Rutgers University
LIU
Rutgers Defeats LIU 80-54 With Balanced Attack
Dec 20 | Men's Basketball
PISCATAWAY, NJ - Rutgers used suffocating defense and balanced scoring, with six players scoring in double figures, to rout Long Island University 80-54 on Saturday at the Louis Brown Athletic Center.
"I like the holiday season," Waters said, "and this team needed to feel good about themselves after the exam break."
But Waters didn't want his team to be too giving.
"We've been playing pretty good defense lately, good team defense," he said. "Some teams are good on the floor or in the air. We do them both."
The Scarlet Knights’ relentless defense resulted in a season-high 12 blocks, as well as a season-low 27 percent field-goal percentage for a Rutgers opponent. The Scarlet Knights also dominated the backboards, out-rebounding LIU, 47-34.
Rutgers improved to 6-1 with their fourth straight win, giving the Knights their best start in four years.
Junior guard Ricky Shields led the Knights with 16 points, while senior forward Herve Lamizana had a double-double with 11 points, 12 rebounds and six blocks. Senior forward Sean Axani scored 11, and freshman guard Quincy Douby, junior Juel Wiggan and freshman centerByron Joynes had 10 each. For Joynes, it was a career high in points and matched his career high in rebounds.
Rutgers last had six players in double figures on Jan. 9, 1999 vs. Villanova.
"We've been preaching, 'Let's share the wealth.' We're into the season of joy, and so we cared and shared," Waters said. “I thought we had some balance out there and we were able to play a lot of people, especially Byron Joynes. He just needs to play more. The more he gets to play, the better he’s going to become.”
It was Rutgers' widest margin of victory this season, surpassing its 23-point win over Buffalo on Nov. 25.
The Knights took a commanding 36-16 lead at the half, behind tough man-to-man defense and opportunistic offense.
LIU, which shot 6-of-27 in the half, didn't score until nearly seven minutes into the game.
The Knights also struggled from the field, hitting just 12 of 36, but stepped up the pace midway through the first half as Quincy Douby drilled a 3-pointer from the right corner to make it 21-9 with 7:43 left.
James Williams led Long Island (3-5) with 9 points.
POSTGAME NOTES
WITH THE WIN
Rutgers' 80-54 win over Long Island improves RU's record to 6-1
on the season. It is also the Scarlet Knights' fourth consecutive victory.
It is the largest margin of victory and RU's highest offensive output
of the season.
STRONG OUT OF THE GATE
Rutgers began the game on a 9-0 run over the first 6:46
of regulation. LIU did not score its first field goal until a lay-up Aubin
Scott at the 13:14
mark of the first half. The Blackbirds did not reach double-digits until 13:42
into the first half.
LARGEST HALFTIME MARGIN
The Scarlet Knights' 20 point lead was Rutgers' largest
halftime lead of the season. The previous high was 10 points against Buffalo
on Nov.
25.
SCARLET KNIGHTS GET DEFENSIVE
After yielding just 19 points to Princeton in
the first half on Dec. 13, Rutgers held LIU to a season-low 16 first half points.
The Blackbirds shot just 6-for-27
from the floor (.222).
BEST START IN WATERS ERA
Rutgers' 6-1 start is the best in the three-year
Gary Waters era. The last time the Scarlet Knights won six of its first seven
games was the 1999-2000
season.
APPROACHING THE 800 CLUB
With his 16-point performance against LIU, junior
guard Ricky Shields is just 11 points shy of reaching 800 for his career. He
is also 11 steals away from
entering the Top 25 all-time in steals and five made three-pointers from entering
the Top 10.
AUTOMATIC FROM THE LINE
For the fourth straight game, Rutgers shot well from
the free throw line. The Scarlet Knights were 23-of-29 (.793). Over the last
four games, RU is combined
to shoot 61-of-74 (.824)
A BALANCED ATTACK
Six Scarlet Knights scored in double figures against LIU,
led by Ricky Shields' 16
points. It was the first time since January 9, 1999 when Rutgers defeated Villanova
97-87 that as many as six Scarlet Knights were in double figures.
Ricky Shields
16 points
Herve Lamizana 11 points
Sean Axani 11 points
Quincy Douby 10 points
Juel Wiggan 10 points
Byron Joynes 10 points
LAMIZANA DOUBLE-DOUBLE, SEASON HIGH IN BLOCKS
Herve Lamizana recorded his
first double-double of the season with 11 points and 12 rebounds. It was the
third double-double of his career (vs. Prairie
View A&M 12/30/02 and vs. Syracuse 1/29/03). He also registered a season-high
six blocked shots, just two shy of his career high of eight set against Seton
Hall (2/25/03).
Date Opponent Pts. Reb.
12/30/02 Prairie View A&M 22 11
1/29/03 Syracuse 11 14
12/20/03 LIU 11 10
CLEANING THE GLASS
Rutgers had a 47-34 edge on the glass tonight and has outrebounded
five of its seven opponents thus far in the 2003-04 season.
TAKING CARE OF THE BALL
Rutgers' seven turnovers were a season low. It
is the second game this season RU has had 10 or less turnovers (10 at Penn
State, 12/10/03). The last
time RU committed seven turnovers was against Virginia (12/21/02).
SEASON-LOW FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE
RU held LIU to a season-low 27.3 percent from
the floor (15-of-55). The previous low for the Scarlet Knights was against
Buffalo on Nov. 25 when they held the
Bulls to 27.5 percent shooting (19-for-69).
Official Basketball Box Score
Long Island vs Rutgers
12/20/03 7:30 p.m. at Louis Brown Ath. Ctr.; Piscataway, NJ
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VISITORS: Long Island 3-5
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
14 THOMAS, Brandon..... f 2-8 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 4 0 0 0 0 30
22 KOTOROBAI, Eugene... f 1-5 0-2 3-3 0 2 2 3 5 0 0 0 0 13
42 EDWARDS, Raymond.... c 1-5 0-0 1-3 0 3 3 5 3 0 2 0 0 20
02 SCOTT, Aubin........ g 2-5 1-2 0-0 0 0 0 2 5 0 4 0 0 22
13 WILLAMS, James...... g 2-10 1-6 4-5 1 2 3 2 9 2 4 0 1 30
01 BELL, Derek......... 4-5 0-0 0-0 2 3 5 5 8 0 2 1 0 15
04 WILLIAMS, Morgan.... 0-4 0-2 4-4 1 0 1 0 4 0 0 0 0 9
05 MEEKINS, Evan....... 2-5 2-5 2-2 0 1 1 2 8 2 0 0 0 25
21 CHAMBERS, Trevoy.... 0-2 0-1 4-4 1 0 1 3 4 2 0 0 0 10
35 MAKI-TULOKAS, Esa... 1-6 1-1 1-2 2 8 10 2 4 1 1 0 1 26
TEAM................ 4 3 7 1
Totals.............. 15-55 5-19 19-23 11 23 34 25 54 7 13 1 2 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 6-27 22.2% 2nd Half: 9-28 32.1% Game: 27.3% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-8 12.5% 2nd Half: 4-11 36.4% Game: 26.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 3-5 60.0% 2nd Half: 16-18 88.9% Game: 82.6% 1
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HOME TEAM: Rutgers 6-1
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 4-12 1-4 2-3 5 7 12 4 11 3 0 6 0 28
32 AXANI, Sean......... f 4-8 0-0 3-3 3 5 8 3 11 0 1 2 0 25
04 HILL, Adrian........ c 4-9 0-0 0-0 0 4 4 4 8 0 1 3 0 21
02 SHIELDS, Ricky...... g 5-11 2-6 4-4 0 2 2 2 16 2 1 0 1 27
11 WEBB, Marquis....... g 1-6 0-2 0-0 1 4 5 2 2 3 2 1 0 30
05 DOUBY, Quincy....... 2-7 2-4 4-4 0 0 0 2 10 2 0 0 1 25
10 MIMMO, Jon.......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
13 WIGGAN, Juel........ 2-3 0-0 6-6 0 4 4 2 10 3 0 0 1 17
21 JOYNES, Byron....... 3-5 0-0 4-9 4 4 8 1 10 0 0 0 0 17
23 PIASECKI, Justin.... 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 3
30 HAZARD, Eric........ 0-1 0-1 0-0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 4
33 KEATING, Shayle..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 2
TEAM................ 1 2 3
Totals.............. 26-63 5-17 23-29 15 32 47 21 80 14 7 12 3 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-36 33.3% 2nd Half: 14-27 51.9% Game: 41.3% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5-14 35.7% 2nd Half: 0-3 0.0% Game: 29.4% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 7-9 77.8% 2nd Half: 16-20 80.0% Game: 79.3% 5
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Officials: Frank Scagliotta, Olandis Poole, Ken Clark
Technical fouls: Long Island-TEAM. Rutgers-None.
Attendance: 4805
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Long Island................... 16 38 - 54
Rutgers....................... 36 44 - 80
ID-242383
Points in the paint-LIU 18,RUTGERS 38. Points off turnovers-LIU 0,RUTGERS 16.
2nd chance points-LIU 14,RUTGERS 11. Fast break points-LIU 5,RUTGERS 15.
Bench points-LIU 28,RUTGERS 32. Score tied-0 times. Lead changed-0 times.
Last FG-LIU 2nd-04:06, RUTGERS 2nd-00:57.
