Princeton travels 22 miles north to the Rutgers Athletic Center on Wednesday night as they face off with the Scarlet Knights. To prep you on this meeting of in-state rivals, I exchanged emails with college basketball writer Brendan Prunty from the Star Ledger for the latest edition of Know! Your! Foe!.

Prunty is also the host of the recently launched Jersey Score podcast, which I'll be appearing on shortly.

If you cover a team the Tigers will face down the line, let us know. It would be great to talk with you.

Last year, I was impressed with how first year head coach Mike Rice was able to get his team on the floor to match his intensity level on the sidelines. Has that continued in year two? Same level or even more intense? (Note: that might not be possible)

Rice knows only one level and that's high-intensity. But this year is proving to be a bit different than last year for both he and his team. Even though last year's Rutgers team wasn't the most talented or the deepest around, it consisted of three seniors desperate to leave some sort of mark in Piscataway — and that fell in line with Rice's mentality on the sidelines. This year though, it's been a bit different because of the youth. While this team is talented and will get better as the season moves along, he is experiencing the rough patches that come with trying to blend seven freshmen together.

He was a non-factor in the 2010-11 season opener, but big man Gilvydas Biruta transformed into an important part of last year's Rutgers team. Can you talk about his development and his role as a sophomore?

It sounds weird to hear, but Biruta is the closest thing that Rutgers has to a "go-to" player right now. He seems to be the player that Rice trusts the most (he's the only player who can get away with shouting back at his coach!), because he's that perfect blend of physical and all-out that the Rutgers coach loves. He seems to have developed a bit more confidence on the offensive end, which is going to be a big help. The one thing that continues to hold him back is his aggressiveness. He still gets himself into foul trouble a bit too often which takes him off the floor.

It seems like I've been saying this about a lot of teams a month in, but Rutgers looks to be another example of a squad that turns the ball over a fair amount (22.9% of all possessions) but compensates by forcing even more TOs (27.0%, ninth in the nation).

No, that's absolutely the case with Rutgers. Rice's philosophy of an up-tempo, frenetic pace on defense will always lead to a high number of turnovers for its opponents. When you play Rutgers, expected a brand of "organized chaos" on defense. But this year it's a bit different because of — sensing a recurring theme yet? — the freshmen. Because they're not yet ingrained in the college game yet, they're still relying a lot on what they did in high school. And even against teams that they should be better against, it doesn't work more often than not. I'd expect that number to go down as the season continues on, however.

Looking at the numbers, the Scarlet Knights show five guards surrounding Biruta averaging 20-26 minutes and 6.9-9.4 ppg. Is this a case of decent balance or the lack of a breakout player?

A little bit of both, probably. Rice always likes to play a lot of players and because of his style of play, he has to shuttle players in and out so frequently. That's the balance part. But there is a distinct lack of a breakout player. Even though Biruta is probably the most trusted player on the roster, everyone still is expecting Dane Miller to take a bigger step. Miller has tremendous talent and is a very good scorer, but prefers to be a playmaker. That's all well and good, but Rutgers needs to get 14-17 points a night on a consistent basis to make a climb in the Big East.

Princeton struggled early with pressure on their guards. How concerned should I be about Rutgers' top 10 steal percentage as a team and Mike Poole's ability to get the ball loose?

If Princeton is still struggling to deal with pressure on the ball and keep it in their grasps, then the Tigers could have a problem on their hands. Poole, especially, has shown a great propensity for getting in on defenders on prying the ball loose. Like we said, the up-tempo style that Rice plays always places a high importance on pressure.

The Scarlet Knights are thin at forward with injuries to Malick Kone and Kadeem Jack (and Kone is now out for a month following right knee surgery). Is there a player who could step in to help against Princeton on Wednesday?

If there is, it's going to have to be a big surprise. Freshman big men Derrick Randall and Greg Lewis are still extremely raw. Both are seeing limited time right now, which means that it's unlikely Rice is going to turn to them against a Princeton team that can gum up the works pretty good.

Fill! In! The! Blank! Rutgers wins for the 11th time in the schools' last 13 meetings if...

It gets the jump on the Tigers early. What do we mean? Well, in four of Princeton's five losses this season, it was trailing at the half. While inconsistent at times, this Scarlet Knights team can score the ball better than last year. Against a Princeton team than is averaging 60 points a game, a nice first-half cushion should be able to relax Rutgers enough to the point where it could really get into a nice rhythm.

Princeton heads back down Route 1 with their first victory at the RAC since 1999 if...

It can make this an ugly game. The attack point has to be the freshmen for Mitch Henderson's team. For the first time, there was real heat on the frosh after the LSU loss because it showed how green they still are. Much like Dartmouth, Princeton can make a game ugly and tough to win, which young players often have trouble with. If this game is played in the 40-50 range, the Tigers are going to have a really good shot.

Finally, plug the many things you do and where people can read/listen to you doing them.

You can find our Rutgers basketball coverage at nj.com/rutgersbasketball; Our Seton Hall coverage at nj.com/setonhall; and our national coverage at nj.com/college-basketball.

The Star-Ledger College Hoops podcast with Brendan Prunty and Mike Vorkunov goes up every week, usually by Wednesday. It's available on iTunes.

Follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/BrendanPrunty.

Thanks, Brendan. I trust I'll see you tomorrow night.