PISCATAWAY, N.J. - The Scarlet Knights are back in action on Friday, a short turnaround following a convincing victory on Wednesday night in the season opener. RU began the new campaign with a 86-63 victory over Sacred Heart, getting contributions from throughout the lineup. A pair of double-doubles led the way for RU, from Ron Harper Jr. (game-high 18 points, 10 rebounds) and freshman Clifford Omoruyi (14 points, 11 rebounds). Omoruyi made an instant impact in his collegiate debut as the freshman earned the opening night start and became the first Rutgers' freshman to collect a double-double in their debut since Gregory Echinique against Marist in 2008.

Offensively, Rutgers shot 60.6 percent from the field, its best mark since Nov. 10, 2017. Paul Mulcahy (7-of-7), Clifford Omoruyi (6-of-6) and Myles Johnson (5-of-5) were all perfect from the field. Paul Mulcahy contributed a career-high 15 points and tied a career-high with seven assists, logging 32 minutes of action. RU shared the ball well overall, with 23 assists marking the most for the team since Dec. 6, 2016.

The Scarlet Knights never trailed in the contest, and posted an impressive 72-32 advantage in the paint. Joining Omoruyi in making his Scarlet Knights debut were Oskar Palmquist, Mawot Mag, Dean Reiber and Daniel Lobach.

"We really shared the ball, we rebounded, our defense at times was stifling," head coach Steve PIkiell said. "We need to get better in so many ways, but it was nice to just get up and down the court and play some basketball against some other people. I know our kids were really excited and we got two more games coming up this week."

The NEC preseason favorites, FDU fell 84-66 to Quinnipiac in its season opener on Wednesday. They were led by sophomore Brandon Rush, with a career-high 21 points, while senior forward Elyjah Williams matched his career-best by also scoring 21. Williams joined Jahlil Jenkins The Knights are coming off of an 11-18 season last year. The game is the first of two contests in the New Jersey Hoop Group Classic, the Scarlet Knights' MTE for this season. RU will conclude action in this event on Sunday afternoon against Hofstra. Friday's game, in addition to Sunday's contest, will be broadcast nationwide on the Big Ten Network.

The Scarlet Knights lead the all-time series 14-2 and have won five straight in the series. The teams last met in the 2018-19 season opener, as RU had six players scored in double-digits, knocking down 12 three-pointers and out-scoring the visitors 47-22 after the break in the convincing win. Among current Scarlet Knight performances in that game, Ron Harper Jr. scored 15 points in just 17 minutes in his first collegiate game, while Geo Baker had 10 points and seven assists. Montez Mathis supplemented them with 10 points.