Friday, November 29
Piscataway, NJ
2:00 PM ET
Rutgers University
vs
UMass
Photo by: Ben Solomon/Rutgers Athletics
Men's Basketball Welcomes UMass on Black Friday
Nov 27 | Men's Basketball
Rutgers Scarlet Knights (5-1) vs. UMass Minutemen (5-2)
Friday, November 29, 2019 | 2 p.m. (ET)
The RAC (8,000) | Piscataway, N.J.
TV: BTN Plus (Chris Carlin, play-by-play, Dom Savino, analyst)
Radio: Rutgers Sports Properties Radio Network (WCTC 1450 AM/WOR 710 AM/SiriusXM 988; Jerry Recco & Joe Boylan); WRSU 88.7 FM (Justin Sontupe & Brant Wolf)
Series Record: Rutgers leads 28-20
Last Meeting: Rutgers 83, UMass 75 (November 27, 2009)
OPENING TIP: Rutgers remains home for its third straight contest at The RAC as the Scarlet Knights will host UMass on Black Friday. The Scarlet Knights will host a post-Thanksgiving matinee for the fourth straight year, defeating Boston University, East Carolina and Hartford on Black Friday the last three years. The two schools are separated by approximately 258 miles.
The Scarlet Knights are 29-4 in non-conference home games under head coach Steve Pikiell. A victory would provide Coach Pikiell with his 50th victory at the helm of the Scarlet Knights. Pikiell previously faced UMass on March 20, 2014 at Stony Brook, earning a 71-68 victory in the NIT.
On Tuesday night, RU earned a 85-58 win over NJIT, led by the efforts of Ron Harper Jr. (25 points) and Myles Johnson (17 points, 11 rebounds). The Scarlet Knights dished-out 22 assists and out-rebounded the Highlanders by a 39-25 margin.
PROMOTION: SAAC Teddy Bear Toss, Student for a Game: $15 Student Section Tickets
THE OPPONENT: Under third-year head coach Matt McCall, UMass has opened the season with a 5-2 record, winning its first five contests before dropping its last two games to No. 7/6 Virginia and St. John's at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. T. J. Weeks leads the team with 15.0 points per game behind a conference-best and 18th nationally ranked 52.4 percent from three-point distance. Sean East averages 5.1 assists, while Tre Mitchell leads the team with 6.3 rebounds per game. The Minutemen are 35th in the nation with 11.1 turnovers per game, and are 345th nationally per Ken Pom in experience.
THE SERIES: Rutgers and UMass will match up for the 49th time on the hardwood, with Rutgers holding a 28-20 advantage in the series. The former Atlantic 10 Conference rivals will meet for the first time since 2009 and the second time since 1995. In the last matchup, RU earned an 83-75 win in the opening round of the 2009 Legends Classic Championship in Atlantic City, N.J. Mike Rosario scored 22 points to lead five Scarlet Knights in double-figures. A notable game in the series came on Feb. 27, 1988, a 119-114 Rutgers win, the most combined points in a game in Scarlet Knights program history.
HEAD COACH STEVE PIKIELL
SCARLET KNIGHT NOTABLES
Friday, November 29, 2019 | 2 p.m. (ET)
The RAC (8,000) | Piscataway, N.J.
TV: BTN Plus (Chris Carlin, play-by-play, Dom Savino, analyst)
Radio: Rutgers Sports Properties Radio Network (WCTC 1450 AM/WOR 710 AM/SiriusXM 988; Jerry Recco & Joe Boylan); WRSU 88.7 FM (Justin Sontupe & Brant Wolf)
Series Record: Rutgers leads 28-20
Last Meeting: Rutgers 83, UMass 75 (November 27, 2009)
OPENING TIP: Rutgers remains home for its third straight contest at The RAC as the Scarlet Knights will host UMass on Black Friday. The Scarlet Knights will host a post-Thanksgiving matinee for the fourth straight year, defeating Boston University, East Carolina and Hartford on Black Friday the last three years. The two schools are separated by approximately 258 miles.
The Scarlet Knights are 29-4 in non-conference home games under head coach Steve Pikiell. A victory would provide Coach Pikiell with his 50th victory at the helm of the Scarlet Knights. Pikiell previously faced UMass on March 20, 2014 at Stony Brook, earning a 71-68 victory in the NIT.
On Tuesday night, RU earned a 85-58 win over NJIT, led by the efforts of Ron Harper Jr. (25 points) and Myles Johnson (17 points, 11 rebounds). The Scarlet Knights dished-out 22 assists and out-rebounded the Highlanders by a 39-25 margin.
PROMOTION: SAAC Teddy Bear Toss, Student for a Game: $15 Student Section Tickets
THE OPPONENT: Under third-year head coach Matt McCall, UMass has opened the season with a 5-2 record, winning its first five contests before dropping its last two games to No. 7/6 Virginia and St. John's at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. T. J. Weeks leads the team with 15.0 points per game behind a conference-best and 18th nationally ranked 52.4 percent from three-point distance. Sean East averages 5.1 assists, while Tre Mitchell leads the team with 6.3 rebounds per game. The Minutemen are 35th in the nation with 11.1 turnovers per game, and are 345th nationally per Ken Pom in experience.
THE SERIES: Rutgers and UMass will match up for the 49th time on the hardwood, with Rutgers holding a 28-20 advantage in the series. The former Atlantic 10 Conference rivals will meet for the first time since 2009 and the second time since 1995. In the last matchup, RU earned an 83-75 win in the opening round of the 2009 Legends Classic Championship in Atlantic City, N.J. Mike Rosario scored 22 points to lead five Scarlet Knights in double-figures. A notable game in the series came on Feb. 27, 1988, a 119-114 Rutgers win, the most combined points in a game in Scarlet Knights program history.
HEAD COACH STEVE PIKIELL
| Overall Record (years) | 241-211 (15th) |
| Rutgers Record (years) | 49-55 (4th) |
| Record vs. UMass (RU) | 0-0 |
| Record vs. UMass (overall) | 1-0 |
SCARLET KNIGHT NOTABLES
- Rutgers announced that 6-8 F Oskar Palmquist and 6-10 F Dean Reiber have signed NLIs to compete for RU.
- Rutgers leads the Big Ten in blocks (6.2), and are second in steals (7.0).
- Rutgers ranks 15th nationally in blocks (6.6) and 30th in rebounding margin (+9.3).
- Paul Mulcahy is 3rd in the Big Ten in assist/turnover ratio (3.6).
- Montez Mathis is 4th in the Big Ten in steals (2.0).
- Caleb McConnell is 8th in the Big Ten in free throw percentage (86.7%).
- Rutgers is still a young squad, ranking 232nd nationally in experience per Pomeroy. The starting lineup has featured one junior (Baker) and four sophomores (Johnson, Mathis, Harper Jr., McConnell).
- Rutgers entered the Fall 2019 semester with a 3.06 cumulative team GPA.
- Rutgers was named the Most Improved Team of the 2018-19 season by Sports Illustrated in its year-end awards. The Scarlet Knights improved 70 positions in the Pomeroy ratings since the season's initial rating, best among all power conference programs.
- Rutgers was among the approximately 30,000 individuals who joined in the 18th annual Tunnel to Towers 5K Run & Walk on Sept. 29. It marked the third consecutive year the team has participated in the event, with proceeds benefitting first responders and catastrophically injured service members. Under Steve Pikiell, RU has maintained 100 percent team participation in Leadership Development and Strategic Partnerships community service initiatives for the past three seasons.
- Rutgers posted a 4-0 record against professional club teams during a tour of Spain in August. RU outscored its opponents 387-284 and had five players with double figure scoring averages.
- Rutgers has its deepest roster in some time, with all 11 scholarship players expected to see action in the rotation. Of the 10 scholarship players who made the trip to Spain, all averaged 15 or more minutes.
- Of Rutgers' 11 scholarship players, 10 are 6'4 or above and seven are 6'6 or taller.
Players Mentioned
Guard/Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Center
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
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/ Men's Basketball
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