Rutgers Meets Richmond Wednesday Evening in Cancun, Mexico
Nov 23 | Men's Basketball
Cancun, Mexico - Rutgers (3-2) meets Atlantic 10 Conference member Richmond (3-2) in a 6 p.m. local (7 p.m. Eastern) tip-off on Wednesday (Nov. 23) evening at the Moon Palace Resort's Galactic Ballroom in the consolation game of the 2011 Triple Crown Cancun Challenge. In their history the Scarlet Knights have played multiple times outside of the continental United States in Hawaii, but the match-ups in Cancun mark the first regular season games in RU men's basketball history to require a passport.
The game will be televised live on the CBS Sports Network with Thad Anderson calling the action and Pete Gillen offering the analysis. On the radio, the contests 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 games.
Wednesday evening's contest will mark the first meeting on the collegiate hardwood between the Scarlet Knights and Spiders. RU is 180-168 all-time against current members of the Atlantic 10 Conference. Rutgers was a member of the league from 1976-77 until 1994-95 before joining the BIG EAST.
Rutgers, under the direction of second-year head coach Mike Rice, is coming off a hard fought 76-70 loss to Illinois State (3-1) Tuesday evening. Junior forward Austin Johnson (Elkins, Park, Pa.) and freshman guard Eli Carter (Willingboro, N.J.) both scored 12 points in the 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. 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.
Sophomore forward Gilvydas Biruta (Jonava, Lithuania) leads in the Scarlet Knights in scoring with 11.6 points-per-game and rebounding with 7.8 boards-per-contest.
Richmond, under the leadership of seventh-year head coach Chris Mooney, is coming off a 70-61 loss to Illinois Tuesday evening. The Fighting Illini established a 38-25 rebounding advantage which resulted in a 24-12 differential in points in the paint. Three Spiders scored in double figures, including junior guard Darien Brothers, who had 22 points courtesy of six-of-nine shooting from behind the arc. Four Spiders average double figures in scoring, including freshman guard Kendall Anthony with a team-best 16.0 points-per-game. Anthony is also shooting an impressive 90.3 percent (28-31) from the foul line.
