More photos » Tim Larsen - AP

With Greg Echenique out for the season, Rutgers Center Hamady Ndiaye will have added pressure placed upon him.

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With the football season officially over, and the bleakness of winter setting in, what do Rutgers fans have to look forward to?

Basketball of course!

The Rutgers basketball team is off to a 9-2 start, as most would expect with their awful non-conference schedule and penchant for playing home games.  But Rutgers has played a Top 25 Florida team tough, and beat a pesky Rider team which in years past would have probably lost to.

The bad news, if you haven't heard by now, is that sophomore center, Greg Echenique, is out for the season after suffering a detached retina.  Echenique will lobby for a medical redshirt, and should be ready to return to the floor next season for the Knights.

With the loss of Echenique, there's a large hole to fill in the center of the paint.  And surprisingly, Rutgers if filling it quite well.  In last night's victory 66-42 over St. Peter's, Rutgers recorded a school record 18 blocks, paced by 10 alone from senior center Hamady Ndiaye.  Like I said when I watched this team playing down in Atlantic City, Ndiaye brings an excitement to this team down in the post not seen since the likes of Herve Lamizana's time on the banks. 

Mike Rosario also had a big game as he recorded his career high with 28 points.  Though Rosario is the true catalyst for this team, for Rutgers to have any success in the Big East they must find a reliable #2 and #3 scorer.  Rosario had 28, and Ndiaye chipped in with 15, but no other Knight scored more than 5 points (which surely will not cut it in the Big East).  Better teams will focus on making Rosario give the ball up and forcing other Knights like Patrick Johnson and Johnathon Mitchell to score.

The schedule turns tougher next week as Rutgers travels to Chapel Hill on Monday to take on #10 North Carolina on ESPN, followed by the start of Big East play against a revived Cincinnati team on January 2nd, and then travel to Morgantown on the 6th.  If Rutgers can somehow win 1 of those 3, they'll be in decent shape heading into the heart of conference play.