Rutgers Hosts Garden State Foe Monmouth Monday Night
Dec 09 | Men's Basketball
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Rutgers (4-5) seeks a return to the win column after consecutive home losses when it welcomes Northeast Conference foe Monmouth (2-8) to the Rutgers Athletic Center on Monday (Dec. 12) evening for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off. The Hawks will make the 37-mile drive up Route 18 from West Long Branch for the match-up. MU is one of four Garden State foes that RU will host at RAC during its regular season schedule.
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.
Monday evening's game marks the eighth meeting between Rutgers and Monmouth on the collegiate hardwood dating back to 1984, with the Scarlet Knights having won the prior seven match-ups. The first six meetings were at the RAC, with RU winning the most recent home contest by a 66-52 score in 2009. Last season, the Scarlet Knights out-rebounded the Hawks by a 43-26 margin en route to a 21-2 advantage in second chance points in a 79-56 victory at the Multipurpose Activity Center in West Long Branch.
Rutgers is coming off a 59-57 loss to Princeton Wednesday evening at the RAC. The Scarlet Knights overcame a 17-point, second half deficit to take two late leads but could not finish the comeback. Freshman guard Eli Carter (Paterson, N.J.) shot six-of-12 to score 17 points in the defeat. RU trailed 49-32 with 7:58 to play, but responded to what appeared to be a foregone conclusion with a furious rally to ignite the home crowd. Princeton succumbed to pressure and the home squad posted 20 of the game's next 23 points to tie the score at 52 on a Carter layup with 2:33 remaining.
The Scarlet Knights took a pair of one point advantages, their first of the game, in the last two minutes. The final possession belonged to the Tigers, however, and Ian Hummer deposited the ball to break a 57-57 tie with 2.7 seconds on the clock. A desperation heave as time expired was off the mark and the visitors escaped with a 59-57 win.
Monmouth, under the leadership of first-year head coach King Rice, has won two straight after an 0-8 start. After beginning the season with nine consecutive road games, the Hawks defeated Fordham 80-65 Saturday night in their home opener. Junior guard Jesse Steele had 18 points, six assists and five rebounds to lead five MU players scoring in double figures versus the Rams. The Hawks shot 50 percent (31-62) in the win. Steele is averaging a team-best 11.3 points-per-game.
