Rutgers University
North Dakota State
Rutgers Pulls Away From North Dakota State, 79-67
Nov 11 | Men's Basketball
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Junior JR Inman (Pomona, N.Y.) scored 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, leading Rutgers (2-0) to a 79-67 victory over visiting North Dakota State (0-2) on Sunday afternoon at the RAC in the second game of the Blue Ribbon Challenge. Corey Chandler (Newark, N.J.) scored 14 points, becoming the first freshman to score in double figures in his first two games since Earl Johnson accomplished the feat against Wagner and No. 1 Cincinnati in the first two games of the 1996-97 season.
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JR Inman slams over a NDSU player. Photo by Tom Ciszek/NJSportsPhoto |
The first half was a back and forth affair. Nine different Scarlet Knights played, and all nine scored at least two points, led by Inman, who had six. The two teams traded baskets as the Bison got out to an early 10-5 lead. But RU would fight back, tying the game at 11 at the 10:03 mark. After a 4-0 run by NDSU put them ahead 15-11 at the 9:03 mark, the Scarlet Knights took the lead for good in the first half with an 8-0 run, keyed by a three-pointer from Chandler at the 6:05 mark. RU would head into the locker room with a 30-27 halftime lead.
In the second half, the Bison made their run. Ben Woodside gave NDSU a 38-34 lead with two straight baskets, the second coming at the 16:25 mark. He would finish with 24 points, leading all scorers. But a three-pointer by junior Anthony Farmer (Millville, N.J.) and two straight baskets by Inman would give Rutgers a 43-40 lead with 13:15 to go in the game. Farmer finished with 17 points, tying his career-high.
The teams would trade baskets until NDSU tied the game at 52. At that point, Inman took over. First he grabbed an offensive rebound, muscling in a shot to give RU a 54-52 lead. Then he took a charge from Woodside, giving Rutgers the ball back. He followed the fine defensive play with a three-pointer that gave the Scarlet Knights a five-point advantage, a lead they would not relinquish. In the final 8:55 of the game, Rutgers outscored the Bison 27-15 to win going away.
"I thought the last five minutes we really executed and we were tough," said Hill. "That is when we really defended. In the middle of the second half they scored a little too quickly and too easily. The last five minutes we really defended, rebounded, made free-throws, and passed the ball."
The Scarlet Knights next game is Monday, Nov. 12, at 7:30 p.m., when North Carolina Central visits the RAC in the third game of the Blue Ribbon Challenge.
POSTGAME NOTES
With a three-pointer at 10:33 mark of the second half, Corey Chandler (Newark, N.J.) scored his 8th, 9th, and 10th points of the game, becoming the first rookie to score in double figures in his first two games since Earl Johnson did it against Wagner and No. 1 Cincinnati in the first two games of the 1996-97 season. Chandler would finish with 14 points.
JR Inman (Pomona, N.Y.) finished the game with 21 points, tying his career-high in points, set on Nov. 22, 2005 against Delaware State. The junior also had 11 rebounds, the fifth double-double of his career.
With 21 points, Inman led the team in scoring for the 15th time of his career and the second consecutive game this season. His eleven rebounds against North Dakota State moved his career rebounding average up to 6.4, good for 24th place all-time. Dave Stires and Steve Kaplan are in 22nd place with a career rebounding average of 6.7. Inman has now led the team in rebounding 18 times in his career.
With four rebounds in the game, Byron Joynes (Baltimore, Md.) reached 400 for his career, good for 41st place all-time. At 40th place is Eddie Jordan with 405.
Hamady Ndiaye (Dakar, Senegal), Joynes, and Inman each had a block against North Dakota State. Ndiaye and Joynes are tied with Rob Hodgson at 53 blocks, good for 21st place all-time. In 19th place are Lloyd Moore and Lee Perry with 57 career blocks. Inman now has 71 career blocks, good for 14th place, six blocks behind 13th place Mike Jones.
Anthony Farmer (Millville, N.J.) scored a basket at the 2:42 mark of the second half to give him eleven points, and to give Rutgers three players in double-figures for the third consecutive game, including the final game of the 2006-07 season.
Farmer's 17 points tied his career-high, set twice, most recently at Seton Hall on Jan. 3, 2007.
Farmer dished out one assist against North Dakota State, giving him 215 for his career, good for 23rd place all-time. Farmer is 19 assists behind 22nd place Juel Wiggin.
Nine different Scarlet Knights saw game action in the first half, and all nine scored at least two points. Inman led the way in the first half with six points.
POSTGAME QUOTES
HEAD COACH FRED HILL
On North Dakota State:
"That's a really good basketball team we played today. They're extremely well coached and very tough."
On defending Woodside:
"Woodside is going to get NBA looks. He is really tough and I thought we did a super job even though it doesn't sound like it since he got 24 points. He took 13 threes against Florida and our game plan was to not let him get threes and we did that. It allowed him to get to the basket and get lay-ups so I wasn't super happy, but we followed the plan."
On the guard play:
"Our guards have been consistently good and they have been working hard. We're fortunate to have depth in the backcourt. We're a little thin upfront which is scary, but so far the guys have been terrific."
On JR Inman and overall depth:
"With JR Inman we talked about being efficient and consistent. Today I thought he was very, very efficient in his game. Earlier on we struggled and were out of sync, but in the second half I thought we did a terrific job on the offensive end. First half it was on the defensive end, second half I wasn't happy with the defense, but the offense was good. At the end of the day, the depth helped us and it was a win."
On defending at the end of the game:
"I thought the last five minutes we really executed and we were tough. That is when we really defended. In the middle of the second half they scored a little too quickly and too easily. The last five minutes we really defended, rebounded, made free-throws, and passed the ball."
On improving from last season:
"We're a little bit more experienced and we're a little deeper. That's how you build a program, but we have a long way to go. It's great to be 2-0, but we have to continue to get quality players to come here and continue to build. It's a process and we have to go through that and that's what we preach. If we get better one day at a time we'll have a few wins like we had today."
On Anthony Farmer:
"Anthony is a guy that may not make shots the next game but he made them today. I have confidence in Anthony to make the right play. We talked about how they were going to press us as we were going down the floor, and he had to make the right pass and the right play. I talked about opening up the floor because we were a little bit quicker than them and they had to come after us. Anthony did that perfectly."
