Rutgers University
Illinois State
Rutgers Falls to Illinois State 76-70 in Cancun Challenge
Nov 22 | Men's Basketball
CANCUN, MEXICO (November 22, 2011) – Rutgers (3-2) dropped a 76-70 decision to Illinois State (3-1) Tuesday evening in the 2011 Triple Crown Cancun Challenge at the Moon Palace Resort. Junior forward Austin Johnson (Elkins, Park, Pa.) and freshman guard Eli Carter (Willingboro, N.J.) both scored 12 points in the hard fought defeat.
The Scarlet Knights trailed by as many as 13 points in the second half, but battled back to take a 66-65 lead, its first of the game, with 3:16 on the clock after a Dane Miller (Rochester, N.Y.) three pointer. The teams battled back-and-forth before the Redbirds scored eight of the contest’s final 10 points to capture the victory.
Illinois State benefitted from a foul differential that saw the Redbirds attempt 38 free throws, of which they deposited 28. Rutgers attempted 18 from the charity stripe, making eight.
Johnson tied his career best with six field goals on eight attempts. Carter shot four of eight. They were joined in double figures by sophomore forward Gilvydas Biruta (Jonava, Lithuania)and freshman point guard Myles Mack (Paterson, N.J.). Biruta shot five-of-nine and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.
Rutgers shot 47.5 percent (29-61), including a 53.3 percent (16-30) mark in the second half. Illinois shot 45.2 percent, including a blistering 71.4 percent (10-14) after the break. The Redbirds, who out-rebounded the Scarlet Knights by a 34-27 margin, also benefitted from the long ball, shooting 47.6 percent (10-21) from behind the arc.
RU out-scored Illinois State 38-6 in the paint and posted 25 points off of Redbird turnovers.
The Scarlet Knights will play Richmond on Wednesday (Nov. 23) evening at 6:00 p.m. local (7 p.m. Eastern) time. The game will be televised live on the CBS Sports Network.
Game Notes:
• The game was the first regular season contest in Rutgers men’s basketball history to be played in a foreign country.
• Austin Johnson tied his career-high with six field goals and led the Scarlet Knights in scoring for the first time in his Rutgers career.
• Gilvydas Biruta led the team in rebounding for the fourth time this season and the 15th time in his career. Biruta scored in double figures for the 22nd time in his Rutgers career.
• Rutgers starting freshmen backcourt of Myles Mack and Eli Carter both scored in double figures for the second time (Scared Heart) in the three games.
• The Scarlet Knights trailed by as many as 13 points in the second half before taking their first lead with 3:16 remaining on a Dane Miller three pointer.
• Illinois State scored eight of the game’s final 10 points.
• Rutgers falls to 5-3 all-time on Nov. 23.
• Rutgers is now 4-4 all-time against current members of the Missouri Valley Conference.
• For the fourth time this season, Rutgers had four or more players score in double figures.
• Mack had a pair of three-point plays and one drawn charge. Fellow true freshman Malick Kone also had his first career three-point play.
• Biruta had one dunk to increase his total on the season to six.
• Head coach Mike Rice went with the starting lineup of Carter, Mack, Miller, Biruta and Johnson for the fifth-straight game.
