Rutgers Travels to St. John's Wednesday Evening
Jan 31 | Men's Basketball
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Rutgers (12-9, 3-6) crosses the Hudson River to meet BIG EAST and Metro New York rival St. John's (12-8, 4-5) on Wednesday evening in a 9 p.m. tip-off at Carnesecca Arena. The Scarlet Knights will be working to return to the win column after a pair of hard fought BIG EAST defeats. The Red Storm is receiving one vote in the Associated Press poll. Rutgers and St. John's are both under the leadership of first-year head coaches in Mike Rice and Steve Lavin, respectively.
The contest will be televised live on SNY and The Comcast Network in Philadelphia with Bob Picozzi calling the action and Jon Celestand offering the analysis. The game will also be available via the web (subject to blackout) at ESPN3.com. On the radio, the contest will be broadcast live on the Rutgers Radio Network, WOR 710 AM in New York and WCTC 1450 AM in New Brunswick. Chris Carlin will serve as play-by-play announcer and Dick Lloyd will provide commentary. WRSU (88.7) will also broadcast the game.
Wednesday evening's contest marks the 36th meeting between the schools dating back to 1974 with the Red Storm holding a 23-12 advantage in victories. The Scarlet Knights are 3-10 at St. John's and 5-12 in BIG EAST regular season play versus the Red Storm. Last season, Rutgers defeated the Johnnies 84-72 at the RAC. The Scarlet Knights shot 56.4 percent (31-55) and out-rebounded the Red Storm by a 38-28 margin as Hamady Ndiaye posted 19 points and nine blocks to lead the home squad. Rutgers has not earned back to-to-back victories over the Red Storm since capturing consecutive wins in 1996 and 1997.
Rutgers is coming off a 65-62 home defeat to No. 2 Pittsburgh Saturday evening. The Scarlet Knights limited the Panthers to 35.6 percent (16-45) shooting. Senior forward Jonathan Mitchell (Mount Vernon, N.Y.), senior guard Mike Coburn (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) and senior forward Robert Lumpkins (Washington, D.C.) each scored 12 points to pace the Scarlet Knights, who committed a season-low six turnovers. Coburn, who shot four-of-seven from the field, supplemented his performance by dishing-out a game-high seven assists. Mitchell added a team-best seven rebounds. The difference came at the free throw line, where the visitors had 17 more attempts. Pittsburgh shot 35 free throws on the evening, depositing 28 (80 percent). RU made 13-of-18 from the charity stripe. The Panthers scored 12 of their final 15 points from the free throw line and hit only one basket in the final 7:03. The Scarlet Knights had the ball for the final possession trailing by three points. A three-point attempt by Dane Miller (Rochester, N.Y.), however, hit off the backboard with less than seven seconds to play. Pittsburgh corralled the rebound and the clock wound to a close.
Rutgers ranks fourth in the BIG EAST in turnover margin (+3.19) and blocks (5.48), while placing fifth in the league in steals (8.14), field goal percentage defense (.393) and scoring defense (64.0). The Scarlet Knights rank 18th nationally in blocks, 24th in field goal percentage defense and 27th in turnover margin.
St. John's defeated No. 3 Duke 93-78 at Madison Square Garden Sunday afternoon. After shooting a season-low 33.9 percent from the floor in Wednesday's loss at Georgetown, the Red Storm made 58.2 percent in the win over the Blue Devils. Guard Dwight Hardy scored 26 points on nine-of-13 shooting and committed only one turnover while playing all 40 minutes. He was also 6-of-6 from the foul line. Forward Justin Brownlee added 20 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Hardy, who ranks 12th nationally in free throw percentage (90.3), leads the team in scoring with 15.1 points-per-game. St. John's ranks second in the BIG EAST and 19th nationally in turnover margin (+3.70). GAME NOTES
