Notre Dame, Ind. – Freshman Mike Rosario (Jersey City, N.J.) scored a game-high tying 20 points, but it was not enough as Rutgers (10-18, 1-14) dropped a hard-fought 70-65 decision to Notre Dame (16-11, 7-8) Wednesday evening at the Joyce Center.  Senior co-captain Anthony Farmer (Millville, N.J.) contributed 12 points and Corey Chandler (Newark, N.J.) added 10 for RU in a contest that featured six lead changes.

“I’m really proud of our guys,” said Rutgers head coach Fred Hill. “We’re a really young team on the road that hasn’t won many games, just one in the BIG EAST this year. It would be easy for guys to pack it in, to quit or fold, and they played terrific. Our defense was outstanding and that’s a heck of an offensive team.”

Trailing by 12 points with 4:56 to play, Rutgers went on a 9-0 run to reduce the deficit to 65-62 on an Earl Pettis (Philadelphia, Pa.) layup with 2:13 on the clock. After forcing a stop on Notre Dame’s next possession, however, the Scarlet Knights were unable to convert. The home squad increased its lead to five points, before a Famer three-pointer trimmed the deficit to two (67-65) with just five seconds remaining. The Fighting Irish made three of four free throws in the final seconds to seal the win.

Rutgers shot 45.9 percent (28-61) for the game, including a 38.1 percent (8-21) mark from behind the arc. Notre Dame made 41.4 percent (24-58) of its field goal attempts and 40 percent (6-15) from long range. The Scarlet Knights out-rebounded their hosts by a 38-36 margin. Gregory Echenique (Guatire, Venezuela) led RU with eight rebounds.

Rutgers began the game in confident fashion, jumping out to 21-10 lead. Utilizing a relentless defense, RU was able to keep its advantage hovering around double digits prior to the midpoint. Holding the home squad to just 39.3 percent shooting, Rutgers took a 35-27 advantage into the locker room at halftime.

Luke Harangody, who made just seven of his 25 field goal attempts, scored 20 points to lead three Notre Dame players in double figures. Sixteen of his points came in the final 20 minutes, when Rutgers big man Hamady Ndiaye (Dakar, Senegal) was hampered by foul trouble.

The Scarlet Knights return to the hardwood this Sunday afternoon (March 1) to host Providence in a 2:00 p.m. tip-off at the RAC. The game will be televised live on ESPNU.

Rutgers Post-Game Notes

• Rutgers held Notre Dame to 27 first half points, tying the Fighting Irish’s lowest scoring output in a half this season.
• Mike Rosario played a career-high tying 39 minutes. He posted 20 or more points for the 10th time this season and led Rutgers in scoring for the 19th occasion. He has scored in double figures in 25 of 28 games.
• Anthony Farmer scored 12 points to increase his career total to 1,063, moving him past Damon Santiago (1991-96; 1,056) into 31st place on the Rutgers career scoring chart. It marked the 11th time this season and the 48th time in his career that Farmer scored in double figures.
• JR Inman scored two points to move into a tie with Gene Armstead (1970-73) for 33rd place on the Rutgers career scoring list with 1,046 points.
• Gregory Echenique had eight rebounds to lead Rutgers in rebounding for the 20th time this season. He also had three steals to tie his career-best in thefts.
• Corey Chandler scored 10 points, his ninth double digit scoring output this season and the 27th of his career.
• Five Rutgers players shot 50 percent or better, including Hamady Ndiaye (2-4), Anthony Farmer (5-10), Earl Pettis (2-3), JR Inman (1-2) and Jaron Griffin (3-6).
• Rutgers attempted a season-low five free throws.