STORRS, Conn. - Freshman forward Gregory Echenique (Guatire, Venezuela) shot a perfect nine-of-nine from the free throw line en route to a career and game-high 17 points, but it was not enough, as Rutgers (9-6, 0-2) dropped a 80-49 decision to No. 2-ranked Connecticut (12-1, 1-1) Saturday evening at Gampel Pavilion. It was a tale of two field goal percentages, as the Scarlet Knights deposited a season-low 28.8 percent (15-52), while the Huskies made 51.9 percent (28-54) of their shots.
Echenique, who also issued three blocks, was joined in double figures by fellow rookie Mike Rosario (Jersey City, N.J.), who registered 10 points and was five-of-six from the charity stripe. One of the few bright spots for Rutgers was its free throw shooting. The Scarlet Knights made a season-best 94.4 percent (17-18) from the foul line, the top performance for a BIG EAST team this season. Three of the top four free throw shooting showings in the Conference this season belong to the Scarlet Knights.
Rutgers jumped-out early and held a 7-2 advantage at the first media timeout. The home squad proceeded on an eight point run to take a lead it would not relinquish for the remainder of the contest. A JR Inman (Pomona, N.Y.) jumper with 4:05 remaining before intermission registered a 20-15 deficit, but RU would get no closer. UConn scored nine of the final 12 points before halftime and took a 29-18 lead into the locker room.
The Huskies’ advantage remained in double figures in the second half. It was reduced to 12 points on five occasions by Rutgers, the last instance on a pair of Echenique free throws that produced a 43-31 score with 13:02 on the clock.
Five players scored in double figures for Connecticut, including junior center Hasheem Thabeet, who registered a team-high 15 points. UConn dished out 21 assists and out-rebounded RU by 21-10 margin in the second half to ensure the win.
After playing the nation’s top three ranked teams consecutively, the Scarlet Knights return to the hardwood this Wednesday (Jan. 7) to meet No. 25-ranked Marquette in a 7:30 p.m. tip-off at the RAC. The game will be televised live on MSG Plus.
POSTGAME NOTES
- The Scarlet Knights made a season-best 94.4 percent (17-18) from the foul line, the top performance for a BIG EAST team from the charity stripe this season. It also marked RU’s best foul shooting percentage ever in a BIG EAST Conference game. Three of the top four free throw shooting showings in the Conference this season belong to the Scarlet Knights.
- Freshman forward Gregory Echenique (Guatire, Venezuela) shot a career-best nine-of-nine from the free throw line en route to a career and game-high 17 points. His previous high for made free throws was seven, achieved versus Marist (7-12) and Bryant (7-8). His prior game-high point total was 15, posted versus both Rider and Princeton. Echenique has scored in double figures nine times this season and has led Rutgers in scoring on three occasions.
- Echenique also had a game high-tying three blocks, marking the seventh time this season he has had three or more blocks in a game.
- Senior forward JR Inman (Pomona, N.Y.) shot 4-8 from the field en route to nine points, to give him 993 career points in Scarlet. He needs seven more points to become the 36th player in Rutgers men’s basketball history to achieve 1,000 career points.
- Senior guard Anthony Farmer (Millville, N.J.) scored four points to give him 947 for his career, moving him past Donnel Lumpkin (946, 1989-93) for 41st place on the Rutgers all-time men’s basketball scoring chart.
- Mike Rosario (Jersey City, N.J.) scored 10 points, marking his 13th double-digit scoring performance in 15 career games.
- Rutgers is now 13-32 all-time versus Connecticut, 3-11 all-time in games played on January 3 (since 1947-48), and 2-12 all-time in BIG EAST road openers.
- The game completed an historic trifecta for the Scarlet Knights, as they became the first team in history to play the nation’s top three-ranked teams consecutively. RU lost at No. 1 North Carolina on Sunday (75-97) and versus No. 3 Pittsburgh Wednesday (72-78), before tonight’s defeat at No. 2 UConn. Rutgers next two opponents, Marquette and Syracuse, are also nationally ranked.
RUTGERS 49
| 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 | 4-6 | 0-0 | 9-9 | 2-1 | 3 | 4 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 26 |
| 05 | NDIAYE, Hamady | c | 2-4 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 3-4 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 25 |
| 01 | CHANDLER, Corey | g | 0-6 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 24 |
| 02 | FARMER, Anthony | g | 2-9 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 32 |
| 03 | ROSARIO, Mike | g | 2-13 | 1-6 | 5-6 | 1-3 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 31 |
| 11 | PETTIS, Earl | - | 1-2 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| 15 | INMAN, JR | - | 4-8 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 0-1 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 22 |
| 23 | JACKSON, Patrick | - | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 31 | COBURN, Mike | - | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| 32 | GRIFFIN, Jaron | - | 0-2 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| TM | TEAM | - | - | - | - | 2-2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Totals.............. | - | 15-52 | 2-11 | 17-18 | 11-18 | 29 | 21 | 49 | 10 | 15 | 5 | 2 | 200 | |
| 28.8% | 18.2% | 94.4% | ||||||||||||
| Team summary: | FG | 3FG | FT | |||||||||||
| 1st Half: | 6-23 | 0-6 | 6-7 | |||||||||||
| 26.1% | 0.0% | 85.7% | ||||||||||||
| 2nd Half: | 9-29 | 2-5 | 11-11 | |||||||||||
| 31.0% | 40.0% | 100 % | ||||||||||||
Connecticut 80
| Total | 3-point | Rebounds | ||||||||||||
| ## | Player | p | fgm-fga | fgm-fga | ftm-fta | off-def | tot | pf | tp | a | to | blk | stl | min |
| 04 | ADRIEN, Jeff | f | 4-9 | 0-0 | 5-7 | 2-5 | 7 | 2 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 31 |
| 21 | ROBINSON, Stanley | f | 5-6 | 0-1 | 1-2 | 2-5 | 7 | 1 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 24 |
| 34 | THABEET, Hasheem | c | 5-7 | 0-0 | 5-8 | 3-5 | 8 | 3 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 21 |
| 11 | DYSON, Jerome | g | 3-11 | 2-3 | 6-8 | 1-2 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 28 |
| 12 | PRICE, A.J. | g | 1-4 | 0-1 | 1-2 | 0-3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 27 |
| 02 | BEVERLY, Donnell | - | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 15 | WALKER, Kemba | - | 3-6 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 18 |
| 24 | AUSTRIE, Craig | - | 3-5 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 2-0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 |
| 30 | HARALSON, Scottie | - | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 33 | EDWARDS, Gavin | - | 4-6 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 1-3 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| 35 | OKWANDU, Charles | - | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| TM | TEAM | - | - | - | - | 0-0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Totals.............. | - | 28-54 | 4-7 | 20-29 | 11-26 | 37 | 14 | 80 | 21 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 200 | |
| 51.9% | 57.1% | 69.0% | ||||||||||||
| Team summary: | FG | 3FG | FT | |||||||||||
| 1st Half: | 9-26 | 3-5 | 8-12 | |||||||||||
| 34.6% | 60.0% | 66.7% | ||||||||||||
| 2nd Half: | 19-28 | 1-2 | 12-17 | |||||||||||
| 67.9% | 50.0% | 70.6% | ||||||||||||
| Score by Periods | 1st | 2nd | Total | |
| RUTGERS | 18 | 31 | 49 | Record: ((9-6, 0-2)) |
| Connecticut | 29 | 51 | 80 | Record: ((12-1, 1-1)) |
