Rutgers Hosts Princeton Wednesday Evening
Dec 05 | Men's Basketball
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Rutgers (4-4) looks to rebound from its first home loss of the season when it welcomes Ivy League foe Princeton (3-5) to the Rutgers Athletic Center on Wednesday (Dec. 7) evening for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off. The Tigers will make the 23-mile drive up Route 1 for what will be the 118th meeting between the schools dating back to 1917. Wednesday will be a Faculty/Staff Night at the RAC, as Rutgers faculty and staff can purchase tickets in advance at a special rate. Call the RU ticket office at 866-445-GORU (4678) for more details.
The game will be available live via the web at ScarletKnights.com on RVision presented by AT&T with Danny Breslauer and Adam Helfgott calling the action and with Alexa Datt as the courtside reporter. 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.
Princeton holds a 73-44 overall advantage in victories, while Rutgers is 27-28 all-time at home in the series. The Scarlet Knights are 11-5 versus the Tigers at the RAC, including five consecutive victories. RU has won 10 of the last 12 meetings, but Princeton captured the last match-up with a 78-73 overtime win at Jadwin Gymnasium last season in what was the season opener for both teams and the initial game at the helm for head coach Mike Rice. Dane Miller (Rochester, N.Y.) and Mike Poole (Rosedale, N.Y.) both had 14 points in the defeat. The last Princeton victory at the RAC was a 66-60 overtime victory on Dec. 12, 1999 before a sellout crowd of 8,012.
Rutgers is coming off a 55-50 loss to LSU Saturday evening at the RAC in the BIG EAST/SEC Challenge. RU played a tough defense, forcing 18 turnovers and limiting LSU (5-3) to 36.4 percent (20-55) shooting, but it was not enough as freshman guard Eli Carter (Paterson, N.J.) was the only RU player in double figures with 10 points. The Scarlet Knights led 48-43 with seven minutes remaining after a Carter jumper before a charged home crowd. Unfortunately, it would prove the final field goal of the evening, as Rutgers was out-scored 12-2 down the stretch. In a hard-fought, back-and-forth affair that featured seven ties and eleven lead changes, RU led by as many as seven points but was unable to distance itself. The Scarlet Knights shot just 33.3 percent (15-45), including an 18.2 percent (2-11) mark from behind the arc.
Sophomore forward Gilvydas Biruta (Jonava, Lithuania), who scored all eight of his points in the first half, fouled out with five minutes to play versus the Tigers. Biruta leads the Scarlet Knights in both scoring (11.6) and rebounding (6.0).
Princeton, under the leadership of first-year head coach Mitch Henderson, is coming off a 69-54 home victory over Lafayette last Wednesday (Nov. 30). Junior forward Ian Hummer shot 10-of-16 to score 23 points as the Tigers made 50.9 percent (28-55) of their field goal attempts. Princeton is 0-2 in away games this season, but did defeat West Alabama (Nov. 27), 66-42, in a neutral site contest. Hummer leads the Tigers in both scoring (17.0) and rebounding (8.3).
