MISSION STATEMENT
Prairie View (1-7), which lost its seventh straight game, gave Rutgers all it could handle before the Scarlet Knights (8-3) prevailed. Rutgers has won five of its last six games.
Jerome Coleman scored 23 points for Rutgers despite shooting 8-for-25 from the floor. Coleman had two key baskets in the final three minutes after Prairie View had cut an 11-point lead to five with 2:29 left.
With Rutgers leading 62-55, Coleman scored on a fastbreak, then sank a short jumper with 1:32 left. Teammate Ricky Shields made two free throws with 1:10 remaining to seal the victory.
Malachi Thurston had 17 points and 14 rebounds to lead Prairie View.
Stymied by Prairie View's 2-3 zone defense for much of the first half, Rutgers turned up its defensive intensity early in the second half and held the Panthers without a field goal for seven minutes.
After Prairie View took a 36-31 lead early in the second half, Mike Sherrod scored eight of the first 13 points in a 21-7 run and helped Rutgers retake the lead.
The junior guard's fastbreak dunk with 14:10 left got Rutgers within a point at 40-39, and his foul-line jumper 34 seconds later gave the Scarlet Knights their first lead since 4:27 remained in the first half.
Coleman sank two 3-pointers and fed Lamizana for an alley-oop dunk on a fastbreak that pushed the lead to 52-43 with 9:19 remaining.
Rutgers took its biggest lead of the half at 16-5 with 13:59 remaining, before Prairie View went on a 26-5 run over the next 12:31. The burst included eight points by Thurston, the Panthers' leading scorer at 16 points per game who had been held scoreless for the first 13 minutes.
A layup by Thurston with 3:14 left in the half gave Prairie View a 21-19 lead, and he followed with two putbacks sandwiched around a jumper by Gregory Burks that gave the Panthers a 31-24 advantage with 1:28 left.
Lamizana rebounded consecutive misses on Rutgers' next two possessions to cut
the margin to 31-28 at halftime.
POSTGAME NOTES
WITH THE WIN
With the win, Rutgers improves to 8-3 on the season. The game marked Rutgers
first ever meeting with the Panthers and the first game against a member of
the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC).
LAMIZANA NOTCHES CAREER HIGH 22 POINTS AND 11 REBOUNDS
Herve Lamizana scored a career-high 22 points and pulled down a career-high
11 rebounds versus Prairie View. It was also:
• His first career double-double
• The first double-double by a Rutgers player this season
• A team high for the season in rebounds
• The third time he has recorded at least 20 points in a game this season.
He also had 20 points against North Carolina (11/20) and Princeton (12/14)
• Tied a career-high for points in a half with 15 in the opening stanza.
He also tallied 15 points in the second half against North Carolina on November
20
• A career-high for field-goals made in a game, with nine versus Prairie
View
LAMIZANA AND COLEMAN COMBINE FOR 45 POINTS
The 23 points scored by Jerome Coleman and the 22 points scored by Herve Lamizana
marks the third time in the Gary Waters era that two players scored at least
20 points in the same game. Earlier this season Ricky Shields and Lamizana each
scored 20 points against North Carolina (11/20). Last season, Coleman and Shields
accomplished the feat against Syracuse (2/2/02), with Coleman notching 27 and
Shields adding 24.
TOUGH DEFENSE
For the seventh time in 11 games this season, Rutgers forced at least 20 turnovers
as Prairie View committed 25 in the contest. In its last five games, Rutgers
has forced its opponents into almost twice the amount of turnovers it has committed
(19.4 to 10.2).
COLEMAN SETS CAREER HIGH IN STEALS
With six steals against Prairie View, Jerome Coleman broke his career high for
steals in a game. His previous high was five steals in two other contests during
his career. His six steals were a team high for the season.
CAREER HIGH MINUTES FOR LAMIZANA AND COLEMAN
Herve Lamizana’s 39 minutes and Jerome Coleman’s 37 minutes played
against Prairie View were both career highs. Lamizana’s broke his previous
best of 35 minutes (vs. North Carolina, 11/20). Coleman had previously played
36 minutes in two games during his Rutgers career.
Official Basketball Box Score
Prairie View A&M vs Rutgers
12/30/02 7:30 pm at Louis Brown Athletic Center
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VISITORS: Prairie View A&M 1-7
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
01 THURSTON, Malachi... f 7-14 1-5 2-3 4 10 14 3 17 1 5 0 2 40
30 GARWOOD, Chris...... f 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 6
03 BURKS, Gregory...... g 3-11 0-2 2-4 0 1 1 2 8 4 4 0 0 32
11 COOPER, Kevin....... g 1-3 0-2 0-0 0 5 5 1 2 3 1 0 0 26
20 CAMPBELL, Blannon... g 3-4 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 3 6 3 6 0 0 19
21 FLORA, Derek........ 2-5 0-1 0-1 0 7 7 4 4 0 3 0 0 24
23 MOORER, Brandon..... 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 2 0 3 0 0 18
25 MILES, Jamar........ 3-6 2-3 0-0 1 1 2 1 8 0 0 0 0 16
33 HARPER, Dashon...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 3
34 RILEY, Roderick..... 2-4 0-0 6-6 1 6 7 3 10 0 1 0 0 16
TEAM................ 1 2 3
Totals.............. 22-50 3-13 10-14 7 35 42 21 57 11 25 0 2 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-27 51.9% 2nd Half: 8-23 34.8% Game: 44.0% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-6 33.3% 2nd Half: 1-7 14.3% Game: 23.1% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 1-2 50.0% 2nd Half: 9-12 75.0% Game: 71.4% 2
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HOME TEAM: Rutgers 8-3
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 9-14 1-1 3-4 5 6 11 3 22 2 3 4 0 39
02 SHIELDS, Ricky...... f 2-10 2-6 2-2 1 4 5 0 8 4 2 0 1 34
55 WRIGHT, Kareem...... c 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 2 0 1 1 1 1 21
03 SHERROD, Mike....... g 3-7 0-2 2-3 1 0 1 3 8 3 2 0 3 31
11 COLEMAN, Jerome..... g 8-25 4-14 3-4 0 4 4 1 23 2 2 0 6 37
13 WIGGAN, Juel........ 0-3 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 4 0 0 1 2 0 12
21 MCCOY, Jason........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
32 AXANI, Sean......... 1-3 0-0 3-4 0 1 1 2 5 2 1 0 1 15
44 WOOTEN, Calvin...... 0-2 0-1 0-0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 9
TEAM................ 2 3 5
Totals.............. 23-66 7-24 13-17 11 22 33 16 66 15 12 7 12 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-36 33.3% 2nd Half: 11-30 36.7% Game: 34.8% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-15 20.0% 2nd Half: 4-9 44.4% Game: 29.2% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 1-2 50.0% 2nd Half: 12-15 80.0% Game: 76.5% 1,1
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Officials: Jim Luchansky, Bob Adams, Michael Stephens
Technical fouls: Prairie View A&M-None. Rutgers-None.
Attendance: 4847
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Prairie View A&M.............. 31 26 - 57
Rutgers....................... 28 38 - 66
HERVE LAMIZANA - First Career Double Double (22 pts, 11 rebs)
Points in the paint-PRAIRIE 26,RUTGERS 32. Points off turnovers-PRAIRIE 11,RUTGERS 21.
2nd chance points-PRAIRIE 8,RUTGERS 13. Fast break points-PRAIRIE 6,RUTGERS 12.
Bench points-PRAIRIE 24,RUTGERS 5. Score tied-1 time. Lead changes-5 times.
