Dylan Grant earned a spot in the starting lineup for the final two months of last season but was not often a featured option for Rutgers while he played alongside current NBA rookies Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper.
Grant is getting a more prominent role and hopes to help Rutgers remain unbeaten Tuesday night when it hosts American in Piscataway, N.J.
Grant averaged 5.9 points in 21 games and made 16 starts while producing three double-digit scoring games last season. This year, Grant has reached double figures in each game and is leading the Scarlet Knights (3-0) in scoring at 18.3 points while shooting 60% after shooting 44.5% as a freshman.
On Friday, Grant helped the Scarlet Knights earn an 84-72 victory over Lehigh. It was Rutgers’ second straight 12-point victory and Grant scored 18 of his career-high 28 points in the first half while shooting 9 of 15.
“He’s been great all year long,” Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell said. “You can see the improvement from guys who come back and work. He handles the ball now, can score in a lot of different ways and really helps our team.”
Besides Grant, Emmanuel Ogbole added 16 after totaling seven points in the wins over Rider and Maine. Jamichael Davis, who contributed 14, is in a leading backcourt role and averaging career bests of 12.3 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game.
American (2-2), coming off its first NCAA Tournament bid since 2014, will play its second game against a power-conference opponent. The Eagles took an 88-74 loss on Nov. 3 at Wake Forest.
But they notched a 115-50 win over Division II Central Penn on Saturday that marked their largest margin of victory in program history and most points since 1995.
The Eagles are led by the trio of Greg Jones (13.8 points), Wyatt Nausadis (13.5) and Madden Collins (12.8). On Saturday, Jones led American with 18 while Nausadis added 14 and Collins finished with 13 in a game that saw the Eagles get 55 rebounds, hand out 26 assists and score 36 fastbreak points to go along with 62 points in the paint.
“We got a long way to go as a team,” American coach Duane Simpkins said. “We’re extremely young. Our guys are growing by the game and the more reps that we can get our guys, and have it still count as an NCAA game, we want to do.”
