Rutgers Welcomes Villanova to the RAC Thursday Evening
Feb 27 | Men's Basketball
Piscataway, N.J. - After playing three of its last four, and five its past seven, games on the road, Rutgers (13-16, 5-11) returns home to host Villanova (11-17, 4-12) on Thursday (March 1) in a 9 p.m. tip-off at the RAC. The Scarlet Knights will be working to win their second straight, while the Wildcats will be looking to snap a four game skid. With just one game separating the two teams in the BIG EAST standings, the contest has distinct seeding ramifications for the upcoming Conference tournament.
The game will be televised live nationally in high definition on ESPN2 and via the web at WatchESPN.com with John Saunders calling the action and Tim Welsh 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. Danny Breslauer will serve as play-by-play announcer and Dick Lloyd will provide commentary. WRSU (88.7 FM) will also broadcast the game.
Thursday evening's contest marks the 36th meeting between Rutgers and Villanova on the hardwood dating back to 1932, with the Wildcats holding a 26-9 advantage in victories. The Scarlet Knights are 7-13 at home and 5-14 in BIG EAST regular season play versus the Wildcats. RU has won two of the last three match-ups at the RAC. In the last meeting on Feb. 9 of last season, Jonathan Mitchell completed a four point play with 0.8 seconds on the clock to lead Rutgers to a dramatic 77-76 victory over No. 9/10 Villanova at the truncated pyramid. The students stormed the court as time expired to celebrate a win that saw the Scarlet Knights overcome a 10-point (70-60) deficit with under three minutes to play. RU trailed by as many as 13 points (64-51) with less than five minutes remaining but would not be denied.
Rutgers is coming off a 77-72 overtime win at rival Seton Hall on Saturday in part II of the annual Turnpike Tussle. A corner three-pointer by freshman guard Jerome Seagears (Silver Spring, Md.) with 13.3 seconds remaining in the extra stanza proved the definitive shot in a game that featured 18 lead changes and nine ties. Junior wing Dane Miller (Rochester, N.Y.) had a season-high 21 points with 10 rebounds, as the Scarlet Knights held the Pirates to 34.6 percent (9-36) shooting in the second half. The Scarlet Knights made 66.7 percent (10-15) of their FGAs from behind the arc, their best performance from long range since making 12-of-16 (75%) versus Pittsburgh on Feb. 11, 2001. Freshman guard Eli Carter (Paterson, N.J.) and sophomore forward Gilvydas Biruta (Jonava, Lithuania) rounded out the scoring for RU, adding 17 and 16 points respectively.
Villanova suffered a 67-46 loss at No. 9/8 Georgetown on Saturday, its seventh defeat in eight games. The Wildcats were limited to 28 percent (14-50) shooting and were out-rebounded by a 41-24 margin. Dominic Cheek was the only VU player in double figures, scoring 19 points. Junior point guard Maalik Wayns returned after missing the prior three games due to injury, but shot just 1-of-10 to score three points. He leads the team in scoring (17.2), while pacing the BIG EAST and placing fifth nationally in free throw percentage (90.2). Bitten by the injury bug, Villanova was without James Bell at Georgetown for a third straight game due to a sprained ankle, while JayVaughn Pinkston injured an ankle in warm-ups and played only two minutes.
