PISCATAWAY, N.J. (December 19, 2009) – Rutgers senior center Hamady Ndiaye (Dakar, Senegal) was one block shy of a triple-double – posting 11 points, 13 rebounds and nine blocks –to help Rutgers (8-2) to a 71-62 win over NJIT (3-7) Saturday afternoon at the Louis Brown Athletic Center. Mike Rosario (Jersey City, N.J.) scored 15 points and Austin Johnson (Elkins Park, Pa.) added a career-high 13 as the Scarlet Knights earned their fifth straight victory.
“There is no new found weight on Hamady’s shoulders,” said head coach Fred Hill. “Hamady is Hamady. He is a warrior, a leader. He plays with enthusiasm and today he played great. He has given us great minutes.”
Ndiaye, who ranks second nationally in blocks and third in career blocks, paced another strong defensive effort by RU. Ndiaye issued a career-high nine rejections, as the Scarlet Knights accumulated 12 blocks. Rutgers also forced 19 turnovers and established a 41-30 rebounding advantage, while limiting the Highlanders to 36.7 percent (22-60) shooting. Ndiaye’s 13 rebounds signaled a career-best.
With snow falling in frigid temperatures outside, the Scarlet Knights’ hot free throw shooting kept things warm inside. Rutgers deposited 84.6 percent (22-26) from the charity stripe. The performance of the home squad’s big men at the line was even more impressive. Johnson (9-9), Ndiaye (5-5) and freshman Brian Okam (Enugu, Nigeria), combined to shoot a perfect 16-for-16. Okam was 2-for-2 from the line and scored a career-best six points.
“You can’t ask for anything more from your frontcourt in terms of getting to the free throw line,” said Hill. “We shot 84 percent (84.6) as a team, and those guys played terrific.”
NJIT proved feisty in the game’s early going, but a Jonathan Mitchell (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) layup provided RU an 8-6 lead that it would not relinquish for the remainder of the contest. The Scarlet Knights extended their first half lead to 14 points (27-13), before taking a 39-28 advantage into the locker room at the midpoint. Rutgers shot 55.6 percent (15-27) from the field in the opening 20 minutes.
After intermission, the Scarlet Knights built their lead to as much as 19 points (63-44). The first career three-pointer from freshman guard Muhamed Hasani (Pristina, Kosovo) had the home squad leading 70-53 with just over three minutes to play, before NJIT scored nine of the contest’s last 10 points to register the 71-62 final score.
Rutgers returns to the hardwood Tuesday (Dec. 22) to host St. Peter’s in a 7:30 p.m. tip-off at the RAC.
POSTGAME NOTES
· The win improves Rutgers’ record to 8-2, which is the best start after 10 games during head coach Fred Hill’s four seasons leading the Scarlet Knights.
· With the victory, Rutgers has won five straight games for the second time under Hill. The Hill-led Scarlet Knights also captured five consecutive victories in December 2006.
· Hamady Ndiaye fell one block shy of a triple double with 11 points, 13 rebounds and nine blocks. The double-double is the third of his career and second this season.
· In the three games Ndiaye has started this season, he has averaged 14 points, 11.3 rebounds and 7.7 blocks per contest.
· Ndiaye’s 11 points marks his eighth career double-digit scoring effort and fourth this season.
· Ndiaye’s 13 rebounds is a career high and marks the third straight game and eighth time in his career that he has pulled down 10-plus boards. Ndiaye’s previous career high in rebounds is 12 (vs. Seton Hall, Jan. 30, 2008).
· Ndiaye’s nine blocks is a career-high and pushes his career total to 266, while giving him 13 career games with six plus rejections and 43 with at least three. The BIG EAST’s leading blocker has swatted three or more blocks in all 10 games this season.
· Austin Johnson’s 13 points is a career-best and marks the second straight game he has set a career high in points.
· After entering today’s game hitting four of 10 free throws, Johnson went a perfect 9-for-9 at the charity stripe against NJIT.
· Rosario’s RU-high 15 points marks the 36th time in his 42 career games that he has scored in double digits. The six-foot-three guard has led the Scarlet Knights in scoring in six games this seasons and 26 over his career.
· Three Scarlet Knights scored in double digits for the seventh time this season with Rosario (15), Johnson (13) and Ndiaye (11) all posting 10-plus. Rutgers is 6-1 this season when three Scarlet Knights notch 10-plus points.
· Brian Okam scored his first basket as a Scarlet Knight off an offensive rebound at the 10:10 mark in the first half. Okam finished with a career-high six points.
· Rutgers frontcourt of Johnson (9-9), Ndiaye (5-5) and Okam (2-2) combined to go a perfect 16-16 from the charity stripe.
· Muhamed Hasani scored his first basket as a Scarlet Knight on a fast break layup at 6:58 mark in the first half. Hasani finished with a career-high five points.
· NJIT’s 36.7 field goal percentage marked the sixth game this season Rutgers has held an opponent to under 40 percent from the field.
· James Beatty’s four steals is a career high.
· Rutgers’ 24 points off turnovers and 10 fast break points are both season highs.
· Rutgers’ 22 made free throws are the most the squad has hit since it sank 28 against Delaware Sate on Dec. 14, 2008.
RUTGERS HEAD COACH FRED HILL
On the play of Rutgers’ frontcourt:
“Austin Johnson was terrific. You look at his line, what he was able to give us. I thought Brian Okam came in and gave us really solid minutes. Those two guys are going to have to step up for us. Austin went nine-for-nine from the free throw line, Okam went two-for-two and then Hamady Ndiaye five-for-five. You can’t ask for anything more from your frontcourt in terms of getting to the free throw line. We shot 84 percent as a team, and those guys played terrific.”
On Hamady Ndiaye’s increased minutes:
“There is no new found weight on Hamady’s shoulders. Hamady is Hamady. He is a warrior, a leader, he plays with enthusiasm and today he played great. He has given us great minutes…He is very efficient in fewer minutes, but so far we have been able to get away with playing him more minutes. It is going to get a little more difficult as we get into the BIG EAST part of the schedule, when bodies are a little bit bigger and stronger and leaning on him, and that’s when we are going to need Brian Okam and Austin Johnson to give us some solid minutes. This was a great step for them to get a little confidence and a little bit of experience under their belts.”
On Rutgers’ winning by nine after leading by as many as 19:
“We have done that in three games and we have talked to our guys about it. The hardest thing to do sometimes, especially when you are as inexperienced as we are, is when you get a big lead you go away from what got you the big lead. You start to play a little more one-on-one, you go get yours a little bit more. It is natural. Really good, experienced teams do not do that, but we are not there yet. That is something that we will learn from this game. We were up 19 against Princeton and the same thing happened. We were up 18 against Marist and the same thing happened. We were up 20 against UMass and the same thing happened. We have to learn how to continue to play with the same intensity, passion and pride…We have to play with the same identity. That is what gets us our big leads and sometimes we get away from that. We have to learn how to do that for 40 minutes regardless of the score of the game.”
On how playing schools from New Jersey was always part of his philosophy:
“It has been a goal since I took over the job, I just do not want to lose any of them. Unfortunately it can come back and bite you, but you learn from it, you move on. We are building a program to win a BIG EAST and national championship. Along the way, we are going to play everyone we can play. It is why we play North Carolina. If I can give all the teams in the state of New Jersey an opportunity to come to the RAC and have a game with us, and give our fans a chance to go down to Trenton to see the Sovereign Bank Arena, go down to Atlantic City to watch us play a tournament. We played in the Jersey City Armory. If I can give our fans in those pockets who can’t get to the RAC, come watch us play, it is something that I believe in and it is something that we have been fortunate enough to do.”
NJIT HEAD COACH JIM ENGLES
On Hamady Ndiaye:
“It is very hard because the kids were taking the ball to the basket hard. (Rutgers) obviously pressures you and try to funnel you into him. He is really a pretty dynamic shot blocker. I was pretty happy that our kids kept taking the ball to the rim and I kept telling them to take the ball to the rim and demand that you get a call. That is the way we have to keep playing. You can’t shy away from it. He is a good player. He affects the game. I have seen his tapes since he has started – since (Gregory) Echenique has been out. He has been affecting the game in that way. There is really not much that we can do right now to have an effect on him.”
On the last five minutes:
“I was very excited (about NJIT’s play in the last five minutes). We have to continue to play and continue to play hard. You have to demand respect. You have to demand from other teams and referees and opposing fans that you are going to be taken as a serious program. It would have been very easy and we have had some games where we have given in this year. We were playing Vermont and we were down eight and we came out and gave in at one point. It is just little steps like that and I was really happy that we continued to play hard and we were able to affect the game in the last five minutes. I know they were protecting the lead, but they played hard and we gave it a good effort.”
On playing in the Great West conference:
“Houston, Texas is not having a snow storm right now – so there is no difficulty from that stand point! We played a lot of those teams last year. The only teams that we did not play were North and South Dakota. I can’t really tell you what the travel will be like, because I have never been to those states. It will be something new for me. We will figure that out as we go. It is not that bad. It is a lot of travel, but there are direct flights and we try to make it as easy as possible on the kids. We try to make it as enjoyable as possible as well. I think the kids look forward to it. Again, it is our reality this year. You can’t shy away from it. You can’t complain about it. It gives us the chance to compete for something. I am excited about it.”
