CALDWELL COUGARS (6-5) AT RUTGERS SCARLET KNIGHTS (9-3, 1-1 BIG TEN)
Monday, December 30, 2019 | 7 p.m.
The RAC (8,000) | Piscataway, N.J.


TV: BTN Plus (Lou Brogno, play-by-play, Nick Kosko, analyst)
Radio: Rutgers Sports Properties Radio Network (WCTC 1450 AM/WOR 710 AM/XM 973; Jerry Recco & Joe Boylan); WRSU 88.7 FM (Jake Ostrove & Corey Jason)
 
Series Record: Rutgers leads 1-0
Last Meeting: Rutgers 70, Caldwell 62 (Feb. 9, 2010)
 
PROMOTIONS: Gas Attendant Appreciation Knight. Student for a Game: $15 student section ticket available to the general public.
 
OPENING TIP: No. 40 in the NCAA NET rankings and No. 53 in the Pomeroy Ratings, Rutgers works to improve to 10-0 at home on Monday evening when it hosts Caldwell at the RAC in the non-conference finale. RU is 32-4 in non-conference home games under Steve Pikiell. A 38-mile drive via the Garden State Parkway, CU competes at the NCAA Division II level as a member of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference.
 
The Scarlet Knights have won three straight, all at the RAC. The last time out, RU earned an impressive 63-44 victory over Lafayette, opening up a 17-0 lead and out-rebounding the visitors by a 45-28 margin. Over its past three games, Rutgers has started with a 40-0 combined lead (9-0 over Wisconsin and 14-0 over Seton Hall).
 
Myles Johnson led the way with a career-high 18 points and a career-best tying 14 rebounds for his third double-double of the season. The sophomore shot 9-of-11 and is currently tied for second nationally with a 74.6 field goal percentage. Johnson was joined in double figures by Geo Baker and Paul Mulcahy, who each contributed 10 points. It marked a career-best output for Mulcahy, who also dished-out five assists and made four steals. Rutgers forced a season-high 21 turnovers, its most since Nov. 9, 2018.
 
THE OPPONENT: Under 32nd-year head coach Mark Corino, Caldwell has won four of its last five and defeated Stonehill College 63-61 at home in its last game on Dec. 22. The Cougars are 1-0 versus D-I foes this season, downing Norfolk State 64-54 on a neutral court on Nov. 26. Caldwell suffered an 88-67 loss to St. Peter's in an exhibition. Anthony Cooper leads the team in scoring (13.1) and is one of four players averaging double digits. The Cougars finished the 2018-19 season with a 17-12 record, took third place in the CACC North Division and advanced to the quarterfinals of the CACC Championship.
 
THE SERIES: Monday marks the second regular season meeting between the schools. On Feb. 9, 2010, the Scarlet Knights defeated Caldwell 70-62 at the RAC. Mike Rosario had 25 points, while Jonathan Mitchell and Dane Miller added 14 and 10 points, respectively. Hamady N'Diaye grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds and issued six blocks.
 
HEAD COACH STEVE PIKIELL
 

Overall Record (years)	245-213 (15th)
Rutgers Record (years)	53-57 (4th)
Record vs. Caldwell (RU)	0-0
Record vs. Caldwell (overall)	0-0

 
SCARLET KNIGHT NOTABLES

• Rutgers is undefeated at home (9-0), when shooting a better percentage than its opponent (7-0), and when limiting foes to less than 60 points (7-0).
• Rutgers is No. 40 in the NCAA NET rankings and No. 53 in the Pomeroy Ratings.
• Rutgers has out-rebounded its opponent in 11 of 12 games this season.
• Myles Johnson leads the Big Ten in FG% (74.6), is 5th in offensive rebounds (3.3), and 9th in rebounding (8.6) and blocks (1.5)
• Per ESPN statistics, Johnson is second nationally in FG%.
• Geo Baker is 2nd in the Big Ten in steals (1.7) and 5th in assists (4.2).
• Akwasi Yeboah ranks 43rd among active players in career points (1,431) and 48th in rebounds (614). He is 13th in the Big Ten in 3PT% (40.6).
• Rutgers is 2nd in the Big Ten in steals (7.8) and turnovers forced (14.3), 3rd in scoring defense (60.3), 4th in rebounding margin (+9.1). and 5th in FG% defense (38.6) and blocks (5.1).
• Rutgers is a young squad, ranking 229th nationally in experience per Pomeroy. The starting lineup for the first nine games featured one junior and four sophomores.
• Rutgers 20-point win over No. 22 Seton Hall on Dec. 14 was its largest margin of victory over a ranked opponent in program history.
• After five sell-outs in 2018-19, its most since 2004-05 (7), Rutgers welcomed 8,329 fans vs. Seton Hall, its largest crowd in 18 seasons.
• Rutgers had 23 second chance points (23-5) in its victory over Wisconsin on Dec. 11, its most ever in a Big Ten game.
• Rutgers announced the signings of 6-7 F Mawot Mag, 6-8 F Oskar Palmquist and 6-10 F Dean Reiber.
• Rutgers entered the Fall 2019 semester with a 3.06 cumulative team GPA.
• 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.
• Of Rutgers' 11 scholarship players, 10 are 6'4 or above and seven are 6'6 or taller.

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