-year center Hamady N'Daiye's frame is still as thin as the Olsen twins'. At 6-11 and only 235 pounds, he still continues to utilize those long arms of his, rejecting 11 shots and ripping down nine offensive and 11 defensive rebounds during the challenge.

N’Daiye is one of the arteries pumping blood to the Scarlet Knights' defensive heart, which held its opponents to a measly 37.8 percent shooting from the field in earning its best start since 2005-2006 (6-1).

If only the University of Florida didn’t stand in RU's way.

The Gators lost their starting five from the championship years, four to the NBA, but they have recruited McDonald's All-Americans to take their places.

“They’re [Gators] young but they’re gonna be extremely talented,” Hill said.

The Gators returned this season with seven new recruits, and have an unblemished 3-0 record to start the season. They’ve routed foes by 10, 28, and 54 point margins of victory and will not stop until a three-peat is secured.

Rutgers must contain their point guard Nick Calathes, (rated No. 3 on Rivals.com) whose 6-5, 180-pound frame is definitely challenging for most defenses. He leads the team in passing with 6.3 assists per game and ranks second in the SEC.

N’Daiye will have his hands full with forward/center Marreese Speights (6-10, 250 pounds) who stepped into a more significant role after playing behind two NBA top-10 picks. Speights’ 67.1 percent shooting broke the Gators rookie record, and this season he has only shown signs of improvement. He scored 19 points against UNNC on 9-10 shooting after toppling Tennessee Tech with a 7-10, 16-point performance.

If the Knights are to upset the unranked Gators, who are slowly climbing the AP Top 25 Poll at 29th (tied with Connecticut), they must be efficient and consistent.

Having just played three games in four days, Hill doesn’t know how the NBA athletes manage such a difficult schedule.

“Three games in four days is not easy, especially for the freshmen,” Hill said. “I don't know how those NBA guys do it for 82 games and play back-to-backs, and travel. It wears on you.”

Hill added that he liked “playing three distinctly different-style teams, and that his young kids were prepared."

Buckle up Inman, Chandler, Coach Hill, and the rest of the Scarlet Knights. Florida is your destination for a Saturday night test from 7:00 - 9:30 p.m. and there is no turning back.