# 2018–19 Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball team

The 2018–19 Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball team represented Rutgers University–New Brunswick during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Scarlet Knights, led by third-year head coach Steve Pikiell, played their home games at the Louis Brown Athletic Center in Piscataway, New Jersey as fifth-year members of the Big Ten Conference. The Knights finished the season 14–17, 7–13 in Big Ten play to finish in a three-way tie for 10th place. In the Big Ten tournament, they lost in the first round to Nebraska.

## Previous season

The Knights finished the 2017–18 season 15–19, 3–15 in Big Ten play to finish in last place. In the Big Ten tournament, they defeated Minnesota and Indiana before losing to Purdue in the semifinals.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Candido Sá | 1 | F | 6'9" | 227 | Senior | Lisbo, Portugal | Graduated |
| Corey Sanders | 3 | G | 6'2" | 181 | Junior | Lakeland, FL | Declared for 2018 NBA draft |
| Mike Williams | 5 | G | 6'2" | 198 | Senior | Brooklyn, NY | Graduated |
| Jake Dadika | 10 | G | 6'0" | 165 | Senior | Milltown, NJ | Graduated |
| Matt Bullock | 13 | F | 6'4" | 260 | Sophomore | Elizabeth, NJ | Transferred to California (PA) |
| Aaren Smith | 24 | F | 6'6" | 211 | Sophomore | Ellicott City, MD | Transferred to District of Columbia |
| Deshawn Freeman | 33 | F | 6'7" | 225 | RS Senior | Rocky Mount, NC | Graduated |
| Souf Mensah | 44 | G | 6'2" | 210 | Junior | Nantes, France | Play professional basketball in France |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Shaq Carter | 13 | F | 6'9" | 240 | Junior | Deerfield Beach, FL | Eastern Florida State College |
| Jacob Young | 42 | G | 6'2" | 185 | Junior | Houston, TX | Texas |

### 2018 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Montez Mathis #20 SG | Essex, MD | John Carroll School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Aug 4, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Ron Harper Jr. SG | Franklin Lakes, NJ | Don Bosco Preparatory High School | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | Aug 11, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: N/A ||||||
| Caleb McConnell SG | Dayton, OH | Dunbar High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Apr 15, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: N/A ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved September 8, 2018. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season |||||||||
| November 9, 2018* 7:00 pm, BTN Plus | | Fairleigh Dickinson | W 90–55 | 1–0 | 17 – Kiss | 10 – Omoruyi | 7 – Baker | Louis Brown Athletic Center (5,521) Piscataway, NJ |
| November 11, 2018* 3:00 pm, BTN Plus | | Drexel | W 95–67 | 2–0 | 24 – Omoruyi | 10 – Omoruyi | 6 – Baker | Louis Brown Athletic Center (4,214) Piscataway, NJ |
| November 16, 2018* 7:00 pm, BTN | | St. John's Gavitt Tipoff Games | L 65–84 | 2–1 | 13 – Thiam | 7 – Tied | 5 – Baker | Louis Brown Athletic Center (7,102) Piscataway, NJ |
| November 19, 2018* 7:00 pm, BTN | | Eastern Michigan | W 63–36 | 3–1 | 20 – Baker | 7 – Tied | 6 – Thiam | Louis Brown Athletic Center (4,473) Piscataway, NJ |
| November 23, 2018* 2:00 pm, BTN Plus | | Boston University | W 54–44 | 4–1 | 20 – Omoruyi | 17 – Omoruyi | 2 – Baker | Louis Brown Athletic Center (5,032) Piscataway, NJ |
| November 28, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPNU | | at Miami (FL) ACC–Big Ten Challenge | W 57–54 | 5–1 | 16 – Baker | 10 – Doorson | 6 – Baker | Watsco Center (6,376) Coral Gables, FL |
| November 30, 2018 6:00 pm, BTN | | No. 9 Michigan State | L 67–78 | 5–2 (0–1) | 16 – Omoruyi | 11 – Omoruyi | 3 – Baker | Louis Brown Athletic Center (8,000) Piscataway, NJ |
| December 3, 2018 8:00 pm, BTN | | at No. 12 Wisconsin | L 64–69 | 5–3 (0–2) | 17 – Omoruyi | 8 – Omoruyi | 4 – Kiss | Kohl Center (17,082) Madison, WI |
| December 8, 2018* 2:30 pm, CBSSN | | at Fordham | L 70–78 | 5–4 | 19 – Omoruyi | 11 – Omoruyi | 6 – Baker | Rose Hill Gymnasium (2,346) Bronx, NY |
| December 15, 2018* 2:00 pm, FS1 | | at Seton Hall Rivalry/Garden State Hardwood Classic | L 66–72 | 5–5 | 16 – Kiss | 12 – Doorson | 5 – Baker | Prudential Center (10,481) Newark, NJ |
| December 22, 2018* 1:00 pm, BTN Plus | | Columbia | W 68–65 | 6–5 | 18 – Omoruyi | 8 – Doorson | 5 – Baker | Louis Brown Athletic Center (5,231) Piscataway, NJ |
| December 29, 2018* 3:00 pm, BTN Plus | | Maine | W 70–55 | 7–5 | 17 – Omoruyi | 10 – Johnson | 9 – Baker | Louis Brown Athletic Center (5,401) Piscataway, NJ |
| January 5, 2019 2:00 pm, BTN | | Maryland | L 63-77 | 7–6 (0–3) | 12 – Omoruyi | 8 – Mathis | 3 – Mathis | Louis Brown Athletic Center (8,000) Piscataway, NJ |
| January 9, 2019 7:00 pm, BTN | | No. 16 Ohio State | W 64–61 | 8–6 (1–3) | 16 – Mathis | 7 – Carter | 4 – Baker | Louis Brown Athletic Center (5,379) Piscataway, NJ |
| January 12, 2019 12:30 pm, BTN | | at Minnesota | L 70–88 | 8–7 (1–4) | 13 – Tied | 8 – Johnson | 2 – Tied | Williams Arena (10,837) Minneapolis, MN |
| January 15, 2019 7:00 pm, BTN | | at Purdue | L 54–89 | 8–8 (1–5) | 19 – Mathis | 7 – Carter | 5 – McConnell | Mackey Arena (14,804) West Lafayette, IN |
| January 18, 2019 7:00 pm, BTN | | Northwestern | L 57–65 | 8–9 (1–6) | 16 – Mathis | 10 – Carter | 4 – Baker | Louis Brown Athletic Center (5,459) Piscataway, NJ |
| January 21, 2019 8:00 pm, BTN | | Nebraska | W 76–69 | 9–9 (2–6) | 20 – Mathis | 11 – Johnson | 4 – Johnson | Louis Brown Athletic Center (5,022) Piscataway, NJ |
| January 26, 2019 4:30 pm, BTN | | at Penn State | W 64–60 | 10–9 (3–6) | 20 – Baker | 7 – Carter | 3 – Baker | Bryce Jordan Center (13,366) University Park, PA |
| January 30, 2019 7:00 pm, BTN | | Indiana | W 66–58 | 11–9 (4–6) | 16 – Baker | 10 – Omoruyi | 5 – Baker | Louis Brown Athletic Center (5,973) Piscataway, NJ |
| February 2, 2019 12:00 pm, BTN | | at Ohio State | L 62–76 | 11–10 (4–7) | 19 – Omoruyi | 8 – Tied | 6 – Omoruyi | Value City Arena (14,961) Columbus, OH |
| February 5, 2019 8:00 pm, BTN | | No. 7 Michigan | L 65–77 | 11–11 (4–8) | 21 – Omoruyi | 8 – Baker | 5 – Mathis | Louis Brown Athletic Center (8,000) Piscataway, NJ |
| February 9, 2019 4:00 pm, BTN | | at Illinois | L 94–99 $^{OT}$ | 11–12 (4–9) | 25 – McConnell | 11 – Omoruyi | 5 – Omoruyi | State Farm Center (14,099) Champaign, IL |
| February 13, 2019 7:00 pm, BTN | | at Northwestern | W 59–56 | 12–12 (5–9) | 12 – Tied | 7 – Omoruyi | 5 – Baker | Welsh–Ryan Arena (6,474) Evanston, IL |
| February 16, 2019 6:00 pm, FS1 | | No. 21 Iowa | L 69–71 | 12–13 (5–10) | 16 – Harper Jr. | 11 – Omoruyi | 6 – Baker | Louis Brown Athletic Center (8,000) Piscataway, NJ |
| February 20, 2019 6:30 pm, BTN | | at No. 10 Michigan State | L 60–71 | 12–14 (5–11) | 17 – Baker | 8 – Omoruyi | 6 – Baker | Breslin Center (14,797) East Lansing, MI |
| February 24, 2019 5:30 pm, BTN | | Minnesota | W 68–64 | 13–14 (6–11) | 18 – Mathis | 9 – Omoruyi | 3 – Baker | Louis Brown Athletic Center (7,270) Piscataway, NJ |
| March 2, 2019 5:00 pm, BTN | | at No. 22 Iowa | W 86–72 | 14–14 (7–11) | 27 – Harper Jr. | 6 – Baker | 9 – Baker | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (15,056) Iowa City, IA |
| March 6, 2019 7:00 pm, BTN | | Penn State | L 65-66 | 14–15 (7–12) | 23 – Omoruyi | 11 – Johnson | 3 – Tied | Louis Brown Athletic Center (8,000) Piscataway, NJ |
| March 10, 2019 12:00 pm, BTN | | at Indiana | L 73-89 | 14–16 (7–13) | 18 – Omoruyi | 8 – Johnson | 3 – Johnson/McConnell | Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall Bloomington, IN |
| Big Ten tournament |||||||||
| March 13, 2019* 5:30PM, BTN | (12) | vs. (13) Nebraska First round | L 61–68 | 14–17 | 16 – Omoruyi | 11 – Johnson | 5 – Omoruyi | United Center (16,473) Chicago, IL |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. |||||||||
Source