PISCATAWAY – Corey Sanders scored 18 points on 8-of-15 shooting to boost Rutgers (7-3) in a 73-64 win over NJIT Thursday evening at the RAC. The Scarlet Knights shot 58 percent (29-of-50) to improve to 15-1 in non-conference home games under head coach Steve Pikiell.

"Corey had a nice presence tonight on the court," said Pikiell. "I thought he played hard and made some big plays."

The Highlanders battled the Scarlet Knights from the opening tip to the final buzzer, establishing a 42-40 rebounding advantage in a contest that featured five lead changes and two ties. NJIT cleaned the offensive glass 23 times, resulting in 75 field goal attempts for the visitors.

"NJIT played really well," said Pikiell. Coach (Brian) Kennedy does a great job. Any team that comes into our building and out-rebounds us is worthy of a lot of credit. They played hard. They made some shots."

Deshawn Freeman, Eugene Omoruyi and Geo Baker joined Sanders in double digits. Freeman registered 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting, while Omoruyi and Baker both scored 11.

The Highlanders jumped-out to a 7-0 lead and held the advantage until a Sanders jumper provided RU a 15-14 edge. NJIT re-captured the lead on two occasions before a Freeman jumper sent Rutgers into the halftime locker room with a 33-32 edge.

The Scarlet Knights maintained a slim advantage after the break, before a 9-2 run provided the home squad its first double digit lead at 50-40. RU built its advantage to as much as 17 points, but NJIT would not relent. The Highlanders diminished the deficit to eight, but could get no closer, as Rutgers made 60 percent of its second half shots.

Rutgers returns to the hardwood Saturday evening to host Fairleigh Dickinson in a 7 p.m. tip-off at the RAC. The contest will be streamed live via the web on BTN Plus.

Single game men's basketball tickets 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.

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Post-Game Notes

• Rutgers improves to 15-1 in home non-conference games under Steve Pikiell.
• Tonight's game was the third of five games Rutgers will play in a 10-day span.
• Corey Sanders scored in double-digits for the 7^th time this season and the 51^st time in his career.
• Deshawn Freeman scored in double-figure for the 9^th time this season and the 33^rd time in his career.
• Eugene Omoruyi posted double-figures in points for the sixth time this season after doing so once as a freshman.
• Geo Baker scored in double-digits for the seventh time this season.
• Candido Sa grabbed eight rebounds, the second most of his career, and led the team in rebounding for the first time in his career.
• Rutgers had at least four players score in double-digits for the fifth time this season.
• NJIT attempted 75 field goals. The last Rutgers opponent to attempt that many shots was Michigan State, who attempted 76 field goals on March 2, 2016.
• Rutgers now leads the all-time series against NJIT 6-0.

Post-Game Quotes

Rutgers Head Coach Steve Pikiell

Opening statement: "Thanks for coming. I really do appreciate it on a weekday like this. I want to thank the students too. Not a tape I'm going to send to the hall of fame. NJIT played really well. Coach Kennedy does a great job. Any team that comes into our building and out-rebounds us is worthy of a lot of credit. They played hard. They made some shots. That's not how I want to play. I think our energy wasn't great and I knew this was going to be a tough game coming after the one the other day. We did play 19 turnovers; uncharacteristic of us. Getting out-rebounded is disappointing but we've got one day and we're onto FDU which won't be any easier."

On whether there's been a lesson learned on the short turnaround: "I hope so. I hope they learned from tonight. We usually pay with tremendous energy and we didn't have that tonight. These are two guys that I'm proud to have up here today. They really came to play. Mike is back to rebounding. 7 in the last game and 6 in tonight's game. I felt Corey had a nice presence today on the court. I thought he played hard and made some big plays for us. So, it's nice to have these guys after a game like this. But, we figured out a way to win, grind out a game, and we have a one-day turnaround. This is really an unbelievable stretch for us. I've never had a stretch of games like this where we don't have a lot of prep time. But, we have to do a better job. Credit goes to NJIT. They played well and Coach Kennedy, I think, is one of the great coaches. I think he does an unbelievable job. That program, Jimmy Engles started and he (Kennedy) was on the bench with him and he's just carried that over. So, we give them a lot of credit."

On whether NJIT caught them by surprise: "I don't think that was it. I think some of our turnovers were based on us more than that. Again, they played hard and they got us to cough it up a few times. But, nothing that they did surprised me. We just weren't as locked in as we needed to be."

On the offensive performance overall: "I think we took some good shots. We got to the rim. We've been shooting foul shots well but today we didn't shoot them well. One of these days we'll be two for two in those areas and when we do – watch out. We'll beat somebody."

On the timeout called early in the game: "I just wanted to have a little chat with the boys. I just didn't like a lot of things out there. But, we got their attention a little bit. Again, these are all tough games in the stretch that we have. We've got to come ready. We've got young players learning what the rigors are of college basketball and I just wanted to get their attention early."

On having to play six games in 14 days: "Partly due to playing the league tournament a week early. So, games get jammed in a lot quicker. That week is important. That give you another day or two of prep for almost every game as you move forward. Just a tough stretch, other people have it too. We just seem to have a lot of games. We've played some terrific teams. Florida State, and the stretch we were on with Minnesota and Michigan State too, those were physical games. It's not just the games every other day it's who you're playing too and how they play."

On his message to the team at halftime: "It was nice. I was nice and quiet and shy in the locker room. It was good. Just tried to get them a little more focused to how we play. I want to play Rutgers basketball. In Rutgers basketball we rebound, we don't give teams 23 offensive rebounds. We run, we're active, we're diving for loose balls, we're spacing the floor. But, we weren't doing that. Again, credit to them." 

???????NJIT Head Coach Brian Kennedy

On how his team performed, especially in the first half: "I think the effort was definitely there. I was a little upset with our execution to be honest. The hardest thing as a coach is to get them to play hard, though. And we definitely played hard. But uncharacteristically, we didn't run our offense as well as I would've liked. Kudos to Rutgers for defending us."

On what they did to force turnovers and get steals: "That's kind of our identity. We play full-court, man-to-man defense. I usually play a lot of guys at a lot of minutes. We try to keep the pressure on defensively and try and pick up full court, and use our numbers and our guards that we have to cause some disruptions. I think Rutgers did a very good job at the end of the first half. I think Corey and Geo got some guys on their sides and took it right to the basket. But guards usually don't have that mindset to just get it inbounds and try to drive it the full length of the court, but we kind of forced them to do that."

On what changed early in the second half when Rutgers started to pull away: "They made some shots. I don't know the exact sequence but Corey and Geo made some shots. We missed some easy baskets and they did a good job of defending. We didn't cut through contact, we didn't move the ball the way that I would've liked to. Hats off to Rutgers for their defense. I think they ratcheted up their defense at the beginning of the second half during that run."

On Corey Sanders: "He's an extremely talented player. He played terrific tonight. I know he's got all the talent in the world. Watching him play this year as opposed to when he first got here, he's more under control. He's more of a team guy, trying to get everyone else involved. That's kind of what I see. I don't see him night in and night out, but that's what I see."

On the progression of Abdul Lewis: "Abdul's doing great. He's got to learn to not get chippy fouls. It seems like every game he gets a chippy foul here or there that puts him on the bench. I need him on the court. But Abdul's really come a long way. I think you probably remember him from high school, he didn't get too far away from the basket. Now I have him out on the perimeter, dribbling the ball, passing the ball. He's kind of like our "Point-Center". A little bit a la Princeton-style. He's embraced it, and he's really a willing passer. He's a really good player and he's come along great."