The 2021–22 Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball team represented

Rutgers University–New Brunswick Rutgers University–New Brunswick is one of three regional campuses of Rutgers University, New Jersey's public research university. It is located in New Brunswick and Piscataway. It is the oldest campus of the university, the others bein ...

during the

2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 9, 2021 and concluded on March 13, 2022. The 2022 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament culminated the season and began on March 15 and concluded on April 4 with the c ...

. The Scarlet Knights were led by sixth-year head coach Steve Pikiell and played their home games at

Jersey Mike's Arena Jersey Mike's Arena, commonly known as the RAC (an initialism for Rutgers Athletic Center, its former official name), is an 8,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Piscataway, New Jersey on Rutgers-New Brunswick, Rutgers University's Livingston Campus ( ...

in Piscataway, New Jersey as members of the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

. They finished the season 18–14, 12–8 in

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

play to finish a three-way tie for fourth place. As the No. 4 seed in the Big Ten tournament, they lost in the quarterfinals to

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

. The Knights received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament for the second consecutive year as a No. 11 seed in the West region. There they lost in the First Four to Notre Dame in double overtime.

Previous season

In a season limited due to the ongoing

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, the Knights finished the 2020–21 season 16–12, 10–10 in Big Ten play to finish in a tie for sixth place. As the No. 7 seed in the Big Ten tournament, they defeated

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

in the second round before losing to

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

in the quarterfinals. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, their first NCAA Tournament appearance since

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

. As the No. 10 seed in the Midwest region, they defeated Clemson in the first round before losing to

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

in the second round.

Offseason

Departures

Incoming transfers

Recruiting classes

2021 recruiting class

2022 Recruiting class

Roster

Schedule and results

On December 9, Rutgers upset then-top-ranked Purdue, 70–68, at home, as

Ron Harper Jr. Ronald Harper Jr. (born April 12, 2000) is an American professional basketball player for the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA), on a two-way contract with the Raptors 905 of the NBA G League. He played college basketb ...

hit a

buzzer-beating In basketball and other such timed sports, a buzzer beater is a shot that is taken before the game clock of a quarter, a half (if the half is the second one, then, a game), or an overtime period expires but does not go in the basket until after t ...

three-pointer from near mid-court as time expired to down the Boilermakers. It was the first time in program history that the Scarlet Knights had ever beaten a #1-ranked team. , - !colspan=12 style=, Regular season , - !colspan=12 style=, Big Ten tournament , - !colspan=9 style=, NCAA tournament Source

Rankings

Coaches did not release a Week 1 poll.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2021-22 Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball team Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball seasons

Rutgers Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and w ...