PISCATAWAY – Eugene Omoruyi scored 20 points and grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds to help Rutgers (4-1) to a 54-44 defeat of Boston University (3-4) Friday afternoon at the RAC. The Scarlet Knights led from start to finish, while limiting the Terriers to 33.3% shooting, in the final of four games in the Hub City Classic.
"We were not making shots today, but we figured out a way to win the game," said Rutgers head coach Steve Pikiell. "We turned the ball over, did not make free throws, did not make three pointers, and still figured out how to hold the other team 20-30 points below its average. It was a grind-it-out, old-fashioned win."
Rutgers out-rebounded the visitors 45-33, the fifth time in as many games that RU has been more productive than its opponent on the boards. Shaquille Doorson grabbed a career-best 12 rebounds as he and Omoruyi combined for 29 boards, just four less than BU collected as a team.
"I liked that we hung in there and we just grinded it out," said Pikiell. "I told the guys, that defense decides the result of the game and the offense decides the margin. These guys have been playing on good defensive teams the past couple of years and are experienced."
Omoruyi and Geo Baker, who contributed 19 points, were both 6-of-12 from the floor to account to 54 percent of the RU offense. Omoruyi also deposited a career-best seven free throws (7-of-11), as he drew a team, season-high 10 fouls.
"We got good effort from everybody," said Pikiell. "It was not beautiful, but we got the W, so I am excited about that."
Rutgers started the game off on a 9-2 run to take command early. BU chipped away, but the Scarlet Knights responded with a 10-2 spurt to extend its advantage double-digits (27-15). The Terriers experienced a near six-minute scoring drought courtesy of RU's stout defense, and entered the locker room at the break trailing by a 29-19 margin.
BU took the floor for the second half with renewed determination. The visitors used a 12-4 run to cut the deficit to two points, before drawing to within a single point on two occasions.
The Scarlet Knights bent, but did not break. Nine of the contest's final 11 points were credited to the home column, as RU earned its fourth double-digit victory of the season.
Rutgers returns to the hardwood on Wednesday at Miami (Fla.) in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. The Hurricanes are receiving votes in both polls. The contest will tip-off at 7:15 p.m. on ESPNU with Doug Sherman and Cory Alexander on the call. Fifteen opponents are currently ranked or receiving votes in the polls, comprising 50% of RU's regular season schedule.
"We got a tough stretch coming, but that is the schedule they gave us and we are going to play it," said Pikiell. "Miami has three pros and then we play the No. 1 team in our league, Michigan State, and arguably the No. 2 team in our league, Wisconsin, on the road. Tough games. These guys have to rest their bodies and get their minds right over the next few days. We will be ready."
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POSTGAME NOTES
- Eugene Omoruyi scored 20 points and grabbed a career-best 17 rebounds to register his third career double-double, all this season. It marked his third career 20-point game, 15th career double-digit scoring game and fourth collegiate contest with 10 or more rebounds.
- Omoruyi's 17 rebounds marked the most for a Rutgers player since Adrian Hill grabbed 18 versus Notre Dame on March 3, 2007, a span of 12 seasons.
- Omoruyi also drew two charges and 10 fouls. He has nine drawn charges this season after registering a team-best 28 in 2017-18.
- Shaquille Doorson grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds.
- Omoruyi and Doorson combined for 29 rebounds, just four less than BU collected as a team (33).
- Geo Baker scored in double figures (19 points) for the fourth time this season and 24th instance in his career.
- Baker, who entered the game ranked 3rd in the Big Ten in minutes played (33.5), competed a game-high 35 minutes.
- Rutgers improves to 14-5 all-time against Boston University.
- Rutgers is 22-4 in non-conference home games under Steve Pikiell.
- Rutgers is 15-3 in the month of November under Pikiell.
- Rutgers starting lineup consisted of Geo Baker, Peter Kiss, Issa Thiam, Eugene Omoruyi and Shaquille Doorson for the fifth time in as many games.
POST-GAME QUOTES
Rutgers Head Coach Steve Pikiell
Opening Statement: "Thank you guys for coming. It is Thanksgiving weekend, you could be at a lot of places and we appreciate you guys being here. Appreciate the 5000+ fans being here too. They gave us some energy. I am thankful for that. We played a team picked 2nd in the Patriot League, I was a little nervous about that team. I like their talent and we grinded it out. We were not making shots today, but we figured out a way to win the game. We turned the ball over, did not make free throws, did not make three pointers, and still figured out how to hold the other team 20-30 points under their average. It was a grind it out, old-fashioned win. All the veteran guys made some huge contributions today. Issa (Thiam) with the big three, Geo (Baker) and Eugene (Omoruyi) getting rebounds and making free throws down the stretch was huge. Our veteran guys helped us grind it out. We got good effort from everybody. It was not beautiful, but we got the W, so I am excited about that."
On Eugene Omoruyi having most rebounds by a Rutgers player in 11 years: "He gave us high energy, which we needed in this type of game. Just love his improvement. Every year he gets better and better and he adds tools to his game. He had to guard their leading scorer too, so he had to carry a lot of the weight on that end of the floor guarding Max Mahoney. I love 17 rebounds. Whenever a guy gets 17, that means the guy is very involved the game.
On grind out performance down the stretch: "I thought everyone came in clutch. We came up with huge stops and Eugene (Omoruyi) knocked some big threes. Shaq Doorson had huge rebounds, Issa (Thiam) did not have a good start but suddenly figured out a way to make shots down the stretch. I thought we had a lot of our guys come in clutch down the stretch. A game on the day after Thanksgiving against a good opponent. Coach Jones has been doing a great job with the BU team.
On finding defensive identity: "We took a huge step in the last three games. In the first two games, our three pointers went in and helped us out. Tonight, the threes did not go in, we made sure to limit the three pointers they shot. We got to figure out ways to win, there are going to be games like this. I liked that we hung in there and we just grinded it out. I told the guys, that defense decides the result of the game and the offense decides the margin. These guys have been playing on good defensive teams the past couple of years and are experienced. Now we have to bring the young guys to catch up to life on the Big Ten and life on the road. Our defense will continue to get better."
On Jay Young's defensive coaching: "He has been doing a great job, all of my assistants are great. They have been head coaches and they do a great job. Jay does a great job with the defense. He stays on top of these guys. He is prideful for that. Karl (Hobbs) has helped improve our offense and we are scoring a lot of points. Brandin Knight does a great job with special situations. We ran that play at the end. Everyone contributes and like the team everyone has to do their job, but I feel terrific and comfortable with Jay, having been with him for many years."
On assists numbers being down today: "We did not make shots, so they were down. I thought we had good shots. Our normal three-point shooters had good looks but when you shoot like that, the assists are going to be down."
On looking ahead to three tough games in six days: "We got a tough stretch coming, but that is the schedule they gave us and we are going to play it. Miami has three pros and then we play the No. 1 team in our league, Michigan State, and arguably the No. 2 team in our league, Wisconsin, on the road. Tough games. These guys have to rest their bodies and get their minds right over the next few days. We will be ready. We have a short stretch coming up, so the young guys have to learn to how to get up for it.
On slow start to the second half: "It was one of those nights. Every time we went to the foul line, we missed. We got good looks, but we missed some layups inside too. Myles (Johnson) is one of those guys that rarely misses in practice, but he struggled to finish down low. I think it was accumulation and you have to give BU credit, they are good team. They played hard. We changed it up and back to our base of full court press, help some generate turnovers and we did a good job in creating our own energy. We are going to have nights like this. Hopefully we do not have many more, but we got the win.
On Geo Baker down the stretch: "He is good. When he gets going, he can score at high clips, but he needs to run our team, play defense and pass the ball. He has a lot of jobs for us. He was locked in the last two games and that has been a great sign for the veterans to be locked in and aggressive on both sides of the ball.
Boston University Head Coach Joe Jones
On the team's performance: "We showed a lot heart. We were awful against Drexel on Wednesday. We had a great practice yesterday and I knew we would have a good game today. We had chances to win tonight. We missed two transition layups and we also missed a ton of stuff around the basket and then we missed wide open shots. We got great shots, but we missed them. Rutgers is a good team. They play hard. They are disciplined in what they do. Geo Baker played great in the first half, but we had our chances and that is all you can ask."
On defensive effort: "It is a tribute to our guys, the effort. They really played hard defensively and the game was what it was, neither team could get away from each other."
On halftime adjustments: "The guys were doing a good job when we were running our offense from the side, so we just started running our offense from the floor and that opened some things up. I thought we got some nice stops and got out on transition, which really helped us and then our defense picked up and we tried to attack more in the middle of the floor."
