Rutgers notebook: Knights know ‘D’ must step up:
“If the Big Ten’s worst team can emerge from the Rutgers Athletic Center with a victory, as Penn State did last night, what will happen when one of the league’s best teams — Wisconsin — pays a visit on Saturday?
“One has nothing to do with the other, Rutgers players vowed.
” ‘We can’t hang our heads over this loss and we won’t,’ senior guard Ricky Shields said. ‘Hopefully this opened a few guys’ eyes that we have to play better than this.
” ‘I’m not worried about a carryover effect. We can’t dwell on this. We’ll be ready for Wisconsin. You’ll see a lot better effort on defense on Saturday.’ ”
“Almost anything, it might be argued, has to be better than the defense Rutgers played in its 83-80 loss to a Penn State team tabbed to finish last for the fourth straight year in the 11-team Big Ten. “