Rutgers Travels to DePaul Wednesday Evening
Feb 28 | Men's Basketball
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Rutgers (13-15, 4-12) returns to the rugged road of the BIG EAST to meet DePaul (7-21, 1-15) in an 8:30 p.m. (ET) tip-off Wednesday evening at 18,500-seat Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill. The Scarlet Knights will be working to snap a four-game skid, including two losses to top 20-ranked foes. The Blue Demons have lost three straight, including a pair of defeats to teams ranked in the top 25. The contest features a pair of first-year head coaches in the conference, with Rutgers' Mike Rice and DePaul's Oliver Purnell pacing opposing sidelines.
The match-up will be available live via the web at www.ESPN3.com with Dave Kaplan calling the action and Brooke Weisbrod offering the analysis. 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 seventh meeting between Rutgers and DePaul on the hardwood since 2006, with the Scarlet Knights leading the series 4-2. The Scarlet Knights have won three straight in the series and are 2-1 at Allstate Arena, including a 68-64 come-from-behind victory at the venue last season. RU overcame a 17-point first half deficit to earn the win. The teams met twice in 2009-10, with Rutgers capturing both ends of the home-and-home series. In the most recent match-up, the Scarlet Knights downed the Blue Demons 71-62 at the RAC. Jonathan Mitchell (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) scored 18 points and Dane Miller (Rochester, N.Y.) added 10 as RU shot 52.1 percent.
Rutgers is coming off a 65-54 home loss to West Virginia on Sunday afternoon. Senior guard Mike Coburn (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) shot eight-of-16 to score a season-high 20 points in his final regular season contest on the RAC hardwood. The Scarlet Knights could not overcome a cold shooting performance that saw them make 33.9 percent (20-59) of their field goal attempts, including just 7.7 percent (1-13) from behind the arc. Miller joined Coburn in double figures, posting 11 points on five-of-nine shooting. He also had a team-high six rebounds. RU tied its season-low with just six turnovers to outscore the Mountaineers 14-4 in points-off-turnovers, while also outscoring the visitors 34-18 in the paint. WVU, however, established a 46-31 rebounding advantage, enabling it to capitalize 18-6 in second chance points.
DePaul suffered an 86-76 home loss to USF on Saturday. Playing without leading scorer Cleveland Melvin, who was sidelined due to injury, fellow freshman Brandon Young stepped up to score 23 points on 10-of-17 shooting. The Blue Demons were out-rebounded 33-19 as Bulls big man Augustus Gilchrist scored 32 points. DePaul shot a solid 49.1 percent (27-55), but was unable to hinder the offense of USF, which made 57.1 percent (28-49) of its field goal attempts. Young was named the BIG EAST Rookie of the Week on Monday. GAME NOTES
