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PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Redshirt junior forward Deshawn Freeman had his third double-double of the young season, scoring 13 points and grabbing 15 rebounds, to help Rutgers (5-0) to a 66-53 win over North Texas (1-3) Wednesday evening at the RAC in the Scarlet Knight Showcase. After trailing at the break, RU out-rebounded the visitors 26-11 in the second half en route to a decisive 53-28 advantage on the boards.

"You'll probably say this game was ugly, but I think it was beautiful," said head coach Steve Pikiell. "We couldn't score and it didn't matter. I thought we were getting some good looks. I knew this team was very dangerous. I watched all the tape. I liked their size, I thought they had terrific talent. I liked our focus, especially on the defensive end."

Rutgers limited North Texas to a 33.3 percent (19-of-57) field goal percentage. It signaled the second lowest shooting mark for an opponent this season, all of which have been held under 40 percent.

Freeman was joined in double figures by Nigel Johnson and Mike Williams, who both contributed 10 points of the bench. The guards have each scored in double figures in four games this season in reserve roles.

A slam dunk by Candido Sa, who issued five blocks in 24 minutes off the bench, provided the home squad an early 8-5 advantage. The Mean Green countered with a 10-2 run to push ahead 15-10.

Getting good looks but struggling to tweak the twine, Rutgers slowly cut into the UNT lead. The Scarlet Knights drew to within one possession at 15-14, 20-18 and 23-22, in the sluggish affair. On the final play of the opening stanza, Johnson beat the buzzer with a layup to send RU into the locker room trailing 25-24.

It marked the first time this season that Rutgers was behind at the break.

The Scarlet Knights opened the second half with a 7-0 burst to gain control of the hard-fought contest. A baseline three-pointer by Williams, followed by fast break slam dunk buy the junior, extended the RU lead to 39-32.

A persistent North Texas squad refused to relent, but were eventually worn down by an aggressive RU squad that utilized an 11-point run to establish a 59-42 advantage. The Scarlet Knights built their lead to as much as 19 points in the 13-point victory.

Rutgers had 16 assists on 23 field goals, bolstered by a game-high six helpers from Corey Sanders.

RU returns to the hardwood this Friday versus Hartford at the RAC in a 1 p.m. tip-off. The 42-hour turnaround from tip-to-tip marks the shortest of the regular season for the Scarlet Knights. The contest will be available live on the web via ESPN3.

Postgame Notes

• Rutgers is 5-0 for the first time since 2000-01, tying for the seventh best start in school history.
• Freeman (13 points, 15 rebounds) had a double-double for the third time this season. The last Rutgers player to have three double-doubles in the first five games of the season was Kadeem Jack in 2013-14.
• Freeman's 15 rebounds (a career-high) is the most for an RU player since Jonathan Laurent had 15 boards vs. Penn State (Feb. 20, 2016).
• Candido Sa had a career-best five blocks, the most since Greg Lewis altered five shots on Nov. 29, 2014 vs. No. 8 Virginia.
• Rutgers rebounding margin of +25 marked the second time this season RU had at least 25 more rebounds than its opponent (+27, Drexel).
• Rutgers 53 rebounds signaled the second time this season with 50+ boards (56, Drexel).
• Rutgers shot just 15 percent from three-point distance. The last time RU shot under 15 percent from behind the arc and won the game was Nov. 15, 2015 vs. Howard (14.3 percent from three-point).
• Corey Sanders had six assists, marking the 14^th time in 32 career games he has had five or more helpers.

Postgame Quotes

Rutgers Head Coach Steve Pikiell:

Opening Statement: "The fan support the night before thanksgiving was awesome. You'll probably say this game was ugly, but I think it was beautiful. We couldn't score and it didn't matter. I thought we were getting some good looks. I knew this team was very dangerous. I watched all the tape. I liked their size, I thought they had terrific talent. I liked our focus, especially on the defensive end. These two guys (Deshawn Freeman and Mike Williams) have really done a good job stepping up and being good rebounders, a voice in the huddles and on the court. They've been terrific. We got a lot of good efforts again from a lot of players, so I'm real pleased. That's a good win for us."

On the game's start: "That was beautiful. Games happen. You can't make shots sometimes. I thought we got terrific looks. Issa got six good looks, I'll take that any day of the week. Mike got good looks, I'll take his looks. It just didn't go in. We got the ball into the paint, we missed some layups. When you play basketball, you don't make shots sometimes. You still have to figure out a way to win. We went into halftime down one, and had good looks, but didn't make any of them. Our defense really held us. I told these guys at halftime - we're going to make shots. We're getting too good of looks not too. Eventually, we started really attacking the rim, stopped settling for threes, but our defense really took over. Our offensive rebounding - how about Candido Sa with five blocks? A lot of great bench production, and our starters were great too."

On the second half run: "I just like the fact that we were having one of those nights, and we figured out a way to win. A lot of teams could lose on a day like today. We wouldn't allow it. 21 offensive rebounds, plus 25 on the boards, we figure out a way to win. We took care of the ball in the second half and got some good shots."

North Texas Head Coach Tony Benford:

On building the lead and differences in the second half: "I think Steve (Pikiell)'s done a great job. We tried to control tempo and they want to run, they're a great rebounding team. They have tremendous length and size. We wanted to do everything we could to control tempo and stay in the game. I thought we did that early on, but we couldn't keep them off the glass. Then they started making shots against our zone. I give them credit, they have a nice team, a really good team. In the second half we had a couple of turnovers that cost us and I thought second-chance points hurt us. They built a lead and we had to play catch-up."

On effort: "I thought we played hard. We are down five guys, five scholarship guys. When we get our whole team back, we will be very competitive. For us to play against a quality opponent - and I think they'll have a great year - we have to get healthy. Then we have put ourselves in position to have a great year."

On taking care of the ball: "We want to make sure we take care of the ball and take good shots. I think we did that. J-Mychal Reese did a good job moving the ball as the point guard. We did a better job of taking care of the basketball."

On being out-rebounded: "They have about five guys over 6-9 it seems, including on the wings, and they are strong and physical. That's tough. When you look at them, they are going to out-rebound everybody. That's the thing, it's going to be tough to keep (Deshawn) Freeman off the glass. I watched him play a lot when he was in high school. When that shot goes up, coach Pikiell and his staff are doing a great job of teaching those guys to chase the basketball. When you don't shoot well from the perimeter, you have to get second-chance shots. They did that by chasing the basketball. We just weren't physical enough to keep them off the glass."