Piscataway, N.J. - Mike Rosario (Jersey City, N.J.) scored 18 points and fellow freshman Gregory Echenique (Guatire, Venezuela) posted his fourth double-double, scoring 11 points and grabbing 11 rebounds, to lead Rutgers (8-3) to a 67-37 victory over Bryant (1-8) Saturday afternoon at the RAC. The Scarlet Knights led from start to finish and were stifling on defense, limiting the Bulldogs to just 11 field goals and 22.4 percent (11-49) shooting.

“I liked our defensive energy and our defensive execution,” said head coach Fred Hill. “We have played pretty consistent defense all year long.  We talked about getting leads and putting people away. Today was the first that we have been able to do that all year.  In the second half we held them to 17 points and 18.5% shooting.  That means that we are playing with energy and we’re executing our game plan defensively.”

Rosario, who ranks fifth nationally in scoring among freshman, shot seven-of-14 from the field and grabbed seven rebounds, while also dishing-out three assists. Echenique, the nation’s leading freshman rebounder with a 9.7 average, was seven-of-eight from the free throw line and issued two blocks.

RU jumped out to a quick 5-0 advantage and never looked back. The Bulldogs closed the deficit to one point (9-8), but would get no closer. The Scarlet Knights ran their advantage to 14 points (31-17), before taking a 33-30 lead into the locker room at the midpoint. Despite not registering a field goal in the first half, sophomore guard Corey Chandler (Newark, N.J.) was integral in RU’s offensive success, contributing four assists in the opening 20 minutes.

Rutgers scored nine of the initial 11 points to start the second half to build its lead to 20 points (42-22). BU reduced its deficit to 16 points with 13:30 remaining, but RU proceeded to score nine straight. The largest lead of the afternoon, 30 points, was reflected in the final score, produced by a Patrick Jackson (Brooklyn, N.Y.) slam dunk with three second on the clock.

Every player on the active roster scored a point for the Scarlet Knights, who established a convincing, 43-29, advantage in rebounds. Freshman guard Mike Kuhn (Oceanport, N.J.) posted his first points in Scarlet off a Chandler helper with one minute to play.

Rutgers returns to the hardwood this Tuesday (Dec. 23) to meet N.J.I.T. at the RAC in a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.

POSTGAME NOTES

The 37 points allowed by RU was the first time Rutgers gave up fewer than 40 points since beating Columbia 60-36 on November 18, 2002 in the season opener, which were also the fewest points allowed until today.

The 11 field goals allowed by Rutgers against Bryant were the fewest since November 28, 2001, when RU allowed just 10 field goals to Stony Brook in a 76-37 victory.  Bryant also shot 22.4% from the field, which is the lowest percentage the Knights have held an opponent to under head coach Fred Hill. 

Rutgers’ 30-point margin of victory over Bryant was easily their biggest differential of the season, topping the 21-point margin on November 30, 2008 when Rutgers defeated St. Peter’s 68-47.  This was the largest margin of victory since the Scarlet Knights defeated St. Thomas Aquinas 82-41 back on November 19, 2006.

Rutgers also held their largest lead of the season against Bryant.  Helped by a 19-7 run to start the second half, the Scarlet Knights led the Bulldogs by 30 points (67-37) at the 0:47 mark of the second half, in what would become the final score.  It was the most RU has led an opponent by since November 12, 2007 when they beat North Carolina Central 73-48 and led by 28 points at 2:26 in the second half.   

For the first time this season, the Scarlet Knights did not trail in a game.  RU jumped out to an early 5-0 lead and never looked back, with its biggest lead coming late in the second half at 30 points. The last time Rutgers led for an entire game was on January 23, 2008 when they knocked off No. 18 Villanova 80-68 at the RAC.

With his three blocks against Bryant, junior Hamady Ndiaye moved into sole possession of fifth place on the all-time RU career blocks list, passing Eric Clark (183).  Ndiaye (186) also has at least two blocks in every game this season.  The last time Hamady did not have at least two blocks in a game was against Notre Dame on February 17, 2008, when he recorded just one block.

Helped by a 7-for-8 effort at the free throw line, freshman Gregory Echenique notched his fourth double-double of the season, scoring 11 points and grabbing as many rebounds.  Echenique is the only member of the Knights to record a double-double this year.

After pulling down 11 rebounds, Gregory Echenique is now averaging 9.7 rebounds per game this season, which is first in the nation among all freshmen.

Freshman Mike Rosario registered his ninth double-digit scoring game of the season and led the team in scoring for the fifth time after putting up 18 points against Bryant.  Rosario also tied his career high with seven rebounds.  Rosario has made at least one three-pointer in all but two of the Scarlet Knights’ games this season. 

After pulling down a rebound at the 6:21 mark in the first half, JR Inman tied Larry Gordon (592) for 21st in Scarlet Knights history in career rebounds. 

With fast break baskets by Mike Kuhn and Patrick Jackson with under a minute to play in the second half, all of the active members of the Scarlet Knights scored at least one point against Bryant.  The points by Kuhn were the first of his career.

Today’s game marked the first ever between Rutgers and Bryant.  The Bulldogs are in the first year of a four-year transition and will become a full member of the Northeast Conference in the fall of 2012.

With their 67-37 win over Bryant, the Scarlet Knights improved to 6-6 all-time in games played on December 20.  Rutgers has won their last three games played on this date, including a 72-63 win at No. 16 Temple in 1997.  The last time RU played on December 20 was in 2003, when they defeated Long Island 80-54 at the RAC.  The Knights are now 4-2 all-time at home on this date.

In Rutgers win over Bryant, they improved to 5-3 at home, 4-1 in December, 4-2 in afternoon games, 6-1 when leading at halftime, and 5-1 when scoring the first points of the game. 

POSTGAME QUOTES

Head Coach Fred Hill

Game thoughts:

“I liked our defensive energy and our defensive execution. We have played pretty consistent defense all year long. We talked about getting leads and putting people away. Today was the first that we have been able to do that all year.  In the second half, we held them to 17 points and 18.5% shooting. That means that we are playing with energy and we’re executing our game plan defensively…It’s human nature to let up, we talked about not doing and today, and I’m very, very pleased that we were able to go from the start to the finish and execute our defensive game plan, regardless of who was on the floor for us.”

Regarding Rutgers getting off to a good start:

“Defensively, we have been fine and offensively we just made some shots. Mike Rosario knocked down some big shot and Cory Chandler had four assist in the first half.  He (Cory Chandler) really didn’t score a lot of points for us tonight, but he was able to affect the game on the defensive end and he affected the game with distributing the ball. Our big guys did a great job. I thought Greg Echenique and Hamady Ndiaye both passed up some opportunities, when Bryant collapsed in the zone on those guys. They were able to kick it back out to open guys. Mike Rosario was the recipient of being able to knock down a few threes, because we went inside out and got great ball reversal.” 

“I thought offensively we got off to a better start and defensively we played strong through out the game.”

On the best feeling after a game this year:

“We’ve had some very good games, Delaware on the road was a great game and I thought that we played really well.  Certainly, we played well today and we’ve played well in stretches.  For us it’s about continuously getting better.  I really liked our ball movement today, and in the second half I really liked that fact that we gave up open threes.”

Bryant Head Coach Tim O’Shea

Opening statement:
“This is a difficult transition, going from Division II to Division I. We’ve played a very, very tough schedule and Rutgers is among those games against teams from the highest level. What you see is there is a tremendous difference in terms of athleticism, size and length. It’s something we’re still working on overcoming. I’m pleased with the effort in terms of how hard they played and how they ran our stuff.”

On Rutgers:
“I like Rutgers’ team. They have good young players. I think they certainly will be a tough out here at the RAC. The key for any team in any conference is can they win road games in their league. Having been in the BIG EAST for a number of years, I think they are on the right track. They have size, athleticism and their best players are all their youngest players.”

On Bryant’s offensive output:
“One of the challenges for us is scoring, especially inside where we are at such a size deficit. When you can’t score inside, it really allows the team defensively to push up on you around the perimeter.”

On what he told his team to take away from this game:
“We have to regroup and get better for the rest of the games. The thing I’m focused on is how do we score more? Thirty-seven points isn’t going to cut it against anybody. When you’re not making shots from the perimeter and you don’t have an inside presence, it’s hard to generate offense.”

On the play of Cecil Gresham:
“For a kid playing his first year of Division I competition, he is a bright spot. He’s been consistently in double figures at a Division I level and he’s a junior so we have him back next year. So right away we have a guy that’s a bonafide scorer to go along with what I feel is a good recruiting class. We’ll make a decent jump from year one to year two.  Right now for us it’s all about finding a way to get better against elite competition.”

Bryant vs Rutgers
12/20/08 2:00 p.m. at Piscataway, N.J. - The RAC

Bryant 37

Rutgers 67