Rutgers University
North Carolina
Rutgers Falls to Top-Ranked North Carolina, 93-71
Dec 16 | Men's Basketball
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Freshman guard Corey Chandler (Newark, N.J.) scored 23 points and added a career-high eight rebounds, but it wasn't enough as Rutgers dropped a 93-71 decision to No. 1 North Carolina Sunday evening before a sellout crowd at the Louis Brown Athletic Center.
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Sophomore Hamady Ndiaye finished with four blocks, giving him 91 for his career.(Photo by Tom Ciszek/NJSportsPhoto) |
"Corey is an extremely talented, athletic and quick kid," head coach Fred Hill said. "He's a scorer and has a scorer's mentality. Certainly, you can see he has great ability and great talent."
Freshman Earl Pettis (Philadelphia, Pa.) also had a career night, matching his previous bests in points (six), rebounds (six), and steals (two) for Rutgers (7-4). Sophomore Hamady N'diaye (Dakar, Senegal) recorded four blocks, keeping him atop the BIG EAST in the category. He has now blocked four or more shots in eight games this season.
For the Tar Heels (9-0), Ty Lawson led the way with a game-high 26 points, adding four steals and five assists. Forward Tyler Hansbrough scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the double-double effort.
The game started off at a slow tempo, with neither team finding the scoreboard until nearly three minutes into the contest. A three-pointer by Chandler at the 15:31 mark cut UNC's lead to 9-7, but the Tar Heels scored the next five points to stretch the lead. Rutgers was down only six, 20-14, with 9:35 left in the first half after a foul line jumper from Farmer.
But North Carolina closed the half on a tear, finishing the opening stanza on a 27-12 run after Farmer's basket to build a 21-point edge, 47-26, heading into the locker room.
After North Carolina built its largest lead of the game at 29 with 8:58 to go in the game, the Scarlet Knights were able to slowly close the gap, pulling to within 15 on two occasions late in the second half. A long three-pointer by Chandler with 3:02 to go shrunk the lead to 84-69, but North Carolina pulled away again, using five late points from freshman forward Will Graves and a buzzer-beater from Surry Wood to end with the 22-point lead, 71-93.
"There's a reason they're No. 1 in the country. That's an extremely talented ball club," Hill said. "They have great players at every position and great depth. They're a really hard team to slow down."
North Carolina has been ranked No. 1 for the entire season in the Associated Press poll, and now holds a 9-1 edge over the Scarlet Knights in the all-time series.
The sellout crowd of 8,312 marked the highest home crowd for Rutgers since Feb. 23, 2002 against Seton Hall. The Scarlet Knights will be back on the court Friday, Dec. 21, against in-state rival Rider, a 7:30 p.m. start at the RAC.
POSTGAME NOTES
SELLOUT AT THE RAC:
There were 8,312 fans were in attendance, marking the highest attendance since Feb. 23, 2002, when 8,729 fans watched Rutgers defeat Seton Hall 66-60.
The game marked the 74th sellout in the history of the RAC.
STAR WATCH:
A total of 22 NBA scouts were in attendance for the Scarlet Knights' tilt against No. 1 UNC. Rutgers also unveiled its VIP seating area where former Rutgers star and current Sacramento Kings guard Quincy Douby, former NBA head coach and current New Jersey Nets assistant coach Brian Hill, and Rutgers head football coach Greg Schiano were all in attendance.
CAREER DAY FOR CHANDLER:
Freshman Corey Chandler (Newark, N.J.) narrowly missed matching his career-high as he finished with 23 points (25 vs. Nebraska, Dec. 9); however he did set a career mark with eight rebounds. His previous high was six which he also set on Dec. 9, against Nebraska. Chandler led RU in rebounding for the first time in his career.
Chandler tied his career-high with two three pointers, and set a new career-high with six three point attempts. His previous high was five attempts, set twice, most recently at Nebraska on Dec. 9.
FARMER TIES CAREER-HIGH:
Junior Anthony Farmer (Millville, N.J.) tied his career-high with 17 points. He has accomplished the feat four times; previously he scored 17 against North Dakota State on Nov. 11.
NDIAYE BLOCK PARTY:
Sophomore Hamady Ndiaye (Dakar, Senegal) finished with four blocks, giving him 91 for his career. The 91 blocks rank 10th on the Rutgers all-time blocked shot list and he is six away from the ninth place leader (Eugene Dabney, 97).
The four blocks for Ndiaye also marks the eighth time this season he has blocked four or more shots. Entering the game, Ndiaye ranked seventh nationally and led the BIG EAST Conference in blocked shots.
CAREER DAY FOR PETTIS:
Freshman guard Earl Pettis (Philadelphia, Pa.) set a career in points (six), rebounds (six), steals (two) and minutes (25). He also tied his career high with six field goal attempts.
NELSON RETURNS TO ACTION:
Junior guard Courtney Nelson (Newark, N.J.) returned to action after missing the previous five games with an injury.
INMAN DISHES:
Junior forward JR Inman (Pomona, N.Y.) had a season-high three assists, one short of his career-high of four, set twice, most recently against Providence on Jan. 25, 2006.
COACH HILL POSTGAME QUOTES
Opening Statements:
"There is a reason they are ranked No. 1 in the country. That's an extremely talented ball club. They have great players at every position and great depth. They're a really hard team to slow down. The game plan was to control tempo, but that's a very difficult thing to do. We did it to the best of our ability but that's a very deep and talented team."
"In the half court I thought we were outstanding. They had eight lay-ups in the first half and shot 43 percent. If you take away those eight fast break lay-ups and figure out the percentage, we did an outstanding job in defense. The problem is that you can't get them to play in the half court for too many possessions because they're so good at getting up and down the floor."
On Ty Lawson:
"He gets going in transition and he got to the basket and got lay-ups. He's the guy that makes them go and gets them up and down the floor."
On the Second Half:
"Our kids aren't going to back down. They are always going to play hard. In the second half it was 46-45. I thought we got tougher. We got some loose balls, we were on the floor, and we got the long rebounds. We did some things that we have been striving to do."
On Corey Chandler:
"Corey is an extremely talented, athletic and quick kid. He's a scorer and has a scorer's mentality. Certainly you can see he has great ability and great talent. When he figures everything out he's going to be an outstanding player and a scorer for us."
