MISSION STATEMENT
Rutgers defeated Columbia for the seventh straight time and the 12th time in 13 games. The Knights will travel to North Carolina, which beat Penn State 85-55, in the second round on Wednesday night.
It was the fewest points allowed by a Rutgers team since a 30-29 loss to St. Bonaventure on Jan. 25, 1982, and the fewest the Knights allowed Columbia since a 32-31 loss in the 1926-27 season.
The game was a mismatch from the start. Rutgers had four starters return from last year's 18-13 team, and Columbia lost four starters from an 11-17 squad.
Rutgers broke the game open with a man-to-man, trapping defense that held Columbia scoreless for two long stretches in the first half. Leading 4-2, the Knights went on a 14-0 run in the next 6:33 as Columbia shot 0-for-4 with eight turnovers.
The Knights scored 11 straight points to open a 33-9 lead with 2:42 left in the half. The Knights led 36-14 at halftime, as Columbia went scoreless for another 6:16, and finished the half with 19 turnovers while shooting 5-for-13.
Rutgers' offense was inconsistent in the first half, shooting 40.6 percent overall, including 1-of-12 from 3-point range. Coleman had 11 points in the half, while Ricky Shields added all nine of his points in the half.
Columbia got no closer than 21 points in the second half, and Rutgers opened its biggest lead at 58-28. When Columbia's Marco McCottry scored on a layup to make it 46-24 with 11:16 left, it marked the first time the Lions had more points than turnovers.
Calvin Wooten had nine points for Rutgers, which shot 40.4 percent with 12 turnovers. Jeremiah Boswell and Tito Hill led Columbia with five points each.
Rutgers freshman Cortez Davis did not play in the game due to a violation of a team rule.
Post Game Notes:
With the Win:
Rutgers is now 1-0 after defeating Columbia 60-36 in the first round of the
Owens Corning Preseason NIT. Rutgers will face North Carolina in the second
round, Wednesday night in Chapel Hill, NC. The Tar Heels defeated Penn State
by a score of 85-55. The winner of the RU-UNC game will advance to the semi-finals
of the Preseason NIT. The Scarlet Knights are now 6-4 in their last 10 season-opening
games.
Rutgers versus Columbia:
With the win, Rutgers is 23-25 all-time against Columbia. However, the Scarlet
Knights have won 12 of the last 13 meetings. Rutgers also improved to 70-127
all-time against Ivy League Teams.
Margin of Victory:
The 24-point victory over Columbia was the largest margin-of-victory for Rutgers
in a season-opener since beating Rider by 25, 74-49, on Nov. 20, 1999.
First-half Output:
The 14 points scored by Columbia in the first half were the fewest scored in
a half by a Scarlet Knight opponent since RU held Princeton to 14 points in
the first half on Dec. 26, 2000. Rutgers won that game, 53-39.
Fewest Points Allowed in 20 Years:
The 36 points scored by Columbia were the fewest allowed by Rutgers since a
30-29 loss to St. Bonaventure on January 25, 1982. The 36 points were the fewest
allowed by Rutgers in a victory since holding Fairleigh Dickinson to 36 points
in a 45-36 victory on Nov. 28, 1981. The last time Rutgers held its opponent
to fewer than 36 points in a victory was when it defeated Haverford 67-30 in
1946.
Turnover Happy:
The 27 turnovers forced by Rutgers were the most since West Virginia committed
29 on January 16 of last season. Last season, the Gary Waters-led Scarlet Knights
forced 20 or more turnovers 11 times.
Coleman- Leading Scorer
After leading the Scarlet Knights in scoring tonight with 18 points, Jerome
Coleman has now led the team in scoring in 72-percent of the games in which
he has played (21 times in 32 games) since joining the Rutgers squad last season.
14 steals – most since Providence last season
The Knights accumulated 14 steals against Columbia, the most since registering
15 in a 70-55 loss at Providence last season (January 22). Rutgers has come
up with double digit steals in 20 of the 32 games played in the Gary Waters
era.
Official Basketball Box Score
Columbia vs Rutgers
11/18/02 7:00pm at Louis Brown Athletic Center
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VISITORS: Columbia 0-1
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
33 McCOTTRY, Marco..... f 1-4 0-1 0-2 0 3 3 3 2 0 4 0 0 18
43 CLEMONS, Grant...... f 2-3 1-1 0-0 1 3 4 2 5 0 1 0 0 17
52 WIEDEMANN, Chris.... c 1-7 0-0 1-2 4 5 9 1 3 1 3 3 0 30
14 BOSWELL, Jeremiah... g 2-5 1-2 0-0 0 0 0 3 5 2 2 0 0 35
24 HILL, Tito.......... g 1-1 1-1 2-2 0 4 4 2 5 0 1 0 0 22
03 MURPHY, Maurice..... 1-3 0-0 2-2 0 0 0 2 4 1 6 0 1 20
10 MacQUARRIE, Allan... 0-1 0-1 2-2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 3
12 CUFF, Dalen......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3
23 OWENS, Chris........ 1-3 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 14
25 DAVIS, Colin........ 2-4 0-0 0-1 3 5 8 2 4 0 7 0 0 20
31 PRESTON, Matt....... 0-2 0-1 2-2 1 0 1 1 2 0 1 1 0 8
32 WORTHINGTON, Dodson. 1-5 0-1 0-0 1 1 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 4
55 BIZGIA, David....... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 3 0 0 1 0 0 6
TEAM................ 1 1 1
Totals.............. 12-39 3-8 9-13 11 23 34 19 36 4 27 4 2 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 5-13 38.5% 2nd Half: 7-26 26.9% Game: 30.8% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-2 100 % 2nd Half: 1-6 16.7% Game: 37.5% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 2-2 100 % 2nd Half: 7-11 63.6% Game: 69.2% 2
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HOME TEAM: Rutgers 1-0
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
01 LAMIZANA, Herve..... f 2-7 0-2 0-0 1 1 2 2 4 2 2 3 0 30
55 WRIGHT, Kareem...... c 2-3 0-0 0-0 2 2 4 3 4 0 2 0 0 18
02 SHIELDS, Ricky...... g 3-7 0-3 3-5 2 3 5 1 9 4 1 0 3 26
03 SHERROD, Mike....... g 3-8 1-2 0-0 0 3 3 1 7 2 0 0 2 24
11 COLEMAN, Jerome..... g 6-15 2-8 4-4 0 2 2 2 18 1 1 0 4 26
04 HILL, Adrian........ 0-1 0-0 0-1 2 0 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 7
13 WIGGAN, Juel........ 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 2 0 1 1 0 1 11
21 McCOY, Jason........ 1-4 1-1 0-0 1 0 1 1 3 0 2 2 1 14
23 PIASECKI, Justin.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
25 GOOD, Harry......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 5
32 AXANI, Sean......... 2-3 0-0 2-3 2 1 3 1 6 0 0 0 0 18
33 BAPTISTE, Sloan..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3
44 WOOTEN, Calvin...... 4-8 0-2 1-2 1 1 2 2 9 0 1 0 3 16
TEAM................ 4 3 7
Totals.............. 23-57 4-19 10-15 15 18 33 18 60 10 12 6 14 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-32 40.6% 2nd Half: 10-25 40.0% Game: 40.4% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-12 8.3% 2nd Half: 3-7 42.9% Game: 21.1% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 9-11 81.8% 2nd Half: 1-4 25.0% Game: 66.7% 1
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Officials: Bernard Clinton, John Hughes, Brian O'Connell
Technical fouls: Columbia-None. Rutgers-None.
Attendance: 4804
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Columbia...................... 14 22 - 36
Rutgers....................... 36 24 - 60
First Round Pre-Season NIT Game
Rutgers will play at North Carolina in 2nd round (Wed. 11/20 7pm ESPN2)
Points in the paint-COLUMBIA 12,RUTGERS 28. Points off turnovers-COLUMBIA 7,RUTGERS 21.
2nd chance points-COLUMBIA 6,RUTGERS 14. Fast break points-COLUMBIA 0,RUTGERS 16.
Bench points-COLUMBIA 16,RUTGERS 18. Score tied-0 times. Lead changes-0 times.
