The kids are alright

Good morning! Yesterday was the penultimate Monday with football. After next week, it’s all basketball from here on out on Mondays. There weren’t many games on, but we did get one awfully compelling Big Ten matchup and a handful of notable scoring performances.

Let's get to it.

1. Rutgers salvages some of its season by beating UCLA

Given Rutgers’ defense — once feared among Big Ten teams — has been decidedly average this season, Monday sure started off with a good sign for the Scarlet Knights.

That was one of three blocks for freshman Ace Bailey, who also scored a game-high 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as Rutgers won its biggest game of the season, a grinding, 75-68 rock fight of a win over UCLA.

Maybe that’s unfair. The numbers say it wasn’t a rock fight — both teams surpassed 1.05 points per possession — and Rutgers was superb inside the arc, hitting 18-of-32 of its twos. And it was good on the offensive glass, grabbing 37% of its misses, many of which seemed to come late in the game when it was trying to put away the Bruins.

Combine that with a productive game from Bailey and fellow fab freshman Dylan Harper (18 points) who was finally healthy after nagging health issues, and it was a good night for coach Steve Pikiell’s program.

“We’ve been in games like this before,” Pikiell said. “We talked about finishing on the other end of the floor too. We got rebounds and we made some plays. That’s the kind of team that keeps attacking. It was great down the stretch to execute our free throws, get those big stops and hold them to 68 points. Sixty five is our number and we had them right at that number.”

Rutgers had been staring at the unenviable possibility of being the rare team with multiple lottery picks on its roster. This quells that. For now.

It doesn’t solve every problem for the Knights (9-8, 2-4 in Big Ten), who in the process of snapping a three-game skid, added a Q2 win to its profile. Yes, just a Q2 win, which says a lot about where UCLA is right now.

The Bruins (11-6, 2-4) have lost four straight and five of their last six. Leading scorer Tyler Bilodeau had a miserable night (0-of-7 from the field, 6 points), while Eric Dailey (16 points) and Sebastian Mack (16) were the only consistent scorers, but were a combined 14-of-29 from the field.

Other Monday results to know:

Maryland 77, Minnesota 71: Speaking of fabulous freshmen, Derik Queen scored a career-high 27 points as the Terps (13-4, 33 in Big Ten) rallied for its second win in a row.

Notre Dame 78, Boston College 60: No Cooper Flagg sure made things easier on the Irish (8-9, 2-4 in ACC), who got 26 points from Tae Davis.

Wofford 81, Furman 62: The Paladins (14-3, 2-2 in Southern) struggled on defense, allowing 1.31 points per possession in a surprising home loss that leaves Samford as the league’s only unbeaten team. Wofford (9-8, 3-1 in SoCon) was led by Dillon Bailey’s 19 points and 6 boards.

Morgan State 78, Norfolk State 74: Kameron Hobbs scored 23 points as the Bears (8-12, 2-2 in MEAC) pulled off a big upset. Norfolk (12-8, 3-1) was 9.5-point favorites.

McNeese 75, Houston Christian 59: Five players scored in double figures for the Cowboys (12-5, 6-0 in Southland), who have won five of their league conference games by double digits.

New Orleans 68, Lamar 62: The Privateers (3-14, 1-5 in Southland) ended a 10-game losing streak in the night’s biggest upset. Lamar (9-8, 4-2) was 12.5-point favorites.

Prairie View A&M 75, Arkansas Pine-Bluff 64: Tanahj Pettway had one of the night’s highest scoring performances with 33 points.

Nicholls 88, Incarnate Word 82: Another monster night belonged to Robert Brown III, who hit nine (9!) 3-pointers and a career-high 37 points for Nicholls (10-7, 4-2 Southland).

Jackson State 103, Alabama A&M 93 (3 OT): I did not watch this game, but it not only had the highest-scoring performance of the night (39 points from AC Bryant), it also rated as the most thrilling game of the season, per KenPom. Triple OT will do that. Jackson State (3-13, 3-0 in SWAC) was winless during its non-conference play, but perfect through three league games.

2. Injuries to note for this week

No. 1 Auburn won’t have big man Johni Broome for today’s home game against No. 15 Miss State, but it’s hardly the only team dealing with injuries right now.

Here’s a rundown of notable players who are out and when they’ll likely return:

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