Men’s Basketball Named NABC Team of the Week
Dec 19 | Men's Basketball
PISCATAWAY – Rutgers men's basketball was named as the Division I Team of the Week, the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) announced today.
The Scarlet Knights improved to 10-3 overall on the season after recording a pair of victories during the last week. It began with a 75-63 defeat of Fordham on Tuesday before a 71-65 win over No. 15 Seton Hall on Saturday in the annual Garden State Hardwood Classic. RU now boasts an 18-1 record in non-conference home games under coach Steve Pikiell.
The Scarlet Knights lead the nation in rebounds (45.69) and offensive rebounds (16.15), while placing third among all D-I programs in scoring defense (58.3) and fourth in field goal percentage defense (36.3). RU is among the top three in the Big Ten in 16 NCAA statistical categories.
On Saturday Rutgers earned their first nationally-ranked victory since a 67-62 win over No. 4 Wisconsin on Jan. 11, 2015. Corey Sanders scored 22 points to earn the Joe Calabrese Game MVP trophy, while Deshawn Freeman had a double-double (12 points, 16 rebounds) and Geo Baker posted 17 points to spark the upset victory in front of a sold-out crowd of 8,318 at the RAC, the building's largest crowd since 2002.
Tuesday night, the Scarlet Knights earned a 75-63 win over Fordham using a balanced scoring effort, as six players scored in double figures. Sanders scored 12 to become the 42nd player in RU men's basketball history to reach 1,000 points, while Freeman had the first of two double-doubles on the week with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
The honor is among a multitude of accolades received by the Scarlet Knights this week. Rutgers head coach Steve Pikiell was named HoopDirt.com National Coach of the Week, Geo Baker was recognized as the Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Week and Corey Sanders earned Player of the Week from the Met Basketball Writers Association.
Rutgers returns to the hardwood to host Stony Brook in a 7 p.m. tip-off on Friday. The game will be streamed live via the web on BTN Plus.
Single game tickets for Rutgers men's basketball home games are available online or by calling the Rutgers Ticket Office at 1-866-445-GORU. Fans also have the opportunity to purchase flex ticket plans or a "Pikiell's Presents" package. Flex ticket plans enable fans to select any four games from the home schedule to create their own package. "Pikiell's Presents" includes two section 110 tickets to the games versus Stony Brook (Dec. 22) and Hartford (Dec. 28), along with two food vouchers per game and ugly holiday sweater t-shirts.
Follow Rutgers men's basketball on Facebook (www.facebook.com/RutgersMBB), Twitter (www.twitter.com/RutgersMBB) and Instagram (www.instagram.com/RutgersMBB) for additional news and updates.
The Scarlet Knights improved to 10-3 overall on the season after recording a pair of victories during the last week. It began with a 75-63 defeat of Fordham on Tuesday before a 71-65 win over No. 15 Seton Hall on Saturday in the annual Garden State Hardwood Classic. RU now boasts an 18-1 record in non-conference home games under coach Steve Pikiell.
The Scarlet Knights lead the nation in rebounds (45.69) and offensive rebounds (16.15), while placing third among all D-I programs in scoring defense (58.3) and fourth in field goal percentage defense (36.3). RU is among the top three in the Big Ten in 16 NCAA statistical categories.
On Saturday Rutgers earned their first nationally-ranked victory since a 67-62 win over No. 4 Wisconsin on Jan. 11, 2015. Corey Sanders scored 22 points to earn the Joe Calabrese Game MVP trophy, while Deshawn Freeman had a double-double (12 points, 16 rebounds) and Geo Baker posted 17 points to spark the upset victory in front of a sold-out crowd of 8,318 at the RAC, the building's largest crowd since 2002.
Tuesday night, the Scarlet Knights earned a 75-63 win over Fordham using a balanced scoring effort, as six players scored in double figures. Sanders scored 12 to become the 42nd player in RU men's basketball history to reach 1,000 points, while Freeman had the first of two double-doubles on the week with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
The honor is among a multitude of accolades received by the Scarlet Knights this week. Rutgers head coach Steve Pikiell was named HoopDirt.com National Coach of the Week, Geo Baker was recognized as the Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Week and Corey Sanders earned Player of the Week from the Met Basketball Writers Association.
Rutgers returns to the hardwood to host Stony Brook in a 7 p.m. tip-off on Friday. The game will be streamed live via the web on BTN Plus.
Single game tickets for Rutgers men's basketball home games are available online or by calling the Rutgers Ticket Office at 1-866-445-GORU. Fans also have the opportunity to purchase flex ticket plans or a "Pikiell's Presents" package. Flex ticket plans enable fans to select any four games from the home schedule to create their own package. "Pikiell's Presents" includes two section 110 tickets to the games versus Stony Brook (Dec. 22) and Hartford (Dec. 28), along with two food vouchers per game and ugly holiday sweater t-shirts.
Follow Rutgers men's basketball on Facebook (www.facebook.com/RutgersMBB), Twitter (www.twitter.com/RutgersMBB) and Instagram (www.instagram.com/RutgersMBB) for additional news and updates.
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