PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Redshirt junior forward Jonathan Mitchell (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) had a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds to lead four Scarlet Knight scorers in double figures, but it was not enough as Rutgers (15-15, 5-12) fell, 85-74, to Seton Hall (17-11, 8-9) Thursday evening at the RAC. RU committed just four turnovers, the programs fewest since 2005, but could not overcome being both out-rebounded and out-shot by the Pirates.
Hamady Ndiaye (Dakar, Senegal), playing his final home game in Scarlet, scored 12 points and issued five blocks. He was joined in double-digits by sophomore guard Mike Rosario (Jersey City, N.J.), who scored a team-high 17 points, and freshman wing Dane Miller (Henrietta, N.Y.), who added 11 points. Rosario joined two-time All-American Phil Sellers as the only RU sophomores to score 1,000 career points, when he registered his sixth point of the contest at the 17:46 mark of the second half.
Rutgers made just 36.1 percent (26-72) of its field goal attempts, while the Pirates made 41.9 percent (31-74) of their shots. The visitors also established a 56-41 advantage in rebounds.
The game was hotly contested from its onset. Rutgers built an early 10-5 lead before SHU tied the game at 10-10. The home squad then worked to establish an 18-14 advantage on a Mike Coburn (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) jumper. With RU holding a one points (25-24) edge after a pair of Mitchell free throws, nine of the final 13 points of the opening half were scored by blue uniforms, as Seton Hall entered the locker room at the midpoint with a 33-29 advantage.
Seton Hall never relinquished its advantage after the break. A five-point run by the home squad reduced the deficit to a single point (50-49) with 12:52 on the clock, but Rutgers would get no closer.
The Scarlet Knights travel to the Steel City for their final regular season contest, when they meet Pittsburgh in a 4:30 p.m. tip-off on Saturday (March 6). The game will be televised live on MSG.
POSTGAME NOTES:
· Ndiaye’s five blocks signifies the 27th time this season and 60th game during his RU career that he has notched three or more rejections. The five swats improves his season total to 138, the second-best total in RU single-season history. His 351 career blocks also rank second in the RU annals. Former Scarlet Knight Roy Hinson, who attended tonight’s game, tallied a school-record 355 blocks from 1979-83. Hinson also earned the RU record for rejections in a single season with 144 during the 1982-83 campaign.
· Rutgers’ four turnovers are the lowest the squad has given up in head coach Fred Hill’s tenure. The previous low was six against DePaul on Jan. 13, 2007. The four giveaways are the lowest by Rutgers since it coughed up three against Pittsburgh on Jan. 8, 2005.
· Mike Rosario’s team-high 17 points put his career total at 1,011, making him the 38th member of the RU 1,000-point club. Rosario and two-time All-American Phil Sellers (1972-76) are the only Scarlet Knight sophomores in school history to reach the millennium mark.
· James Beatty’s game-high four steals tied a career high he set against NJIT on Dec. 19, 2009.
· Jonathan Mitchell’s 13 points and 13 rebounds signifies the third double-double of his career.
· Mitchell’s team-high 13 rebounds tied a career high he set at Seton Hall on Feb. 23. The RU co-captain has led the Scarlet Knights in boards eight times this season.
· At least three Scarlet Knights scored in double digits for the 24th time this season with Rosario (17), Mitchell (13), Ndiaye (12) and Dane Miller (11) all registering 10-plus. Four or more RU players have scored 10 or more points nine times this season.
· Rosario’s team-high 17 points gives the RU sophomore 27 double-digit scoring efforts on the season and 55 in his Rutgers career. Rosario has led RU in scoring in 18 games this season and 38 times during his career.
· Mitchell’s 13 points marks the 19th time this season and 22nd time during his career that he has scored in double digits.
· Miller’s 11 points marks the 16th time in his career that he scored 10 or more points. The RU freshman has tallied double digits in 13 of the team’s 17 BIG EAST games this season.
· Ndiaye’s 12 points marked the 18th time and 22nd time during his RU career that he has scored in double digits.
· With the RU loss, Seton Hall improves its advantage in the all-time series to a 33-24 mark. Rutgers is 15-13 all-time at home versus the Pirates and 10-18 in BIG EAST regular season play.
RUTGERS HEAD COACH FRED HILL:
“I thought that the difference was very simple, they out rebounded us, that’s something that we‘ve been better at but tonight we just didn’t have it. I thought that we did a great job mixing defenses and took them out of what they wanted to run. I want to give them credit they have guys that can score and that’s why they’re the second leading scoring team in the conference. I thought that we did a great job on Jeremy Hazell in the first half and Herb Pope stepped up and made some shots. They just have a bunch of guys that can score but the game was won at the glass, they got nineteen offensive rebounds. And also on the free throw line they knocked down their free throws and we didn’t. In a tight game, in a battle every possession is a big one and you got to be able to knock down your free throws and you got to be able to rebound the basketball.”
On Herb Pope stepping out and hitting two threes in the first half:
“We didn’t know that he could step out and make a three, obviously they prepared for our defense and we’re willing to live with that. He made two, but you saw in the second half he took one and missed and that’s what our defense is designed to do. We take shooters that aren’t use to shooting those types of shots and make them make plays. Everyone remembers the two that you make but if you go back and watch the film and see the five or six that you don’t make or the turnovers you get out of it is very effective for us. Herb stepped out and made some big shots and that’s a credit to him in the first half.”
On the last minute dunks by Seton Hall in the second half:
“You play the game to the end. We’ve all seen coaches call time out with ten seconds to go and you’re down right points, the reason why people do that is that you’re coaching for the next game, you’re coaching for a game down the road that you might be in that situation in a two point game and you want your guys to execute. Certainly in big games you make plays at the end until the final buzzer. That’s the way we coach and I have no problem with people coaching until the final buzzer. “
“Going back to the first game there’s nothing wrong with Dane Miller playing to the end and going to score. That’s the game of basketball and I have no problem with either play.”
On Hamady Ndiaye playing his last game:
“It’s special night for “H” and he’s a special human being and a special player here at Rutgers. He’s meant the world to this program; we’ve talked about him being the one who changed the culture of where we’re headed and the direction that we’re going. So we certainly wanted to win it for “H” but we came up a little bit short.
I think everyone has gotten an appreciation for that young man and how much he has meant to our program. He’s loved by the fans, the student body, his players, and the coaches. He has a very bright future ahead of him in life. “
SETON HALL HEAD COACH BOBBY GONZALEZ
On finishing out games:
“Sometimes we haven’t closed out games, and you know we did it. I’m just excited. I thought it was a great win for us and I thought it was a statement win for us. I am very proud of the two guys that are sitting here (Herb Pope and Jeff Robinson). Jeremy (Hazell) battled back and got 19, even though he was 1-for-8 from three. Jordan (Theodore) did a great job guarding Mike Rosario. There was just a lot of great things.”
On Herb Pope’s performance:
“It goes to show that all this nonsense about guys being tired and getting worn down at the end of the year because they are playing too many minutes is exactly that – nonsense. I have never bought into that theory, I don’t believe in it. I don’t agree with it, I never have. When you are 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 years old, you should be able to play 40 minutes a game for 35-40 games a year without a problem. Herb wasn’t getting worn down. At times, yes, he is at the five and he’s playing against great players in this league. But, the bottom line is, he is fresh. It was just a question of him being aggressive. He was being a little tentative. I think it was a mental thing. I told him today to be confident, be loose, have fun. He came out and he hit his first three and he just went from there. One thing about Herb, once he gets it going, it is hard to stop him.”
On Jeremy Hazell’s hand:
“What happened was he had gotten his stitches just taken out this week. Even though they came out, I guess it is still not completely 100 percent healed, so a little part of his broke open again, so they had to put some tape back on it. They had to do it a certain way so that it wouldn’t reopen the rest of the way. It took a little time, so Heather, the trainer, might have been the MVP there because we were running into a little bit of trouble with Jordan (Theodore) with four (fouls) and Robert (Mitchell) with four (fouls).”
On Herb Pope making threes:
“(Rutgers) plays what they call three-red, which is a 1-1 zone and three guys face guarding in a man-to-man. It is a junk defense, basically a little bit of man, a little bit of zone. They started the game in it. They played the majority of the game in it. They are basically picking two people and they are saying they are not going to guard those people. The first time it was Herb and Jeff (Robinson) and this time it was Herb and Jeff. We felt like one, two, or both of them could capitalize on it. That is why Jeff was getting put-backs and tip-ins because if Hamady (Ndiaye) steps out to block a shot, there is no one in there to get the rebound when he goes for the block. It was tremendous that these two guys stepped up.”
