Rutgers University
Connecticut
Rutgers Falls to Visiting Connecticut, 65-55
Feb 21 | Men's Basketball
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - The Rutgers men's basketball team saw a first-half lead erased by Connecticut on Wednesday night, as the Scarlet Knights fell to the Huskies, 65-55, at the Louis Brown Athletic Center. Rutgers dropped to 10-17 (3-11 BIG EAST) with the loss, while UConn improved to 17-10 (6-7).
Turning in an eight-point performance on the night, on 3-of-6 shooting, senior guard Marquis Webb (Paterson, N.J.) became the 35th Scarlet Knight to join the 1,000-point club. RU was led by sophomore forward JR Inman (Pomona, N.Y.) and senior forward Adrian Hill (Canton, Ohio) with 15 points apiece. Hill also turned in a game-high eight rebounds and Inman grabbed seven boards. Sophomore guard Anthony Farmer (Millville, N.J.) chipped in nine, to go along with his four assists.
Connecticut was sparked by guard Jerome Dyson, who contributed a game-high 17 points, converting on 9-of-11 attempts from the free throw line. Forward Jeff Adrien (14 points) and guard A.J. Price (10) also reached double figures for the visiting Huskies.
Rutgers opened the game with a 9-2 run, capped by a three-pointer from Farmer, and held the Huskies scoreless over the first three-and-a-half minutes. A two-handed dunk from Hill with 13:41 to play in the first half helped the Scarlet Knights maintain a seven-point advantage, 11-4. Courtney Nelson (Newark, N.J.) got a steal went coast-to-coast to extend the Scarlet Knight lead to five (15-10) with 9:46 showing. Sophomore forward Jaron Griffin (Manchester, N.J.) hit a triple to give RU an 18-12 edge with 8:46 on the clock.
In the opening 12 minutes, RU scored 10 points off of seven Connecticut turnovers, while committing only three miscues of its own. The Scarlet Knights got out to an eight point (22-14) advantage, its largest of the half, however, the Huskies responded, opening up a 14-0 run when Adrien hit a jumper off an assist from Doug Wiggins.
Four different players scored during the spurt as UConn took its first lead of the game, making the score 23-22, in the Huskies' favor, with 1:55 on the clock. Dyson scored four points in the final 1:21 of the first half, as UConn took a 28-23 edge at the break. Dyson led all scorers with eight points at the half, while Hill had a team-high seven points for RU.
Rutgers scored the first four points of the second half on buckets from Inman and Webb to cut the UConn lead to just one, (28-27) but the Huskies responded by scoring the next seven to regain control. A free throw from Dyson put the Huskies up by eight again. Sharp shooting from Connecticut - including three-pointers on back-to-back possessions at the hand of Price - helped extend the Huskies' lead to the largest margin of the game (12), making the score 35-47, with 8:25 showing on the game clock.
The Scarlet Knights forged another rally in the second half, building an eventual 9-0 run which included six points. Rutgers cut the lead to four on two occasions, the second time on a three-pointer from Webb with the score 53-49 with just under five minutes to play. That score pushed Webb over the 1,000-point plateau, as the senior finished the night with 1,001 career tallies.
But with the Scarlet Knights forced to play the foul game late in the contest, UConn was able to pick up momentum to stretch the lead to as many as 10, which is where it would stay.
Rutgers will next travel to Villanova on Saturday, Feb. 24, for a BIG EAST match-up with the Wildcats. Game time is set for 4:00 p.m. and will broadcast live on ESPN. It will mark the Scarlet Knights second-to-last regular season contest of the season.
POSTGAME NOTES
WITH THE LOSS'?
With the 65-55 loss to Connecticut, Rutgers falls to 10-17 on the season and 3-11 in BIG EAST play. UConn improves to 17-10 overall and 6-7 in conference games.
WEBB MAKES HISTORY
With his eight points in tonight's game, senior guard Marquis Webb became just the 35th player in Rutgers history to reach the 1,000 point milestone. The last Rutgers player to crack the 1,000 point mark was Quincy Douby (2003-06), who finished his career with 1,690 points. Webb now has 1,001 points for his career and stands in 35th place on RU's list of all-time scorers. He is 14 points away from the 34th spot.
Rank Player Career Points
34. Andrew Kolbasovsky (1992-96) 1,015
35. Marquis Webb (2003-present) 1,001
36. Clarence Tillman (1980-83) 983
SEASON AND CAREER NOTES
Sophomore guard Anthony Farmer tied his season-high in rebounds with five in tonight's game. He had pulled down five boards on two prior occasions this season.
Senior forward Adrian Hill set career-highs in both free throw attempts and free throws made, as he went 9-of-13 from the line. Hill's previous highs were eight made free throws (vs. Seton Hall on Jan. 7, 2006), as well as eight free throw attempts (three times).
PROTECTING THE PERIMETER
UConn made just two three-pointers, tying the fewest made by a Rutgers opponent this season. New Hampshire also made just two three-pointers against the Scarlet Knights on Dec. 6.
BLOCK PARTY
Freshman center Hamady N'diaye had two blocks in tonight's game and has now recorded at least one block in 21 of RU's 27 games this season. N'diaye has led the Scarlet Knights in that category in a team-high 15 games and also has 14 multi-block games this season.
DOUBLE-DIGIT SCORING
Sophomore forward JR Inman scored in double figures for the 21st time this season with his 15 points against UConn. He has led Rutgers in scoring a team-high 13 times this season.
DOMINANT DEFENSE
The Huskies' offense managed just 65 points against Rutgers as the Scarlet Knight defense held UConn below its season scoring average of 71.6 points per game.
