Rutgers Falls at No. 8 West Virginia

Wednesday, January 6

Morgantown, W.Va

7:00 PM

Rutgers University

West Virginia

Jan 06 | Men's Basketball

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Rutgers (9-5, 0-2) fell, 86-52, to No.8-ranked West Virginia (12-1, 3-0) in the Scarlet Knights’ first BIG EAST road game Wednesday night at the WVU Coliseum.

Junior forward Jonathan Mitchell (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) led the Scarlet Knights in the scoring column with career-high tying 17 points, including 13 in the first half, on a 6-for-7 shooting night. Sophomore guard Mike Rosario (Jersey City, N.J.) chipped in with 11 points.

Senior center Hamady Ndiaye (Dakar, Senegal), the nation’s leading shot blocker, tallied three rejections to boost his total to 71 for the season.

Four Mountaineers scored in double digits, led by sophomore forward Kevin Jones’ 16 points on a 7-for-8 shooting performance.

WVU jumped out to a 9-2 lead in the first five minutes of the game behind seven points from Devin Ebanks. Rutgers starters struggled in the early going, shooting 1-for-5 in the first seven minutes while the Mountaineers built a 19-7 advantage.

Mitchell began to catch fire midway through the first stanza as he scored 11 of Rutgers’ next 12 points with West Virginia leading 32-19 with 7:36 remaining in the opening half.

West Virginia shot 7-for-13 and forced four turnovers in the final six and half minutes to remain in control of the game and head into the locker room at the midpoint with a 47-30 advantage.
.
Mitchell hit all five of his first half shots and all of his 13 points came in the final 11:20 of the period.

West Virginia’s 47 first half points is the most Rutgers has allowed since UNC scored 51 in Chapel Hill on Dec. 28, 2008.

The Mountaineers continued to control the contest in the second half as they hit seven of their first 10 shots, including three treys, to take a commanding 65-32 lead with 14:38 remaining in the second half.

Rutgers missed its first seven shots of the second half and did not make a basket till a tip in by Mitchell with 11:37 remaining in the game to put the score at 65-37.

West Virginia remained in the driver seat the rest of the way, and went on to win by a 86-52 score.

Rutgers travels to Rhode Island for its next contest. RU battles BIG EAST foe Providence this Saturday in an 8:00 p.m. tip-off.

POSTGAME NOTES

- Jonathan Mitchell’s team-high 17 points tied a career high that he set against Rider on Dec. 15. It marks the seventh game this season he has scored in double digits. Mitchell has led the Scarlet Knights in points the last two games.
- Mike Rosario’s 11 points marks the 13th time, and 41st out of his 46 career games, that he has scored in double digits.
- Rutgers started Rosario, Mike Coburn, Patrick Jackson, Mitchell and Ndiaye for the sixth time this season. The group is 4-2 this season. Mitchell and Jackson have started all 14 games this season.
- The loss drops Rutgers record to 2-13 all-time in BIG EAST road openers and 26-43 in the all-time series with West Virginia.
- West Virginia’s 47 first half points is the most Rutgers has given up since UNC scored 51 on Dec. 28, 2008
- West Virginia’s 86 points is the most Rutgers has allowed since UNC scored 97 on Dec. 28, 2008.
- West Virginia’s 27 points off turnovers is the most Rutgers has relinquished since allowing 29 by UNC on Dec. 28, 2008.

POSTGAME QUOTES

Rutgers coach Fred Hill

“Coming off a tough loss at Purdue, you know they were going to come out physical, aggressive, tough and they did a great job. They took away everything we wanted to do.”

“We’ve got a long of young kids and I think they got their first lesson on just how tough this league could be.”

“It’s tough to play zone against them, and then you have to play man and how many Hamady Ndiaye’s do you have?”

On West Virginia’s Versatility

“That’s what makes them so good. Their length causes you a lot of problems, a lot of match up problems.”

“I used to watch Bobby Knight’s Indiana team and their motion and say that was the hardest thing to guard and it is, but West Virginia takes that to another level. Indiana maybe had three players that were very skilled and two guys that would go set screens – every player for West Virginia that starts can play any one of those positions.”