Rutgers Hosts State Foe Monmouth on Wednesday
Dec 07 | Men's Basketball
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Rutgers (5-2) plays its sixth of 10 non-conference home games this season when it welcomes Monmouth (2-6) to the Louis Brown Athletic Center on Wednesday for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off. The Hawks will drive approximately 37 miles up the Garden State Parkway for the contest. Monmouth is one of seven state opponents on RU's 2009-10 schedule.
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. Eamon McAnaney will serve as play-by-play announcer and Dick Lloyd will provide commentary. WRSU 88.7 FM will also broadcast the game.
Wednesday's game will mark the 100th game at the helm for fourth-year head coach Fred Hill. It will also signal the sixth meeting between Rutgers and Monmouth on the collegiate hardwood dating back to 1984, with the Scarlet Knights having won the prior five match-ups. All of the games have taken place at the RAC, with RU winning the last meeting by a 78-75 score in overtime on January 13, 2004. Freshman Marquis Webb scored eight points in the final 1:06 of the extra stanza to ensure victory in that game. The last three meetings in the series have been decided by four points or less.
The Scarlet Knights are coming off a 76-67 home victory over Colgate this past Sunday afternoon. Sophomore center Gregory Echenique (Guatire, Venezuela) scored 19 points and freshman forward Dane Miller (Henrietta, N.Y.) contributed 15 points in the win. Miller added eight rebounds to set career highs in both boards and points, while also swatting a career-best three blocks. Echenique, who shot nine-of-10 from the free throw line and five-of-six from the field in 26 minutes, also grabbed eight rebounds. He was spelled by senior co-captain Hamady Ndiaye (Dakar, Senegal), who issued four blocks in 14 minutes as the Scarlet Knight accumulated nine rejections on the afternoon.
On Monday, Echenique was named to the BIG EAST Conference Honor Roll after averaging 20.0 points and 9.5 rebounds to help the Scarlet Knights to a 2-0 record last week. Ndiaye, the BIG EAST blocks leader with an average of 4.29 rejections-per-contest, ranks third nationally in both blocks and career blocks.
Monmouth, under the leadership of 12th-year head coach Dave Calloway, suffered an 81-73 loss at Sacred Heart on Saturday, the Hawks third straight defeat. Senior guard Whitney Coleman scored 26 points, while sophomore forward Travis Taylor added 14 points and 11 rebounds. Four Hawks have double figure scoring averages, including Taylor, who boasts a team-best 14.9 points-per-game. GAME NOTES
