Rutgers University
West Virginia
Rutgers Falls to West Virginia, 74-56
Feb 22 | Men's Basketball
Piscataway, N.J. - Mike Rosario (Jersey City, N.J.) shot six-of-nine to score a game-high 15 points, but it was not enough, as Rutgers (10-17, 1-13) dropped a 74-56 decision to West Virginia (19-8-86) Sunday afternoon at the RAC. Fellow rookie Gregory Echenique (Guatire, Venezuela) also had a solid performance for RU, making four -of-six field goals to register 11 points, while also grabbing a team-high seven rebounds.
| Gregory Echenique scored in double figures the 13th game this season. (Tom Ciszek/NJSportsPhoto) |
The Scarlet Knights trailed by as many as 17 (21-4) early, but battled back to get the deficit within five points (27-22) with 4:34 remaining before the break. The Mountaineers scored the final six points of the opening 20 minutes, however, to take a 37-25 advantage into the locker room. RU held WVU without a single offensive rebound in the first half.
After the intermission, Rutgers continued to hang tough and twice got within four points, the last instance coming with 6:58 remaining on a Rosario layup that registered a 52-48 score. The Mountaineers answered the charge with a 13-2 run to ensure their third straight win. WVU made its free throws in the final minutes, as the final score reflected its largest advantage of the afternoon.
Rutgers shot 41.5 percent (22-53), including a 31.3 percent (5-16) mark from behind the arc. West Virginia made 47.4 percent (27-57) of its field goals and 41.2 percent (7-17) from long range. WVU also won the battle of the boards, outrebounding RU 39-30.
Devin Ebanks had 14 points, 11 rebounds and four assists to pace the visitors. Da'Sean Butler, Wellington Smith and Alex Ruoff each had 12 points and Kevin Jones added 10 for the Mountaineers.
Rutgers returns to the hardwood Wednesday evening at Notre Dame. Tip-off for the contest, which will be televised live on ESPNU, is 7:00 p.m.
POSTGAME NOTES
- West Virginia (19-8, 8-6 BIG EAST) defeated host Rutgers (10-17, 1-13 BIG EAST) 74-56 Sunday afternoon in the 68th meeting all-time between the two schools. WVU now leads the series 42-26.
- In 28 meetings in series history at the RAC, the series is tied at 14-14.
- Freshman Mike Rosario (Jersey City, N.J.) led Rutgers in scoring with 15 points. He has scored double figures in 24 of 27 games and has led the Scarlet Knights in scoring 18 times this season.
- Rosario finished 6-of-9 shooting from the field, including 2-of-4 from three-point range.
- Freshman Gregory Echenique (Guatire, Venezuela) scored 11 points (4-of-6 from the field, 3-of-4 from the line). It marked the 13th game this season he scored in double figures.
- Rutgers held WVU without an offensive rebound in the opening 20 minutes of the game.
- Echenique and junior Hamady Ndiaye (Dakar, Senegal) each blocked three shots for the Scarlet Knights. It marked the 33rd time in Ndiaye's career he blocked three or more shots in a game and the 12th time Echenique swatted three or more shots. RU totaled eight blocks as a team.
- Senior Anthony Farmer (Millville, N.J.) scored seven points to move into 32nd place in school history with 1,051 career points. He moved past Gene Armstead (1970-73) in the RU career annals in career scoring.
POSTGAME QUOTES
Head Coach Fred Hill
On the offensive rebounding differential in the second half:
"At halftime they had no offensive rebounds and when you look at the final box score, they had 12. So they obviously had an advantage. They average 15 offensive rebounds a game. We did a great job in the first half. I thought we did a great job of making them miss shots, but they got on the glass and came up with a couple of big ones. We had a couple (of rebounds) that were right in our hands that they ended up with and those are big plays. Our guards especially did an outstanding job of blocking out and what we call a face block, but sometimes one of our big guys get it in their hands and let it slip through their hands. That's a big play because we're counting on us being able to get those rebounds and that ignites our fast break. It gets us out running and it gets us easy baskets."
On WVU's defense on RU's guards:
"They were very, very good defensively. They never left our guards, usually it's just Mike (Rosario). They stayed on Mike all night. He was unbelievably efficient when he got touches, but they really made it difficult for our other guards to see the ball a ton. And when that happens, you have to go inside and I thought we did an okay job of that."
On WVU's versatility:
"They have great versatility and we talked about that. I thought that we handled it well and that was something that we were really concerned with. They basically play a lot of long, athletic wing guards. They don't have a true post player in there, but they play a lot of skilled, long, athletic wing guards. Every one of their guards had a size advantage over our guys. And I thought our guys did a great job."
On RU's shot selection:
"I thought we had some really good looks. We had Anthony Farmer wide open in the corner for a three. I wish that we could have gotten to the rim a little bit more. They were staying home on Mike (Rosario) and switching on everything, which makes it difficult. But Anthony got some good looks, Corey (Chandler) got some good looks and we threw the ball inside twice and came up empty."
On RU's defense on Da'Sean Butler:
"We talked about Butler being a heck of an offense player and (Alex) Ruoff being a heck of an offensive player. We were going to try to take those guys away which means that there is going to be some opportunities for some other guys. But again, I thought the defense was outstanding. I thought our guards did a terrific job. We're letting some other guy's take some shots and they're going to make a couple. But in the first half they had a stretch where they went 1-of-12 and that was due to the defensive pressure that our guards were putting on their best scorers. I thought they did an outstanding job on both of those guys."
On fouling at the end of the game:
"We're trying to extend the game. If you don't foul, they're going to hold the ball and you're going to lose the game. If you foul, they have an opportunity to miss free throws and you have an opportunity to come down and score, whether you get a quick two or a three. You have to extend the game. If you don't foul and you're down 13, you are going to sit there on defense and they're just going to hold the ball."
"We're going to play right until the end. We're going to keep playing. It prepares you for a game that maybe you're down four and you have to foul. So you're preparing for the next game."
On Mike Coburn's play:
"Mike's been great coming off the bench. He's done a great job for us. He's played both (guard) spots. He can score for us a little bit. He backs up Anthony at the one and Michael (Rosario) at the two. We have a lot of confidence in him when he comes off the bench to give us whatever we need. Today he gave us some scoring and he had three assists and only one turnover. He did another great job coming off the bench for us."
WVU COACH BOB HUGGINS
Game thoughts:
"This is a heck of a win for us tonight. De'Sean Butler (#1) and Alex Ruoff (#22) had sub-par days, neither one of them shot the ball or played as well as we are used to seeing them. It's a great win for us to be able to come in and beat a very talented and well-coached team."
"If one team wins and one team loses in this league it's a two game swing. We went from 9th place to 6th place by winning the game. This was a huge game for us."
"Rutgers is just a young team and Fred Hill has done a great job of recruiting. They have some really talented guys."
"We didn't do a good job of attacking their junk defense. We just put guys in different positions. Wellington Smith was able to make shots for us, and we were able to play good defense."
On the play of Mike Rosario (#3):
"We just tried to limit his catches because he is really a good offensive player. I think that he was able to get nine shots. He's going to score when he can get shots."
On the West Virginia offensive rebounding:
"That's what we do, I try to tell this team that we are what we are, and you can't change what you are. We just have to do what we do, we use our length to play good defense, and try to block some shots. We also use our length and quickness to get offensive rebounds."
