PISCATAWAY - Rutgers hosts the City College of New York this Friday (Nov. 10) in a 7 p.m. tip-off at the RAC in the 2017-18 season opener. The Scarlet Knights have a 76-29 all-time record in game one contests. Friday's opener marks the 106th in the history of Rutgers men's basketball and the first of seven home games to begin the regular season. RU is 8-0 in non-conference home games under head coach Steve Pikiell.

Friday is Dollar Hot Dog Knight. Fans who present Nov. 4 football/wrestling doubleheader ticket stubs will be admitted for free. In addition, Junior Knights Club members will receive complimentary admission. Rutgers men's basketball season ticket holders will receive free magnet schedule and a concession loyalty card. The Riot Squad, the student support group of Rutgers Athletics, will play a game at halftime.

Friday's game will be streamed live via the web on BTN Plus, with Ralph Bednarzyk calling the action and Mark Peterson providing the analysis. 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. Jerry Recco will serve as play-by-play announcer and Joe Boylan will provide commentary.

Rutgers returns eight scholarship letterwinners and welcomes five scholarship newcomers to a team that more than doubled its overall win total and tripled its conference victory total last season. Under Pikiell in 2016-17, RU achieved a plus-117 rank improvement in RPI, ranked among the top 100 in 10 NCAA statistical categories and earned the program's first Big Ten Conference road and tournament victories.

Issa Thiam deposited a put-back with 2.8 seconds remaining to help Rutgers to an 80-78, come-from-behind, victory over metro rival St. John's in a charity exhibition game this past Sunday afternoon at the RAC. Senior Deshawn Freeman had a double-double with 28 points and 12 rebounds in the contest, with all net proceeds to be donated to American Red Cross Disaster Relief. Rutgers trailed by 11 with just over 10 minutes to play, before going on a 19-6 run to set the stage for the exciting finish. The Scarlet Knights made 19 of 28 from the field after the break.

CCNY is under the leadership of first-year head coach Paul Dail. The Beavers posted a 17-10 mark in 2016-17 and advanced to CUNY Athletic Conference finals. No stranger to D-I, CCNY competed at the top level until the mid-1950's. The 1949–50 CCNY squad is the only team to win both the NIT and the NCAA Tournament in the same year.

Single game tickets are available online or by calling the Rutgers Ticket Office at 1-866-445-GORU. Fans also have the opportunity to purchase season tickets or flex ticket plans, which enable them to select any four games from the home schedule to create their own package. Flex ticket plans are $140 for 200 level center tickets, $120 for 200 level wing tickets, and $60 for 300 level tickets.

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