STATE COLLEGE, PA - Junior Ricky Shields (Upper Marlboro,
MD) buried a jumper 25 seconds into the game for Rutgers (4-1) and the Scarlet
Knights never looked back, cruising to a 60-47 victory over Penn State (3-3)
on Wednesday night at the Bryce Jordan Center in State College, PA.
The win is
RU's first ever on the road against a school from the Big 10 Conference.
Shields scored 12 of his 17 points in the first half to give Rutgers a 34-26
lead at the break, while freshman guard Quincy Douby (Brooklyn, NY), the
BIG EAST Co-Rookie of the Week, provided a spark off the bench for Rutgers,
also
pouring in 17 points.
Shields connected on a three-pointer to open the second half as Rutgers scored
the first 10 points of the period to build an 18-point lead, its biggest of
the night, on the Nittany Lions at 44-26 less than four minutes into the half.
Senior forward Herve Lamizana (Abidgan, Ivory Coast, Africa) keyed the run
for the Scarlet Knights with a three-point play and a layup to give him five
points during the spurt. He finished with 11 points, all in the second half.
Penn State surged back, going on a 13-2 run of its own to pull within seven
at 48-41 with just over seven minutes remaining.
Douby converted a his fourth three-pointer of the contest with just over two
minutes remaining to give Rutgers a 15-point advantage, as the Scarlet Knights
won by a double digit margin for the second-consecutive game, taking the 13-point
victory, 60-47. The four threes ties the freshman guard's career high
for the second-consecutive game. He finished the game 4-for-9 (.444) from behind
the arc.
Senior Sean Axani (Red Bank, NJ) collected double-digit rebounds for the third
time this season with 10 on the night, while also scoring five points for RU.
Rutgers had a strong all-around game, recording10 blocked shots, while committing
a season-low 10 turnovers. Coming off a season-high 13-for-15 (.867) effort
from the foul line against Temple, the Scarlet Knights went 14-for-17 (.824)
from the foul line tonight, highlighted by Shields' 5-5 performance from
the charity stripe. Rutgers held its opponent to just 47 points, a new season-low
for the Scarlet Knights.
"We haven't had a whole lot of road wins, so every road win is
a positive for us," said RU head coach Gary Waters. "I feel
we have the potential [to be a good road team] primarily because we can do
two
things - we can defend
and we can rebound the basketball."
Rutgers returns home to the Louis Brown Athletic Center to host local-rival
Princeton on Saturday, Dec. 13, at 2 p.m.
POSTGAME NOTES
WITH THE WIN
Rutgers' 60-47 victory over Penn State on Wednesday improves the Scarlet
Knights' record to 4-1 for the season. It is the third straight win for
RU in the series, which has not been contested since 1991. The all-time series
now stands at 36-28 in favor of Penn State.
FIRST BIG 10 ROAD VICTORY
The win marks the first time Rutgers has ever defeated
a Big 10 opponent on the road. The Scarlet Knights improve their all-time record
against Big 10
foes to 30-55. Penn State is the second Big 10 opponent Rutgers has faced this
season, losing at 15th-ranked Wisconsin, 55-43, on Nov. 29.
SCARLET KNIGHTS SIZZLE FROM THE CHARITY STRIPE
Rutgers followed its season-high
13-of-15 (.867) performance from the foul line against Temple with a 14-of-17
(.824) effort on Wednesday against Penn
State. The Scarlet Knights have combined to shoot 27-of-32 (.844) in its last
two games after beginning the season 40-of-72 (.556) through its first three
games.
SEASON LOW IN TURNOVERS
Rutgers' 10 turnovers on Wednesday, were not only a season-low but marked
the first time since March 6, 2003, against St. John's the Scarlet Knights
achieved the feat. Rutgers recorded eight turnovers against the Red Storm.
CLEANING THE GLASS
Rutgers out-rebounded its opponent for the third-straight
game and fourth time in five games this season, posting a 41-40 advantage on
the boards against
Penn State. In its three previous contests, RU out-rebounded Temple, 42-26,
Wisconsin, 35-28, and Buffalo, 45-43.
LOWEST OPPONENT POINT TOTAL
Rutgers held Penn State to just 47 points on Wednesday.
The Nittany Lions' point
total is the lowest by a Rutgers opponent this season.
RU DEFENSE LEAVES OPPONENTS IN THE COLD
The Scarlet Knights held Penn State
to just 16-of-57 (.281) from the field. The mark is the second lowest of the
season for a Rutgers opponent, as RU limited
Buffalo to 19-for-69 (.275) from the field back on Nov. 25.
Official Basketball Box Score
Rutgers vs Penn State
12/10/03 7:30 p.m. at State College, Pa.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VISITORS: Rutgers 4-1
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 4-10 0-3 3-3 2 4 6 2 11 0 1 3 2 29
32 Axani, Sean......... f 2-9 0-1 1-2 2 8 10 3 5 2 1 1 0 36
04 Hill, Adrian........ c 2-6 0-0 0-0 2 2 4 4 4 2 1 3 0 20
02 Shields, Ricky...... g 5-11 2-6 5-5 0 6 6 3 17 4 2 1 2 32
11 Webb, Marquis....... g 1-7 0-6 0-0 0 3 3 2 2 1 1 0 0 33
05 Douby, Quincy....... 5-11 4-9 3-3 1 4 5 0 17 0 0 1 0 23
13 Wiggan, Juel........ 1-2 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 11
21 Joynes, Byron....... 0-1 0-0 2-4 1 2 3 3 2 0 2 1 0 16
TEAM................ 1 1 2 2
Totals.............. 20-57 6-25 14-17 10 31 41 19 60 9 10 10 4 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-31 35.5% 2nd Half: 9-26 34.6% Game: 35.1% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-14 28.6% 2nd Half: 2-11 18.2% Game: 24.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 8-8 100 % 2nd Half: 6-9 66.7% Game: 82.4% 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOME TEAM: Penn State 3-3
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
33 Riley-Smith, D...... f 7-23 3-11 3-4 1 3 4 1 20 2 1 0 1 40
44 Egekeze, Ndu........ f 0-2 0-0 4-4 2 0 2 2 4 0 1 0 1 18
22 Jagla, Jan.......... c 4-11 0-2 1-3 0 8 8 3 9 0 2 1 1 34
03 Luber, Ben.......... g 1-7 0-0 2-3 0 3 3 2 4 4 3 0 1 40
20 Smith, Marlon....... g 0-7 0-2 0-0 2 2 4 3 0 2 1 0 0 27
00 Johnson, Aaron...... 1-3 0-0 2-2 1 1 2 1 4 0 0 1 0 11
21 Summers, Robert..... 3-4 0-0 0-0 3 5 8 3 6 0 1 0 0 23
24 Fellows, Kevin...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 5
45 McDougald, Jason.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
TEAM................ 3 5 8
Totals.............. 16-57 3-15 12-16 12 28 40 16 47 8 10 2 4 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 8-27 29.6% 2nd Half: 8-30 26.7% Game: 28.1% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-8 25.0% 2nd Half: 1-7 14.3% Game: 20.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 8-11 72.7% 2nd Half: 4-5 80.0% Game: 75.0% 2,1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Officials: Steve Welmer, Ed Corbett, Curtis Shaw
Technical fouls: Rutgers-None. Penn State-None.
Attendance: 7413
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Rutgers....................... 34 26 - 60
Penn State.................... 26 21 - 47
Points in the paint-RUTGERS 26,PSU 20. Points off turnovers-RUTGERS 7,PSU 8.
2nd chance points-RUTGERS 10,PSU 8. Fast break points-RUTGERS 7,PSU 12.
Bench points-RUTGERS 21,PSU 10. Score tied-0 times. Lead changes-0 times.
