Rutgers University
Villanova
Rutgers Defeats Villanova, 72-60, to Advance to NIT Semifinals
Mar 24 | Men's Basketball
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) ??? Junior guard Ricky Shields scored 21 points and senior forward Herve Lamizana, playing on a sore right ankle, had 13 points, nine rebounds and a career-tying eight blocked shots as Rutgers defeated Villanova, 72-60, in a National Invitation Tournament quarterfinal Wednesday night.
Rutgers (19-12) advances to the NIT semifinals for the first time since 1978, when it lost to Texas before defeating Georgetown in the consolation game. Rutgers' first-ever appearance in the NIT Final Four was 1966-67 when the Scarlet Knights lost to Illinois State before defeating Marshall in the consolation game. The Scarlet Knights meet the winner of Thursday's Iowa State-Marquette game Tuesday at Madison Square Garden. There is no consolation game anymore.
Villanova (18-17), which had won four of its last five, lost in the quarterfinals for the second time in three years.
Lamizana, who twisted his right ankle in practice Tuesday and who availability was a game-time decision, added two steals as Rutgers opened a 12-point halftime lead and never let the margin get under double figures in the second half.
There were seven lead changes and three ties to begin the game, with the final tie coming at 22-22. Shields, who was 4-for-5 from behind the arc in the first 20 minutes, hit the first of his three consecutive 3-pointers to start the Scarlet Knights on a 17-5 run. Rutgers maintained that advantage, leading 43-21 at intermission.
Adrian Hill, who tied a career-high with 13 points, played a large part in the Knights' halftime lead, scoring eight points on four dunks. Freshman guard Quincy Douby had 11 of his 18 points in the opening half on 5-for-7 shooting.
Villanova shot 2-for-7 with five turnovers over the last nine minutes of the half and the Wildcats were just 5-for-12 from the foul line before the break.
The Wildcats' best chance in the second half came when Rutgers scored two points in a span of 5:23. Villanova used a 6-0 run to get within 55-45, but Shields, who shot 7-for-9, responded with a 3-pointer and Villanova would not threaten again. The Cats missed nine of their next 10 shots as Rutgers opened its biggest lead at 68-49.
Curtis Sumpter had 15 points for Villanova, while Allan Ray added 14 and Jason Fraser had 12 points and 13 rebounds. The Wildcats shot 38.2 percent for the game and 33.3 percent in the second half.
Villanova was playing a Big East team in the postseason for just the second time. The first was when it defeated Georgetown for the 1985 championship.
POSTGAME NOTES
WITH THE WIN??????
?????? .Rutgers improved its record to 19-12 for the season, the most
wins in the three-year tenure of head coach Gary Waters. In Waters' first
season with the Scarlet Knights in 2001-02, RU recorded an 18-13 mark.
??????
.Rutgers finishes its season at home with a 16-2 record at the
RAC - tied for the second-most wins in the 27-year history of the building.
The school record of 17 wins at home was recorded in the 1977-78 season - the
inaugural season at the RAC.
??????.Rutgers advances to the NIT semifinals for the first time since
1978, when it lost to Texas before defeating Georgetown in the third-place
game. Rutgers' first-ever appearance in the NIT Final Four was 1966-67 when the Scarlet Knights defeated Utah State in the quarterfinals before losing to a Southern Illinois team led by future New York Knick great Walt Frazier, in the semifinals. The Scarlet Knights then defeated Marshall in the third place game.
The Scarlet Knights meet the winner of Thursday's Iowa
State-Marquette game Tuesday at Madison Square Garden. There is no consolation
game anymore.
RU SWEEPS THREE TEAMS FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 1990-91
Tonight's victory is the second over Villanova this season, marking
the third team RU has swept the series against during 2003-04. Rutgers also
beat Temple and West Virginia twice this season. The second victory in the
series against each team occurred during the NIT. The last time Rutgers swept
the season series against three teams in one season occurred during the 1990-91
campaign when the Scarlet Knights defeated four schools. RU defeated St. Bonaventure,
Rhode Island, Saint Joseph's and George Washington twice in the same
year en route to an NCAA Tournament appearance in 1990-91.
SHIELDS PACES SCARLET KNIGHT RUN
Down, 20-19 with 10:12 remaining in the first half, Rutgers scored 16 of the
next 21 points to take a 35-25 lead with 5:01 remaining. Junior guard Ricky
Shields scored 12 of the 16 points on four three-pointers during the spurt.
SCARLET D
Rutgers held Villanova without a field goal from 9:33 to 4:38, a span of 4:48
during the first half. The Scarlet Knights held the Wildcats to just three
field goals during the final 10 minutes of the opening stanza.
SHIELDS MOVES UP ON SCORING CHARTS
Junior Ricky Shields scored 21 points tonight to move into 21st place on the
Scarlet Knights' all-time scoring list with 1,170 points. He passed Bob
Greacen (1,154 points from 1966-69) and Tom Savage (1,166 points from 1987-91).
He needs just eight more points to move past Jamal Phillips (1991-95) and into
the top-20 in Rutgers' all-time scoring charts.
SHIELDS DIALS IN FROM DOWNTOWN
For the third time this season, Ricky Shields
recorded a career-high six three-pointers in a game. He was 6-of-8 from three-point
range tonight. His other six three-point
efforts came against Miami (1/21) and Syracuse (2/10).
SHIELDS AND DOUBY IN THE NIT
Points Rebounds Assists FGM-FGA 3FGM-3FGA
Shields 61 (20.3) 17 (5.7) 12 (4.0)
20-30 (.667) 13-20 (.650)
Douby 61 (20.3) 6 (2.0) 9 (3.0) 19-39 (.487) 9-21
(.429)
Total 122 23 21 39-69 (.565) 22-41 (.537)
SHIELDS SHOOTING 75 PERCENT IN LAST TWO OUTINGS
Opponent Points Rebounds Assists
FGM-FGA 3FGM-3FGA
West Virginia 26 5 3 8-11
5-6
Villanova 21 4 1 7-9 6-8
Totals 47 (23.5) 9 (4.5) 4 (2.0) 15-20 (.750) 11-14
(.786)
LAMIZANA'S BLOCK PARTY
Senior Herve Lamizana, a third-team All-BIG EAST selection this season, matched
his career high with eight blocks tonight to give him 90 for the season.
He moved past his season total of 83 from a year ago into fourth place on
the school's single-season block list.
HILL MATCHES CAREER HIGH POINT TOTAL
Sophomore center Adrian Hill matched his
career high in scoring with 13 points tonight. His previous 13-point effort
came against Buffalo in the second game
of the season on Nov. 25, 2003.
FOUR IN DOUBLE FIGURES FOR 13TH TIME THIS SEASON
For the 13th time this season,
Rutgers had four Scarlet Knights score in double figures. Ricky Shields led
the way with 21 points. Quincy Douby scored 18 points
and Adrian Hill and Herve Lamizana each contributed 13. It also marks the second
time in the NIT this season Rutgers had four double-digit scorers. RU also
achieved the feat against Temple in the NIT's first round.
OFFICIAL BASKETBALL BOX SCORE -- G A M E T O T A L S
Villanova vs Rutgers
03/24/04 7:00 p.m. at Louis Brown Athl. Center; Piscataway, NJ
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VISITORS: Villanova 18-17
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
No. N A M E FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
20 FRASER, Jason f 4-8 0-0 4-8 4 9 13 2 12 0 2 4 1 32
34 SUMPTER, Curtis f 5-11 1-2 4-5 2 2 4 3 15 2 4 2 0 37
02 FOYE, Randy g 3-13 1-2 0-0 2 3 5 5 7 5 5 0 0 23
12 NARDI, Mike g 3-6 1-4 0-2 0 3 3 1 7 4 2 0 0 32
14 RAY, Allan g 4-13 3-7 3-4 2 2 4 2 14 1 4 0 0 36
03 SNOWDEN, Derrick 1-2 1-2 0-2 1 0 1 1 3 1 2 0 1 22
21 CHARLES, Chris 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3
50 SHERIDAN, Will 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 2 4 2 2 0 1 2 0 15
TEAM ........................................ 3 0 3
TOTALS 21-55 7-17 11-21 16 21 37 16 60 13 20 8 2 200
TOT-FG 1stH: 11-25 44.0% 2ndH: 10-30 33.3% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 38.2% Deadbl
3pt-FG 1stH: 4-8 50.0% 2ndH: 3-9 33.3% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 41.2% Rebs
FThrow 1stH: 5-12 41.7% 2ndH: 6-9 66.7% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 52.4% 6, 1
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HOME TEAM: Rutgers 19-12
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
No. N A M E FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
01 LAMIZANA, Herve f 5-15 1-2 2-2 3 6 9 3 13 1 3 8 2 35
32 AXANI, Sean f 1-1 0-0 2-2 1 5 6 4 4 2 0 0 1 18
02 SHIELDS, Ricky g 7-9 6-8 1-4 1 3 4 0 21 1 2 0 3 39
05 DOUBY, Quincy g 7-14 2-6 2-2 1 2 3 3 18 4 1 0 0 35
11 WEBB, Marquis g 1-3 0-2 0-0 0 0 0 3 2 2 4 0 4 18
04 HILL, Adrian 5-7 0-0 3-6 3 2 5 4 13 0 3 3 2 25
10 MIMMO, Jon 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+
13 WIGGAN, Juel 0-6 0-1 1-2 0 0 0 1 1 7 2 0 0 28
21 JOYNES, Byron 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
23 PIASECKI, Justin 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+
30 HAZARD, Eric 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+
33 KEATING, Shayle 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+
TEAM ........................................ 1 4 5 1
TOTALS 26-55 9-19 11-18 10 22 32 18 72 17 16 11 12 200
TOT-FG 1stH: 17-31 54.8% 2ndH: 9-24 37.5% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 47.3% Deadbl
3pt-FG 1stH: 5-10 50.0% 2ndH: 4-9 44.4% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 47.4% Rebs
FThrow 1stH: 4-5 80.0% 2ndH: 7-13 53.8% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 61.1% 4
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OFFICIALS: Ray Perone, Jim Haney, Michael Stephens
TECHNICAL FOULS:
Villanova - FOYE, Randy(1)
Rutgers - none
ATTENDANCE: 6,514
SCORE BY PERIODS: 1st 2nd OT1 OT2 OT3 OT4 TOTAL
Villanova 31 29 60
Rutgers 43 29 72
PTS IN THE PAINT: Villanova - 28 Rutgers - 30
PTS OFF TURNOVERS: Villanova - 19 Rutgers - 18
2ND CHANCE POINTS: Villanova - 06 Rutgers - 04
FAST BREAK POINTS: Villanova - 10 Rutgers - 05
ID-255638
2004 Postseason NIT - Quarterfinals
