Feb. 03, 2016

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Highlight: Sanders game-tying 3-pointer in OT

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Audio: Chris Carlin and Joe Boylan call Sanders' 3-pointer

PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Rutgers guard Corey Sanders set a school freshman record with 39 points in a 110-101 triple overtime loss to Illinois (11-12, 3-7) Wednesday evening at the RAC. The Scarlet Knights (6-17, 0-10) out-rebounded the visitors 52-43 to establish a 54-36 scoring advantage in the paint in a contest that featured seven ties and 12 lead changes.

Sanders also set a career-high with 12 assists, while tying the school record with 33 field goal attempts. His helpers were the second most by a freshman in the NCAA this season, while his shot attempts ranked as the second most by a player thus far in 2015-16. Sanders also set career-bests in rebounds (eight) and minutes played (51), while posting his first career-double-double.

Sanders, who made a three-pointer at the buzzer to send the game into its second overtime, was boosted by a strong supporting cast. Fellow rookie Jonathan Laurent was 9-14 from the field to post a career-best 23 points, while playing 50 minutes. Omari Grier scored 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting and Mike Williams made 6-of-11 field goal attempts to add 15 points.

Regulation play concluded with the score tied at 75-75 after Sanders made one-of-two free throws with three seconds remaining.

In the initial overtime, the Scarlet Knights trailed by seven, 86-79, with less than 30 seconds to play, but would they would not relent. With 4.3 seconds on the clock and the scoreboard reading 87-84, Sanders missed on a three-pointer, but collected his own rebound. He raced back behind the arc and connected on a triple as the buzzer sounded to establish the second additional stanza.

Neither team created a lead greater than a two points in the second overtime. Illinois had the ball for the final possession, but the RU defense held to force another five minutes.

Limited to just eight scholarship players due to injuries, the Scarlet Knights finally wore down in the third overtime. The Fighting Illini were a perfect 12-of-12 at the charity stripe in the frame to capture the win, while RU was 0-of-4 from behind the arc.

Both teams established double-digit leads in the course of the contest. Rutgers led by as many as 12 points (22-10) early, en route to a 40-37 halftime advantage. The Fighting Illini established 11-point leads on three occasions in the third overtime.

Rutgers returns to the hardwood Saturday afternoon at Nebraska. The contest versus the Cornhuskers tips-off at 2:00 p.m. ET on ESPNU.

Rutgers Postgame Notes

• Corey Sanders scored 39 points, setting the Rutgers freshman scoring record. The previous record was 35 by Quincy Douby on March 30, 2004 against Iowa State in the semifinals of the NIT.
• Sanders tied the school record with 33 field goal attempts. He matched Phil Sellers, who attempted 33 shots on March 1, 1974 versus Utah.
• Sanders' 39 points was the most points scored in a game since Quincy Douby scored 41 points at Syracuse on February 1, 2006.
• Sanders had 12 assists, the most since Marquis Webb had 11 on Jan. 24, 2005 versus Syracuse.
• Sanders 12 assists were the second most assists in a game by any freshman this season (Ohio State's JaQuan Lyle had 13 vs. Minnesota 12/30/15)
• Sanders 33 field goal attempts were the second most by any player in a game this season (Howard's James Daniel had 36 vs. Radford 12/12/15)
• Sanders tied for 14^th on Rutgers all-time single game points list.
• Sanders tied for 7^th on Rutgers all-time single game assists list.
• Sanders had a career-high eight rebounds.
• With 39 points and 12 assists, Sanders notched the first double-double of his career.
• Sanders was the first player to have at least 39 points and 12 assists in a game since D.J. Cooper in 2010.
• Sanders 51 minutes played were the most played in a single game by any player in a Big Ten game this season. Jonathan Laurent's 50 minutes played were the second most. Both are freshman.
• It was the most minutes played by any RU player since Eli Carter played 46 in a double-overtime win over No. 10 Florida on December 29, 2011. It was the most minutes played by a Rutgers player since at least 1988.
• Sanders tied his career-high with nine free throws made.
• Jonathan Laurent scored a career-high 23 points.
• Sanders and Laurent combined to become the first two freshmen in Rutgers history to score 20+ points in the same game.
• Greg Lewis set a career-high with 16 rebounds. He played a career-high 45 minutes.
• Mike Williams scored 15 points - his fourth straight game with at least 15 points.
• Omari Grier had 18 points - his third highest total of the year.
• The last time Rutgers played a triple overtime game was February 27, 1988 against UMass, a 119-114 win.
• This is the seventh game this season to go into at least triple overtime (six triple overtime games, one game in quadruple overtime).
• The last time Rutgers scored 100 points was a 116-89 victory over Stillman College on Nov. 25, 2013.
• Rutgers set season highs in points (101), rebounds (52), field goals made (39) and tied its season high of 18 assists.

Rutgers Head Coach Eddie Jordan Postgame Quotes

Opening Statement: "I thought it was a game our fans really got in to. Our fans helped a lot. We didn't get the "W". A lot of good things happened and we're proud of our guys. Some individual performances were magnificent, but we need everyone, our top seven guys to play at a high level and we didn't get that again. In order to get a win in this league, all seven guys have to play at the highest level."

On finishing the game: "I'd like to see more organized possessions coming down the stretch, but again, basketball is putting the ball in your best player's hands and we did that mostly with Corey. He made a lot of good things happen for us, but as a freshman, he's going to miss steps on possessions and some play making, but that's ok. That's the process of learning. I think we missed Mike Williams down the stretch in the last part of overtime. We needed everyone to play well and we didn't get it."

On the team's mental toughness: "Everyone had mental toughness. Greg played on one leg. I like the way we started. We started with the lineup that we thought we were going to have at the beginning of the season. D.J. at the four, Greg at the five, Jonathan at three and then Corey and Mike. So we had a good start. Again, when we're making subs, we only have one big, so we had to go small again. But for the most part, we played pretty well and I'm proud of them."

On how he felt after Corey's overtime three-pointer: "You read your players. They came back to the bench and they were jacked up. Everyone was excited. I didn't look at the other bench, but you look to see if they're despondent. I don't know if they were, I guess they weren't. John [Groce] does a good job with them. But I'm glad for our fans and our team that we got excited again when things like that happen for us."

On Corey's play (freshman-record 39 points, 12 assists, eight rebounds and team-high 51 minutes): "He was magnificent. He was good. He's alert; he's looking at me to see what the next set of play calls we should make. Eventually, he's going to do that on his own. He just balled out tonight. He was fantastic."

On the rebounding effort: "Rebounding was good. It was very solid. They were small. They have one big, we have one big, so we sort of matched against each other well with the injuries and the depleted roster. I said before the game that the team who was going to give the best effort and didn't turn over the ball was going to win the game."

On the play of Illinois' Malcolm Hill (32 points, 14 rebounds, five assists): "He's a real good player. He has good, sound up-tempo about himself and gets the ball and looks for his teammates. He's got a nice shot, he can drive up and pull, so you can just see experience written all over him. He's a type of guy who's like Corey for us. But Corey's a freshman and when they put the ball in Hill's hands, they make things happen."

Illinois Head Coach John Groce Post-Game Quotes

Opening Statement …

"That was a heck of a game. Obviously two teams that were fighting, scratching and clawing to try and get a win with everything we've been through, everything they've been through. They've had some injuries. With everything they've been through I was really impressed by how their kids fought. I thought they really fought. [Corey] Sanders obviously was a load today. I thought [Jonathan] Laurent played really well. He played 50 minutes in the game, and I thought he was really good. I know they're glad to have him back after he was out for a spell.

"We had some guys out as well today, but I thought that neither team necessarily had any excuses, they just fought and battled and made plays and I thought it was a pretty high-level intensity game. We weren't perfect; we had execution errors here and there. But I'm sure Eddie [Jordan] would say the same thing about their guys. As a coach you feel like regulation, three overtimes, inopportune times, maybe there's some things we can control and get a little bit better at, but our kids dug it out.

"I think the thing that stands out for me is that all nine guys that played did something glaringly positive to help the game. Whether it's [Jaylon] Tate making both of his free throws. Whether it's Alex Austin going 2-for-2 being in during key defensive stops. Whether it's Maverick Morgan going 10-for-15 from the field being efficient. Whether it's [Malcom] Hill and [Kendrick] Nunn combing for 25 rebounds. Whether it's Khalid Lewis 8-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.

"I thought [D.J.] Williams and [Aaron] Jordan's minutes , they played 24 minutes today and didn't have a turnover - that's huge for freshmen on the road. Williams was 3-for-5 in addition to that and I thought really had a good look in his eyes and practiced well leading up to the game. And then obviously J-Cole [Jahlen Coleman-Lands], 6-for-14 from three.

"A lot of them were big shots and in the guts of the game. He's a big-time shot maker and we needed every single one of them. I'm happy for our guys, I'm proud of our guys, and we beat a team that fought us tooth and nail. Questions."

On his team's resiliency …

"We talked about embracing the challenge. We knew [Michael] Finke was out, we knew [Mike] Thorne, [Leron] Black, [Tracy] Abrams, you know all those guys are out and have been out for some time. Then we get Finke out and to be honest with you we weren't sure if Nunn was going to be able to go until right before the tip-off. We had talked about 'hey it is what it is, we're going to play five guys, they've been through some injuries too, let's try to figure it out' and I thought our guys did a great job.

"There were times when we had lineups out there to be quite honest, and I'm sure Eddie's been through the same thing, I watched some of their tape, and they've had lineups of five guards here somewhat recently. I understand that. We had to do it today. Other than Lewis, Tate, and Morgan, every guy played the other six guys had to play out of position today, which limits what you can call and you're trying to figure it out for the first time in a game setting with those lineups. Eddie's lived it.

"I think for me, the thing I took from it was our resiliency. But I thought they were awful resilient too. I don't want to miss an opportunity to say that just because they came out on the losing end does not they weren't resilient or that they didn't compete. They competed and it was a high-level game from a competitive standpoint, from an intensity standpoint."