Steve Pikiell has coached long enough to know when his Rutgers men's basketball team is about to have a letdown.
So when NJIT scored the first two baskets of the game Thursday night, Pikiell called a timeout 1 minute, 7 seconds into the contest.
Consider it a wake-up call for a Rutgers team coming off a spirited effort in a 10-point loss to No. 3 Michigan State two nights ago.
The Scarlet Knights answered the bell, cruising past NJIT 73-64 before an announced crowd of 3,732 at the Rutgers Athletic Center in Piscataway.