Men's Basketball Falls to GW in Season Opener

Sunday, November 16

Piscataway, N.J.

7:00 PM

Rutgers University

George Washington

Nov 16 | Men's Basketball

Nov. 16, 2014

Video: RVision Recap
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PISCATAWAY, N.J. (Nov. 16, 2014) -Facing a talented George Washington squad without senior team captain Kadeem Jack, Rutgers (0-1) was unable to win its season opener, falling 70-53 to the Colonials (2-0) Sunday night at the RAC. The game was the first for the Scarlet Knights as a member of the Big Ten Conference.

Senior guard Myles Mack led RU with 14 points, including two three-pointers. Freshman guard Mike Williams also finished in double figures with 10 points in his career debut for the Scarlet Knights.

Freshman forward D.J. Foreman had a strong first-career appearance for RU, scoring nine points, including a thunderous dunk in traffic during the second half. Foreman shot 4-of-5 from the floor and collected five boards in 21 minutes of action.

Rutgers was never able to find its stride against George Washington, which was chosen second in the Atlantic 10 Conference preseason poll after appearing in last season's NCAA Tournament. The Scarlet Knights shot 35.8 percent (19-of-53) from the field while committing 16 turnovers.

The Colonials jumped out to a 6-0 lead before Mack scored RU's first points of the season off a three-pointer. Mack dropped 10 first-half points to lead the Scarlet Knights in the opening stanza.

Both teams were limited on offense in the first half, as Rutgers entered the locker room trailing 33-21 at the midpoint.

George Washington continued its strong play in the second half, stretching its lead as much as 22 points. The Colonials scored 13 points off turnovers with 34 points in the paint in the victory.

The Colonials were led by guard Kethan Savage, who finished with a game-high 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting. Guards Joe McDonald and Patricio Garino also finished in double figures with 15 and 10 points, respectively.

Rutgers returns to action Wednesday Dec. 19, when it hosts in-state foe Fairleigh Dickinson at 7:30 p.m. The game will be televised live online via BTN Plus.

POST-GAME NOTES

· Rutgers used the starting lineup of guard Myles Mack, guard Bishop Daniels, guard Kerwin Okoro, forward Junior Etou and center Greg Lewis.
· Senior Forward Kadeem Jack missed the game with a thumb injury. It was his first game missed since Nov. 26, 2013 against Fairleigh Dickinson, snapping a streak of 25 consecutive starts.
· A three-pointer by Myles Mack was the first points for Rutgers as a Big Ten Conference member. Mack also had the first assist, while Kerwin Okoro had the first rebound and Bishop Daniels had the first block.
· It was the regular season Rutgers debut for Bishop Daniels, Mike Williams, D.J. Foreman, Shaquille Doorson and Khalil Batie.
· Myles Mack led the Scarlet Knights with 14 points and three assists. With 14 points, Mack now has 1,242 points for his career. He passed Kevin Black to move into 19^th place all-time among Rutgers career leaders and moved past Phil Sellers for 14th all-time in career assists.
· Mike Williams joined Mack in double figures with 10 points.
· Junior Etou had a team-high eight rebounds.
· Freshmen Mike Williams, D.J. Foreman, and Shaquille Doorson scored the first points of their career.
· Bishop Daniels scored his first points in a Scarlet Knights uniform.
· D.J. Foreman had the first dunk of the season at 13:13 in the first half. Rutgers had three dunks in the game; two by Foreman and one by Greg Lewis.

POST-GAME QUOTES

Rutgers Head Coach Eddie Jordan

Opening Statement:

"First, I have to give credit to George Washington. It's a tournament team and they played very well. They defended us very well. They got into Myles (Mack) early and, when you get into Myles and we don't have Kadeem (Jack), we will struggle with new guys on the roster. (We have) three rookies, three freshmen coming off the bench. Bishop Daniels is a starter, but it's his first time here. At the beginning of the game we missed three layups, a couple post-ups, four free throws and then it sort of compounds. The nervousness, the "jitteriness," the jitters and again we have the rest of the game to play…We just couldn't get a hold of our offense and convert, so that was pretty much how the game went to me."

On the difference Joe McDonald made for them:

"He has experience. He's been to the tournament. He's playing against a team that I'm rebuilding, so he's got a lot of confidence. He's a leader, he's tough. And they made shots when it counted. They got offensive rebounds and put backs. We're coming off the bench with Shaquille Doorson and Mike Williams and D.J. Foreman and they're trying to get their feet wet. So that's how it's going to go. I'm giving those guys minutes and hopefully we're starting to build from our young guys."

On how much Rutgers missed Kadeem Jack in the lineup:

"A lot. You know even the fact that he can score helps us in a lot of other areas. But you know what, he wasn't out there and that's the way that it is. The other guys have to step up so you know I'm not sympathetic about not having Kadeem, that's the way sports is."

George Washington Head Coach Mike Lonergan

Opening statement: "I am happy we got the win. Any time you can get a road win it is nice. I wish we shot the ball a little bit better, but I thought Rutgers did a really nice job of preventing us from scoring inside. That was our game plan tonight, especially with (Kadeem) Jack out. We thought we could get inside, but they did a nice job fronting to prevent touches. We were able to post up better in the second half, which allowed for some drives to the basket. We stopped settling for jump shots.

"I thought we did a nice job (guarding) Myles Mack. He did get us on the backdoor a few times, which was our number one priority coming in. But he is a tough guy to guard. Our transition defense was good tonight, they are good at leaking out and getting a head of steam. I'm happy we got a win and now have some time to prepare for Virginia. I hope Rutgers gets healthy and has a good year."