CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Freshman guard Mike Rosario (Jersey City, N.J. ) shot nine of 17 from the field, including four of eight from behind the arc, en route to 26 points to pace Rutgers (9-4) in a hard fought 97-75 defeat at No. 1-ranked North Carolina (12-0) Sunday evening at the Dean Smith Center. Four players scored in double figures for the Scarlet Knights, who shot 47.5 percent (28-59), the best mark against the Tar Heels this season.
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Freshman Gregory Echenique drives past UNC's Tyler Hansbrough for the dunk. PHOTO GALLERY
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UNC scored the game’s first five points, before Rosario put RU on the board with a three-pointer. After North Carolina took a six-point lead at 11-5, Rutgers went on a 7-2 run to bring the game within one, 13-12. UNC again pulled away, building an 11-point advantage at 32-21. RU would not back down, going on a 7-0 stretch, highlighted by a Farmer three-point play, to produce a 32-28 score with 7:56 remaining before the break.
The Tar Heels proceeded to go on a 20-6 run to take a 52-34 lead with 2:01 to go in the half. Rutgers scored the stanza’s final four points and headed to the locker room facing a 52-38 deficit. The Scarlet Knights trailed by 14 points despite shooting 51.7 (15-of-29) percent in the opening 20 minutes, becoming just the fifth team to shoot over 50 percent in a half versus the Tar Heels this season.
Rutgers scored the first basket of the second half to get back to within 12. The Tar Heels then built their advantage to 19-points, 63-44, before RU fought back and came within 12 again, thanks to an 11-6 run. UNC went up by 18 at 75-57, but another RU run brought the game within 13 on a Chandler three-pointer with 5:33 to play. The Tar Heels finally put the game out of reach with a 10-2 stretch to generate a 90-69 advantage with 3:55 on the clock. The 97-75 final score marked the home squad’s largest lead of the evening.
Reigning national player of the year Tyler Hansbrough scored 26 points to lead the Tar Heels, who shot 51.5 percent (35-68) from the field.
The Scarlet Knights continue their history-making week with a matchup against No. 3/3 Pittsburgh at the RAC this Wednesday (Dec. 31). Game time for the contest, which will be televised live on MSG, is set for 2:00 p.m. RU then travels to Storrs, Conn., to take on No. 2/2 Connecticut on Saturday, Jan. 3. RU is believed to be the first team to ever play the nation’s top three-ranked squads consecutively, and is doing so in a calendar week.
Post Game Notes
Rutgers drops its first road match after winning its first three. The Scarlet Knights were 3-0 on the road for the first time since 1975-76, when the team went 31-2 and reached the Final Four.
Rutgers shot 47.5 percent (28-of-59) from the floor, the highest field goal percentage against North Carolina this season. RU recorded a shooting percentage of 51.7 (15-of-29) in the first half, becoming just the fifth team to shoot over 50 percent in a half vs. the Tar Heels in 2008.
RU shot a season-high 92.3 percent (12-of-13) from the free throw line. Its previous high was 85.7 (18-of-21), set against Robert Morris on Nov. 21.
Freshman Mike Rosario (Jersey City, N.J.) tallied 26, sophomore Corey Chandler (Newark, N.J.) finished with 14 and seniors Anthony Farmer (Millville, N.J.) and JR Inman (Pomona, N.Y.) recorded 12 and 11, respectively, marking the first time that four Scarlet Knights finished double-figures since Nov. 16, when junior Hamady Ndiaye (Dakar, Senegal), freshman Gregory Echenique (Guatire, Venezuela), Rosario and Chandler achieved the feat against Delaware.
North Carolina shot 51.5 percent (35-of-68) against the Scarlet Knights, becoming just the third team to shoot better than 40 percent against RU. Marist and Delaware achieved the feat in Rutgers’ first two games of the season. The Tar Heels are the first team to shoot better than 50 percent against RU this season.
Inman’s 11 points marks the first time he tallied double-figures this season. He now has 977 points and moves into 38th-place on RU’s all-time scoring list, passing Phil Robinson (970) and Jerome Coleman (971).
Inman grabbed three rebounds to give him 599 for his career. He moves into a tie with Hal Corizzi for 20th-place on RU’s all-time rebounds list.
Farmer’s 12 points gives him 923 for his career. He moves into 44th-place on RU’s all-time scoring list.
Farmer also tallied a season-high six assists. He now has 318 assists in his career and moves into fifth-place on RU’s all-time assists list.
Farmer is averaging 10.0 points and 4.0 assists per game in his last three games.
Chandler is averaging 18.5 points per game in two matches against North Carolina. After scoring 23 points against the Tar Heels in 2007, he finished with 14 vs. UNC tonight.
Chandler recorded one steal against UNC. He has tallied at least one steal in eight consecutive games.
Rosario’s 26 points is one shy of his career-high of 27, set against Robert Morris on Nov. 21. The freshman has scored more than 20 points three times this season. He shot 50 percent from three-point range (four-of-eight), and is 13-of-25 from long distance in his last three games.
Rutgers 75
| Total | 3-point | Rebounds | ||||||||||||
| ## | Player | p | fgm-fga | fgm-fga | ftm-fta | off-def | tot | pf | tp | a | to | blk | stl | min |
| 00 | ECHENIQUE, Gregory | f | 3-4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 3-2 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 29 |
| 05 | NDIAYE, Hamady | c | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 3-5 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 22 |
| 01 | CHANDLER, Corey | g | 5-11 | 2-4 | 2-2 | 1-0 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 30 |
| 02 | FARMER, Anthony | g | 5-9 | 1-2 | 1-2 | 0-2 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 30 |
| 03 | ROSARIO, Mike | g | 9-17 | 4-8 | 4-4 | 0-2 | 2 | 1 | 26 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 32 |
| 11 | PETTIS, Earl | - | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| 15 | INMAN, JR | - | 4-8 | 0-1 | 3-3 | 2-1 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 27 |
| 23 | JACKSON, Patrick | - | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 31 | COBURN, Mike | - | 1-5 | 0-1 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 17 |
| 32 | GRIFFIN, Jaron | - | 0-2 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 1-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| TM | TEAM | - | - | - | - | 0-1 | 1 | - | - | - | 1 | - | - | - |
| Totals.............. | - | 28-59 | 7-19 | 12-13 | 10-16 | 26 | 21 | 75 | 15 | 19 | 2 | 8 | 200 | |
| 47.5% | 36.8% | 92.3% | ||||||||||||
| Team summary: | FG | 3FG | FT | |||||||||||
| 1st Half: | 15-29 | 3-7 | 5-6 | |||||||||||
| 51.7% | 42.9% | 83.3% | ||||||||||||
| 2nd Half: | 13-30 | 4-12 | 7-7 | |||||||||||
| 43.3% | 33.3% | 100 % | ||||||||||||
North Carolina 97
| Total | 3-point | Rebounds | ||||||||||||
| ## | Player | p | fgm-fga | fgm-fga | ftm-fta | off-def | tot | pf | tp | a | to | blk | stl | min |
| 14 | Green, Danny | f | 8-11 | 2-4 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 1 | 18 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 27 |
| 21 | Thompson, Deon | f | 3-8 | 0-0 | 4-5 | 0-3 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 23 |
| 50 | Hansbrough, Tyler | f | 10-15 | 0-1 | 6-6 | 4-6 | 10 | 2 | 26 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 29 |
| 05 | Lawson, Ty | g | 8-12 | 1-2 | 2-3 | 1-2 | 3 | 1 | 19 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 30 |
| 22 | Ellington, Wayne | g | 2-7 | 0-2 | 5-6 | 1-1 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 24 |
| 01 | Ginyard, Marcus | - | 1-2 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 3-1 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11 |
| 02 | Campbell, Marc | - | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 04 | Frasor, Bobby | - | 0-3 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 1-0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 |
| 11 | Drew II, Larry | - | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| 13 | Graves, Will | - | 2-6 | 1-2 | 4-4 | 3-1 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| 15 | Tanner, J.B. | - | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 24 | Watts, Justin | - | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 30 | Wooten, Jack | - | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 32 | Davis, Ed | - | 1-3 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 2-5 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 16 |
| 35 | Moody, Patrick | - | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| TM | TEAM | - | - | - | - | 3-0 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Totals.............. | - | 35-68 | 4-14 | 23-28 | 18-22 | 40 | 12 | 97 | 23 | 12 | 4 | 10 | 200 | |
| 51.5% | 28.6% | 82.1% | ||||||||||||
| Team summary: | FG | 3FG | FT | |||||||||||
| 1st Half: | 21-40 | 3-8 | 7-9 | |||||||||||
| 52.5% | 37.5% | 77.8% | ||||||||||||
| 2nd Half: | 14-28 | 1-6 | 16-19 | |||||||||||
| 50.0% | 16.7% | 84.2% | ||||||||||||
| Score by Periods | 1st | 2nd | Total | |
| Rutgers | 38 | 37 | 75 | Record: (9-4) |
| North Carolina | 52 | 45 | 97 | Record: (12-0) |
