Rutgers basketball has been dependent on the defensive side of the ball throughout head coach Steve Pikiell’s tenure, but this season’s team is taking that trend to a historic level.
Entering the back half of its Big Ten slate, the Scarlet Knights (11-10, 3-7) are on pace to set a unique — albeit highly-specific — mark: Ranked third nationally in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency rankings and 300th in its adjusted offensive efficiency as of Tuesday morning, the 297-spot discrepancy in those two categories would be the biggest by a high-major team in the 25 years KenPom has been tracking data, analysis from NJ Advance Media shows.