Men's Hoops Meets Creighton in Vegas
Nov 22 | Men's Basketball
| Rutgers vs. Creighton - Men Who Speak Up Main Event (Heavyweight Bracket) | |
| Date | Monday, November 23 |
| Time | 12:00 a.m. ET |
| Location | Las Vegas, Nev. | MGM Grand Garden Arena |
| Television | Youtube Live Steam |
| Radio | Rutgers IMG Radio Network - WOR (710) and WCTC (1450AM) Chris Carlin and Joe Boylan WRSU (88.7 FM) |
| Game Notes | Rutgers | Creighton | Main Event Tournament Info |
| Live Stats | Live Stats |
| Team Info | Online Media Guide |
| Statistics | Rutgers | Creighton | Big Ten Conference |
| Social Media | @RutgersMBB  | #RHoops | Facebook/RutgersMBB  |
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Rutgers (3-1) travels to Las Vegas to meet Big East member Creighton (2-1) in a 9 p.m. local (midnight ET) tip-off on Monday in the heavyweight bracket of the Men Who Speak Up Main Event at the 17,000-seat MGM Grand Garden Arena. Depending on the outcome versus the Blue Jays, the Scarlet Knights will then play either Clemson or UMass on Wednesday in the championship (6:30 p.m. local) or consolation (9 p.m.) game. It marks the second time RU has played in Las Vegas, after dropping a 115-73 decision at No. 1 UNLV on Feb. 3, 1991. Eddie Jordan served as an assistant coach on that team under Bob Wenzel.
The Scarlet Knights, who are in the midst of playing a game every-other-day over a span of eight days, earned home wins over Howard (82-70) and Central Arkansas (87-84) in the home preliminary round of the Main Event.
The game versus the Blue Jays will be streamed live via the web via the bd Global Youtube channel here. On the radio, the contest will be broadcast live on the Rutgers IMG Sports Network, WOR 710 AM in New York and WCTC 1450 AM in New Brunswick. Chris Carlin will serve as play-by-play announcer and Joe Boylan will provide commentary. WRSU (88.7) will also broadcast the game.
Monday evening's contest marks the first meeting between Rutgers and Creighton on the collegiate hardwood.
Junior forward Deshawn Freeman scored 23 points on 9-of-15 shooting with eight rebounds and sophomore guard Mike Williams had 25 points with five three-pointers to help Rutgers to an 87-84 win over Central Arkansas Saturday evening at the RAC. The Scarlet Knights shot 50.9 percent (29-of-57) to earn the hard-fought victory in a game that had nine ties and nine lead changes. It marked career-high scoring totals for both Freeman and Sanders, who combined for 55 percent of the teams scoring. Freeman also contributed four blocks and four steals, while Williams shot 8-of-14 and 5-of-8 from long range.
Freshman guard Corey Sanders and sophomore forward D.J. Foreman posted double figures as well, scoring 14 and 10 respectively. Sanders also dished out six assists and was a perfect 6-of-6 at the charity stripe. Foreman collected a career-high 10 rebounds for his first double-double.
Rutgers won the game in crunch time. With the score tied at 81 with less than a minute to play, a Freeman layup gave RU the edge before Sanders sank four free throws in the final 20 seconds to seal the win.
The Scarlet Knights presently have four players averaging double figures in scoring, led by Williams with 16.0 points-per-game.
Creighton, under the leadership of sixth-year head coach Greg McDermott, averaged 98 points in lopsided wins over Texas Southern (93-70) and UTSA (103-78) in preliminary round home games of Main Event before losing 86-65 at No. 14 Indiana in the Gavitt Tipoff Games. The Bluejays also boast four players averaging double figures, led by junior guard Isaiah Zierden with 14.3 points-per-game. Creighton returns nine lettermen and one starter from last year's team that finished 14-19 and tied for ninth in the BIG EAST with a 4-14 league mark.
