Steve Pikiell: Rutgers Can Play 'Any Team' In 'Any Tournament'

Head coach Steve Pikiell of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights gives instructions to his players from the bench in the first half against the Michigan State Spartans at Breslin Center on February 20, 2019 in East Lansing, Michigan.
Photo credit Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images

Rutgers men’s basketball picked up a big win at home on Tuesday.

The Scarlet Knights beat the ninth-ranked Maryland Terrapins at the RAC for the team’s 10th win of the Big Ten conference schedule. That victory is another impressive one to add to Rutgers’ portfolio as Selection Sunday and the NCAA Tournament draw closer.

On Wednesday, head coach Steve Pikiell joined Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts on WFAN to talk about his team’s season. Pikiell thinks his guys can play with anybody in any tournament, including the Big Dance.

“At the end of the day, you put your resume up there, and I like our resume,” said Pikiell. “Ten wins already in this league, I think the league champ is going to have 14, or so. The league champ is only a few games off. We have obviously one more game to go. I feel really good, like we can play in any tournament against any team. We’ve been battle tested, and we’ve won a lot of these battles too.”

Rutgers has only appeared in the NCAA Tournament six times in its history, with the last appearance coming all the way back in 1991. This year’s team has a good shot to get in if it can finish the season strong. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi currently has Rutgers as one of the last four teams in the first round of the tournament.

The RAC has been a strong hold for the Scarlet Knights. Pikiell’s group has only lost one game at home, but the record on the road hasn’t been good. Rutgers is 19-11 overall, and all but one of those wins came at home.

Pikiell knows his team has to improve there, even if road games are notoriously tough.

“It’s the hardest thing to do in college basketball, going on the road. And when you go on the road in this league, it’s even harder. We’ll continue to learn from those games. You can’t get down, I do know that, you have to be in those games.”

In 2019, Rutgers went 14-17, but Pikiell says he felt his team could have a “special” season going into the new campaign.

“We always have those expectations. It’s an exciting time for our university. We’ve just hired a great football coach. We built a new athletic facility … I had that excitement coming into the year. I thought we were a little young, but I thought if we got ourselves focused and the guys are willing to sacrifice, I think it’s a huge key to your season … I thought we could have a special kind of season.”

Click on the audio player above to listen to the full interview with Steve Pikiell.