PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Freshman Mike Rosario (Jersey City, N.J.) shot 10 of 18 from the field, including five of 12 from behind the arc while playing a game-high 35 minutes, to lead Rutgers (3-0) to a 69-55 win over Robert Morris (1-2) Friday evening at the RAC in the Garden State Challenge. It marked the most points for an RU freshman since Quincy Douby dropped 35 in an NIT semifinal game against Iowa State in 2004.
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In his first three games, Mike Rosario is averaging 20.3 points. (Tom Ciszek/NJSportsPhoto) PHOTO GALLERY
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After struggling from the field in the opening 20 minutes, the Scarlet Knights exited the locker room after intermission inspired. Rutgers shot 57.1 percent (12-21) after the break and utilized a 17-4 run at the midpoint of the second half to solidify the victory. The Scarlet Knights shot 44.2 percent (23-52) for the evening overall.
“Certainly in the second half, we were much better on offense and we get out on the run and we were able to put it away,” said head coach Fred Hill. “I thought our guards got extremely aggressive. They were going to the basket and I thought that loosened up their defense a little bit. And I thought that gave Mike [Rosario] some great looks and he was able to knock down some shots.”
Defensively, RU turned in another strong performance, limiting the Colonials to 34.5 percent (19-55) shooting. Junior center Hamady Ndiaye (Dakar, Senegal) was once again a force, grabbing 10 rebounds, while registering eight blocked shots for the second time in as many home games this season. Five of Ndiaye’s rejections came in the first half.
“He [Ndiaye] did all of the other things that we needed to have him do to help this team win a ball game,” Hill said. “That’s what is real important. That’s what I call growth.”
For Rutgers, growth also includes an improved performance from the free throw line. Despite not making a field goal in the final 5:52, the Scarlet Knights were 8-for-9 from the free throw line in that stretch. RU, which was averaging 61.9 percent from the charity strip entering the game, shot 85.7 percent (18-for-21) for the contest.
While Robert Morris struggled for most of the game offensively, three Colonials finished in double figures. Bateko Francisco had 13 while Josiah Whitehead and Jeremy Chappell both finished with 10.
All twelve available players saw action for Rutgers. Four had six or more rebounds, including freshman Gregory Echenique (Guatire, Venezuela), who turned in another solid performance. In 29 minutes, he grabbed nine rebounds and issued three blocks. Seniors Anthony Farmer (Millville, N.J.) and JR Inman (Pomona, N.Y.) each contributed six rebounds.
The Scarlet Knights will conclude the Garden State Challenge at the RAC on Sunday against St. Bonaventure. Tip-off is slated for 2:00 p.m. The game will be televised live on SNY.
POSTGAME NOTES
Freshman guard Mike Rosario (Jersey City, N.J.) eclipsed his previous season high of 17 points with a game-high 27 against Robert Morris. It marked the most points scored by a first-year player since March 30, 2004, when then-rookie Quincy Douby scored 35 points in a 84-81 overtime victory against Iowa State in the NIT semifinals.
In his first three games, Rosario is averaging 20.3 points per game after scoring 17 in each of his first two games.
Junior center Hamady Ndiaye (Dakar, Senegal) tied his career high with eight blocks against Robert Morris on Friday evening. Ndiaye established the career mark earlier this season, rejecting eight shots against Marist (Nov. 14). Ndiaye also recorded a game-high 10 rebounds against the Colonials.
Freshman guard Patrick Jackson (Brooklyn, N.Y.) scored the first points of his Scarlet Knight career, connecting on a pair of free throws in the closing minutes of RU’s 69-55 victory over Robert Morris.
The Scarlet Knights pulled down 40 rebounds against Robert Morris, marking the third-straight game Rutgers has recorded 40 or more rebounds. RU collected a season-best 46 rebounds against Marist (Nov. 11), followed by 42 at Delaware (Nov. 16).
RU’s 69-55 over Robert Morris on Friday evening marked the Scarlet Knights’ largest margin of victory this season with the 14-point win. Rutgers’ previous high was an eight-point win over Delaware (Nov. 16).
Rutgers shot a season-high 85.7 percent (18-of-21) from the free throw line against Robert Morris. It was the Scarlet Knights best shooting percentage from the charity stripe since Dec. 21, 2007, when RU went 88.9 percent (8-of-9) against Rider. Five Scarlet Knights went perfect from the line to pace the season high performance.
POSTGAME QUOTES
Coach Fred Hill:
On his team’s defense…
“I thought defensively, we were outstanding. It all started on the defensive end for us. A lot of it is Hamady [Ndiaye] with his blocked shots, but I thought defensively as a team, today was our best defensive effort this season. If you play defense and have pride in your defense and work at it on a daily basis, you are going to be in most games when you’re not shooting the ball well.”
On a chance to be 4-0 in the Garden State Challenge…
“We are just every day trying to get better. It’s nice to be able to grow and learn and teach when you are winning. We’re not looking at it as a chance to be 4-0 in the Challenge, we’re looking it as our next opponent is St. Bonaventure and we have to get ready to play them. That’s how we approach everything.”
On free throws…
“We work on it everyday, very hard. We have had great focus and concentration and it’s great when you have a lead. When they did foul us, we went to the line and knocked down our free throws. If you are going to be a good team, you have to be able to do that, especially at the end of the game.”
On playing fast…
“We want to play fast, but you have to execute when you are playing fast. You can’t just play fast and not get ball reversals and not get touches inside. We like to play inside-out, so you can’t fall into the trap of playing extremely fast and to the opponent’s style. It’s hard when you play fast to slow it down, but we’ll grow in that phase of the game.”
On the fans…
“The fans were phenomenal. The student section has been awesome. In a word: awesome. They came out again here today. We appreciate it, it’s awesome. This place can be one of the most feared arenas in college basketball when we have the students support like that and fans come out. It’s one of the toughest places to play.”
Mike Rosario:
On his night...
“It was great. I have the older guys to guide me and they are like my brothers. I want to learn from experiences players. Coming out here tonight, the atmosphere is so great and I am so grateful to be playing at Rutgers. Sometimes, I have a lot of adrenaline running because I’m so hyped. When I’m out there, I’m going so hard, I take a fast shot. I just calmed down in the second half and took my time.”
Hamady Ndiaye:
On Rosario’s performance…
“I was really happy. Watching him do what he did was really exciting, knowing that I didn’t have a chance to do what I did in Delaware. I was really glad that the guards picked us up.”
Robert Morris Head Coach Mike Rice
Thoughts on how his team played today:
“I thought they didn’t make an adjustment. Our game plan was to penetrate. Rutgers was going to pressure us to drive into a tremendous shot blocker (Hamady Ndiaye) and I think we made the same mistake. The sign of a bad team is to make the same mistake. We never penetrated with a purpose. We always just threw it up and he’s a tremendous shot blocker, timing, length, he’s probably the best in the country. We knew it; we watched a clip of it. There was some fight but there wasn’t much purpose to our game tonight.”
On what the biggest difference was between the two halves:
“Their physicality, strength and quickness. They almost stopped running plays and just put their heads down and drove. Some of our turnovers led to some easy buckets. As soon as that team got up on us they forced us to do some stuff we weren’t comfortable doing.”
On what he can use from this game to get his team prepared for Marist tomorrow:
“There’s a game plan for a reason and if you’re doing something wrong, you have to make
an adjustment. It would be different if the coaching staff didn’t adjust. I just didn’t see us adjusting very well. I thought our defensive effort was there for a majority of the game. Sometimes we got frustrated because the offense wasn’t coming. But we’ll learn from it and we have Marist tomorrow.”
