Rutgers Hosts Rider Tuesday Evening
Dec 14 | Men's Basketball
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Rutgers (6-2) plays its seventh of 10 non-conference home games this season when it welcomes Rider (7-4) to the Louis Brown Athletic Center on Tuesday for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off. The Broncs will drive approximately 26 miles northeast for the contest. Rider is one of seven state opponents on RU's 2009-10 schedule. Tuesday's game marks the second of six consecutive road games for the Broncs. A victory over Rider will provide Rutgers its best start (7-2) during the tenure of fourth-year head coach Fred Hill.
The Rutgers University Athletic Department and the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) will hold its annual Toy and Book Drive at Tuesday evening's game. Student-athletes will be on hand prior to the start of the contest to collect new, unwrapped toys and books (valued $5 - $10) appropriate for children ages 3-5 (please, no toys with guns.). All proceeds benefit the Head Start programs of Middlesex and Somerset County.
The game will be streamed live on the web via KnightVision Broadband at www.scarletknights.com with Danny Breslauer and Adam Helfgott calling the action. On the radio, the contest will be broadcast live on the Rutgers Radio Network, WOR 710 AM in New York City and WCTC 1450 AM in New Brunswick. Chris Carlin will serve as play-by-play announcer and Dick Lloyd will provide commentary. WRSU 88.7 FM will also broadcast the game.
Tuesday's game signals the 15th all-time meeting between the Scarlet Knights and Broncs on the collegiate hardwood dating back to 1947, with Rutgers holding a 13-1 advantage in victories. Last season, the Scarlet Knights defeated the Broncs, 66-62, at Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton. RU dished out 19 assists and deposited 10 three-pointers, as Mike Rosario (Jersey City, N.J.) scored a game-high 25 points in the win.
The Scarlet Knights are coming off a 66-52 victory over Monmouth this past Wednesday evening at the RAC. Senior center Hamady Ndiaye (Dakar, Senegal) scored 22 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and issued a career-high tying eight blocks. Rosario added 23 points. Ndiaye, playing in his 100th career game, shot 7-of-11 from the field and made a career-best 8-of-10 free throws. With the game winding down and with five blocks already tabulated on the stat sheet, he issued three rejections in six seconds on one Monmouth offensive series.
Ndiaye was named to the BIG EAST Conference Honor Roll on Monday, marking the second consecutive week (Gregory Echenique, Dec. 7) that Rutgers had a player recognized by the league. The last time the Scarlet Knights earned BIG EAST honors in consecutive weeks was 2006, when Quincy Douby was selected as Player of the Week on Feb. 27 and March 6. Ndiaye leads the BIG EAST with an average of 4.8 blocks-per-game. In the most recent NCAA stat report, he ranked third nationally in both blocks and career blocks.
Rider, under the leadership of fourth-year head coach Tommy Dempsey, has won three of its last four games, including a 79-67 victory at UMBC this past Saturday evening. Senior guard Ryan Thompson, the preseason MAAC Player of the Year, scored a game-high 21 points on 6-for-8 shooting. Four Broncs average double figures in the scoring column, including Thompson, who boasts a team-best 15.1 points-per-game. Rider opened its season with an 88-74 victory at then No. 18-ranked Mississippi State on Nov. 13.
GAME NOTES
