Nov. 30, 2016
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CORAL GABLES, Fla. - Rutgers (6-1) dropped its first game of the season, falling 73-61 at Miami (5-2) in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge at the Watsco Center Wednesday evening. Junior guard Mike Williams paced the Scarlet Knights off the bench, scoring 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting and grabbing four steals in 19 minutes.
Sophomore Guard Corey Sanders and redshirt junior forward Deshawn Freeman joined Williams in double figures, contributing 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Rutgers had 12 steals while forcing 19 Miami turnovers, but the Hurricanes made 48.1 percent (26-of-54) of their field goal attempts and outrebound the visitors by a 44-30 margin. The home squad was led by Davon Reed, who had 18 points to pace four Hurricanes in double figures.
UM was hot from the floor early. Boosted by a 64 percent shooting percentage, the Hurricanes raced-out to a 25-10 advantage.
After head coach Steve Pikiell called a timeout, the Scarlet Knights regrouped and responded with a 13-2 run, including a 9-0 stretch, as RU decreased the deficit to four.
Shaquille Doorson played valuable minutes in a reserve role and threw down two slam dunks. RU utilized an 8-10 mark from the charity stripe to claw back. After leading by as much as 15, Miami took a six point (34-28) advantage into the halftime locker room.
After the break, Miami again came out on a blistering pace, using a 17-0 run over a 7:26 stretch to stretch its lead over 20 points. The Scarlet Knights chipped away at the deficit, using strong play from Sanders and Williams.
RU got hot late, including a stretch where it made eight of 10 shots. The Hurricanes were able to hold off the late charge, however, and secured the victory to snap a two-game losing streak.
The Scarlet Knights return to the hardwood for a 7 p.m. tip-off this Saturday against Morgan State at the RAC. The contest will be streamed live on the web via BTN Plus.
Postgame Notes
Mike Williams scored in double figures for the fifth time in the first seven games, and the 30th time in his career. He also had four steals, a season-high.
Sanders scored in double figures for the 25th time in his 34 game career.
Freeman scored in double figures for the fifth time this season and 10th time in 14 career games.
Rutgers bench outscored Miami 30-15. RU has held the advantage in bench points in all seven games this season.
RU falls to 1-2 all-time in the ACC - Big Ten Challenge (won at Clemson in 2014).
After 15 meetings with Miami, the Hurricanes hold a 10-5 advantage.
Postgame Quotes
Rutgers Head Coach Steve Pikiell
Opening Statement...
"Give [Miami] a lot of credit. I've watched a lot of film on them. I thought length bothered us. I thought they did a really good job on the backboards. We need to play better in a game like that to be able to compete with a really good ACC team. All of the things I saw on tape that I was worried about happened in the game. They did a real good job. I thought they played angry. You have to give Miami a tip of the hat."
On what his message was to the team after suffering its first loss...
"I thought we had a great game plan and we didn't execute it, the way we did...that team is long. We were concerned with their length. We just have to play better. But we fought the whole game. Again, I have to give them credit. They were better than we were. We have to rebound. We have a game coming up, and we have to play much better. It's nice to be at home."
On Miami's 17-0 run in the second half...
"They go on runs. That's what they do. I saw all the tapes. I watched every game film. That's what they do. You have to try to break it up...your defense, you try to change some things up. I tried to. We didn't score the ball the way we needed to. I wanted to go inside. We did, and when we got good looks, we didn't finish them. I thought we missed a lot of opportunities to kind of break runs. Certainly, it's to their credit. They're long. [Dewan] Huell, I love him. I think he's going to be terrific. They have a lot of guys who posed a lot of problems for us."
On his team's defense forcing 19 turnovers...
"I was worried about us turning the ball over a lot, because that's what they do to teams. But we kind of grind. We have to be better to win a game like that. We grind. We're supposed to be in lanes and supposed to be in gaps, and they have a lot of guys who dribble it and drive it. Hopefully we were in our gaps at times and the steals came to us. We were able to kind of do a few things defensively that I liked, but certainly not the way we've been defending."
On entering the game as the No. 1 offensive rebounding in the country and being outrebounded...
"Tapes are out. Tapes are out. This team is as good of a rebounding team as we'll face. Their length and athleticism was a factor. Who you are - and when you're leading the nation in offensive rebounding - teams aren't just going to sit back. This guy is as good of a coach as there is in the country. He's not going to just let you get offense. So you have to be better than the scouting report that's out on you, and our guys aren't ready for that yet."
